Media Center

EPA’s Gift to Polluters will Fuel Climate Crisis and Harm Health

January 8, 2021 Press Release

WASHINGTON – In the last days of the Trump administration, the Environmental Protection Agency is expected to issue a rule today seeking to exempt some of the nation’s biggest polluters—including producers of oil and gas, chemicals, cement, steel and aluminum—from…

EPA Finalizes Rule That Would Censor Science

January 5, 2021 Press Release

WASHINGTON – Bowing to the whims of coal barons, the nuclear industry, and chemical companies, the Trump administration is announcing a final rule today that would severely restrict the use of peer-reviewed science in setting pollution and toxic chemical limits.

Biden’s A-Team of Climate & Environmental Champions

December 17, 2020 Press Release

WASHINGTON - President-elect Joe Biden today introduced an environmental A-Team destined to make historic progress in fighting climate change and protecting public health.

NRDC CEO & President Gina McCarthy to Join Biden Administration

December 17, 2020 Press Release

NEW YORK – NRDC President & CEO Gina McCarthy has been hand-picked by President-elect Joe Biden to become the nation’s first-ever National Climate Advisor. This senior White House position, reporting directly to the president, will head the newly formed White…

Livestock Sales of Antibiotics Important to Human Medicine Continue to Rise; Urgent Action is Needed to Address this Public Health Threat

December 15, 2020 Press Release

WASHINGTON – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released new data today on national sales of medically important antibiotics for use in livestock in 2019. As overall sales rise, most drugs are once again going to the nation’s cattle and pig industries. Sales…

NRDC Calls on Universities to Consider Climate in Campus Food Purchasing Decisions

December 7, 2020 Press Release

WASHINGTON – NRDC issued a letter today to 3,000 college presidents highlighting differences in corporate food service company polices to help campus cafeteria supply contracts meet university targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Biden Picks Mark “Clear Return to U.S. Climate Leadership”

November 23, 2020 Press Release

WASHINGTON - President-Elect Joe Biden will name former Secretary of State John Kerry to oversee the administration’s international climate change policies; former Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken to become Secretary of State; and senior foreign service officer Linda Thomas-Greenfield…

NRDC Receives $100 million from Bezos Earth Fund to Accelerate Climate Action

November 16, 2020 Press Release

NEW YORK – NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) today announced that it has been selected to receive a $100 million grant from the Bezos Earth Fund in recognition of the organization’s work to accelerate climate action.

NRDC Mourns the Passing of Cecil Corbin-Mark

October 16, 2020 Press Release

NEW YORK – The passing of Cecil Corbin-Mark, environmental justice advocate and Deputy Director and Director of Policy Initiatives at WE ACT for Environmental Justice, is a huge loss for New York and the environmental movement.

EPA Rollback Boosts Toxic Air Pollution and Health Risks Including Cancer

October 1, 2020 Press Release

WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency is finalizing an environmental rollback that ends enforcement of a longstanding “once in, always in” toxic air pollution policy, which required industrial facilities to implement major pollution control measures as long as the plant…

EPA’s New Drinking Water Rule Leaves Millions of Toxic Lead Pipes in the Ground to Contaminate a Generation of Children

September 27, 2020 Press Release

WASHINGTON – A draft of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final revision of the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) revealed today indicates the agency will significantly weaken public health protections against lead contaminated drinking water being delivered to millions…

Advocates Demand Regulation of Toxic Neonic-Treated Seeds

September 23, 2020 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SACRAMENTO - A group of health and environmental organizations filed a legal petition today, calling upon the California Department of Pesticide Regulation to regulate the planting of crop seeds coated with neurotoxic neonicotinoid insecticides (neonics) and close a loophole that…

NRDC Launches Regional Food Matters Project to Reduce Food Waste in 5 Southeastern Cities

September 9, 2020 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK—NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) announced the expansion of the Food Matters Project in the MidAtlantic region with the goal of furthering larger-scale change related to food waste throughout the region. Building on two years of partnership on the…

NRDC Launches Regional Food Matters Project to Reduce Food Waste in 5 MidAtlantic Cities

September 9, 2020 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK—NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) announced the expansion of the Food Matters Project in the MidAtlantic region with the goal of furthering larger-scale change related to food waste throughout the region. Building on two years of partnership on the…

Interior Department Deprives Endangered Bee of Critical Habitat Needed to Survive

August 31, 2020 Press Release

WASHINGTON – The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) today decided not to designate critical habitat for the endangered rusty patched bumble bee. The federal agency claims the availability of habitat does not limit the conservation of the bee…

EPA’s Policy of Ignoring Pollution Comes to an End

August 31, 2020 Press Release

WASHINGTON – Today marks the end of an Environmental Protection Agency non-enforcement policy that gave industries permission to stop monitoring and reporting pollution for reasons related to COVID-19—with no requirement to notify EPA or the public. This unnecessary policy put…

In Major Reversal, Trump Administration Stalls Pebble Mine

August 24, 2020 Press Release

WASHINGTON – The Army Corps of Engineers today said the Pebble Mine project in Bristol Bay, Alaska, would inflict “unavoidable adverse impacts” and lead to “significant degradation” to water and marine life. The agency gave its backers 90 days to…

NRDC Report: How Climate Crisis Threatens Worker Health and Safety, Both Outdoors and Inside

July 28, 2020 Press Release

WASHINGTON – A new report warns that the health and safety of workers across the country, both indoors and outdoors, is increasingly at risk from excessive heat, increasing air and water pollution, spreading infectious diseases, extreme weather, challenges to their…

NRDC, Partners Sue EPA Over Toxic Chemical Risks

July 16, 2020 Press Release

WASHINGTON – NRDC (the Natural Resources Defense Council) together with partners, today asked a federal court to review the Environmental Protection Agency’s woefully inadequate process for evaluating risks of the toxic chemical methylene chloride. A solvent used in paint strippers…

House Panel Unveils Bold Climate Plan

June 30, 2020 Press Release

The House of Representatives’ Select Committee on Climate Crisis, Chaired by Rep. Kathy Castor, today unveiled its bold plan to address climate change. It comes the same week the House is voting on the Moving Forward Act, a landmark infrastructure…