Media Center

Helping Cities Cut Food Waste: NRDC Tools Accelerate Municipal Efforts

June 16, 2020 Press Release

NEW YORK – As cities move toward zero waste and reigning in their climate emissions, a new resource for municipal leaders makes it easier to tackle food waste.

EPA’s Wheeler Must Account for Increasing Our Exposure to Pollutants

May 20, 2020 Press Release

WASHINGTON — When Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler testifies today before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, he has some serious explaining to do.

Gov. Cuomo Blocks Williams Pipeline for Third Time

May 15, 2020 Press ReleaseNew York

ALBANY, N.Y. – Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) today blocked the Williams Pipeline from moving forward. This decision comes after nearly three years of unrelenting grassroots advocacy in opposition to the fossil…

Rumored Trump Administration Slaughterhouse Order Could Threaten Worker Safety

April 28, 2020 Press Release

WASHINGTON – According to published press reports, despite multiple COVID-19 hotspots popping up in slaughterhouses, the Trump Administration plans to release an executive order forcing meat processing facilities to stay open during the pandemic and shield them from liability.

Science Wins Again: Court Rejects EPA Barring Independent Scientists from Panels

April 21, 2020 Press Release

WASHINGTON –The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency’s policy barring independent scientists from its advisory boards clashed with federal law and ethics regulations. The case was brought by Physicians for Social…

Groups Sue EPA Over Free Pass for Polluters Amid Pandemic

April 16, 2020 Press Release

WASHINGTON – The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and partners today sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over the agency’s recently announced non-enforcement policy, which allows companies to use COVID-19 as a reason to stop monitoring and reporting pollution—without…

NRDC Wins: EPA Can’t Bar Grant Recipients from Science Advisory Panels

April 15, 2020 Press Release

WASHINGTON –The Environmental Protection Agency must stop categorically barring its grant recipients from serving on the agency’s scientific advisory committees, a federal judge in New York ruled today in the latest litigation win by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

EPA Shuts Down Stronger Water Standards

April 8, 2020 Press Release

WASHINGTON – After an official review of the voluntary WaterSense labeling program, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has decided to uphold the current water efficiency standards that regulate fixtures such as toilets and faucets.

Court Restores Limits on Climate-Polluting HFCs

April 7, 2020 Press Release

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today ruled that the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency acted illegally in suspending the agency’s limits on the uses of super climate-polluting hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). The court restored a prohibition…

Gina McCarthy: EPA Grants “Open License to Pollute”

March 26, 2020 Press Release

WASHINGTON –The Environmental Protection Agency today issued an “enforcement discretion policy” that would allow industry to pollute without fear of enforcement actions. The following is a statement by Gina McCarthy, president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “This…

Groups Sue EPA Over Yet Another Approval of Glyphosate, Despite Dangers to Humans, Bees and Butterflies

March 20, 2020 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SAN FRANCISCO – The Natural Resources Defense Council and Pesticide Action Network North America today filed a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s approval of glyphosate, the most widely used pesticide in the United States.

PA Senate Sends Petrochemical Bill to Gov. Wolf’s Desk

March 18, 2020 Press Release

HARRISBURG, P.A. – The Pennsylvania State Senate today sent HB 1100 – a bill that would give tax breaks to fossil fuel plants that use fracked gas to manufacture petrochemicals – to Governor Wolf’s desk for signature. This comes at…

NRDC’s Gina McCarthy: EPA’s Dangerous New Proposal Ignores Science

March 4, 2020 Press Release

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week broadened its plans to limit scientific studies that traditionally have been used in designing safeguards to protect public health.

Michigan Advances Stronger Standards on “Forever Chemicals” in Drinking Water

February 27, 2020 Press Release

LANSING, MI ­– Michigan’s proposed standards to reduce “forever chemicals” contaminating drinking water for millions of people across the state were advanced today in a vote by the Environmental Rules Review Committee (ERRC). The standards now head to the Joint…

Cuomo Signs Child Safe Products Act into Law

February 7, 2020 Press ReleaseNew York

ALBANY, N.Y. – Governor Andrew Cuomo today signed the Child Safe Products Act into law, which requires manufacturers to disclose chemicals of concern in children’s products and phases out some of the most toxic chemicals, such as benzene, chlorinated tris…

Advocates and Public Pressure Snuffs Out Toxic Chemical Chlorpyrifos

February 6, 2020 Press Release

CHICAGO – According to published news reports, Corteva Inc. will end production of the highly toxic pesticide chlorpyrifos by the end of this year. The company, formerly part of Dow Chemical, has been under increasing scrutiny from environmental and public…

NRDC’s Gina McCarthy on President Trump’s Dirty Water Rule

January 23, 2020 Press Release

WASHINGTON - The Trump administration is set to issue rules that would gut critical safeguards in the Clean Water Act, upending decades of protections for streams, wetlands, lakes and rivers, according to news reports. These bodies of water filter pollution…

Cuomo Signs Robust PFAS Protections into Law

December 23, 2019 Press ReleaseNew York

ALBANY, N.Y. – Governor Andrew Cuomo today signed into law legislation to phase out the use of toxic chemicals known as PFAS in firefighting foam. PFAS have been found to contaminate a significant portion of New York’s drinking water sources…

New York State Adopts Paint Recycling Program

December 18, 2019 Press ReleaseNew York

ALBANY, N.Y. – Governor Andrew Cuomo yesterday signed the paint recycling legislation, a bill designed to tackle a long-standing solid waste disposal problem by making it possible for business and residents to recycle leftover paint at hundreds of convenient locations…

Cuomo Proposes Statewide Ban on Polystyrene Foam Containers

December 17, 2019 Press ReleaseNew York

ALBANY, N.Y. – Governor Cuomo today announced, as part of his 2020 State of the State, that he will propose legislation to enact a statewide ban on polystyrene food and beverage containers, as well as packing peanuts made of polystyrene…