News & Commentary

Meet the activists and NRDC staff propelling change, read our expert analysis, and learn about the latest challenges and solutions to advancing a healthier, more sustainable, and equitable world.

A brightly colored illustration showing a green hydrogen hub. A container ship on a waterway and a hydrogen production and storage facility are in the foreground, a solar panel array and wind turbines are in the mid-ground, and a city and sunset sky are in the distance.

Can Hydrogen Help Combat the Climate Crisis?

May 18, 2024 ExplainerUnited StatesSusan Cosier

Hydrogen hubs across the country seek to fuel high-emission industries with cleaner energy.

Aerial view of the National Petroleum Reserve in northwestern Alaska

The Biden Administration Protects Millions of Acres of Arctic Alaska

April 19, 2024 Latest NewsAlaskaJenny Shalant

The new Special Areas Rule in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska could boost biodiversity and empower Indigenous Peoples to defend the lands they’ve relied on for generations.

Two adults and a child walk along a sandy shoreline

“Forever Chemicals” Called PFAS Show Up in Your Food, Clothes, and Home

April 10, 2024 ExplainerUnited StatesMolly M. Ginty, Courtney Lindwall

These toxic chemicals are so common in consumer products and manufacturing that they’re everywhere—including inside our bodies.

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A Trailblazer for Tribal Sovereignty

August 16, 2023 NRDC in ActionUnited StatesJeff Turrentine

NRDC Board member John Echohawk, a member of the Pawnee Nation, has devoted his career to asserting the legal and civil rights of Native Americans.

A 22-Year Court Battle Ends with Justice for the Penobscot River

October 11, 2022 NRDC in ActionMaineNicole Greenfield

After more than a half century of toxic mercury contamination, Maine’s longest river is finally getting cleaned up—a major win for the public interest over corporate polluters.

Mount Vernon: Where Environmental Injustice Became a Sewage Nightmare

June 27, 2022 NRDC in ActionNew YorkNicole Greenfield

For decades, residents of this majority-Black suburb of New York City have been dealing with a noxious infrastructure crisis with little recourse. Finally, they’re getting some relief.

A Leader to Meet This Moment

August 23, 2021 NRDC in ActionBrian Palmer

NRDC president and CEO Manish Bapna, an economist by training, knows that solving the climate emergency will require the global transformation of key economic systems—and that the transformation cannot wait a day longer.

Ocean Steward

March 12, 2020 NRDC in ActionUnited StatesBrian Palmer

Sarah Chasis, a senior attorney in the Nature Program’s Oceans division, has nearly 50 years of experience defending our coasts from offshore drilling.

A Fearless Defender for Our Future

January 6, 2020 NRDC in ActionBoston, Washington, D.C., United StatesJeff Turrentine

President and CEO Gina McCarthy started out as a public health agent in small-town Massachusetts, rose to become head of the EPA under Obama, and now guides NRDC into its next chapter.

This Lawyer Is Fighting to Save Two of the World’s Most Endangered Species

September 10, 2018 NRDC in ActionOregon, CaliforniaNicole Greenfield

Oregon-based NRDC attorney Giulia Good Stefani is living her dream by working to protect orcas off her coast and vaquitas in the Gulf of California.

The Rise of Chile’s River Protectors

July 10, 2018 NRDC in ActionChileNicole Greenfield

For decades, NRDC has worked alongside Chileans who are fighting to save Patagonia’s wildest rivers from being yoked by massive hydroelectric dams.

This Is How We Stand Up to Trump

December 20, 2017 NRDC in ActionUnited States, Washington, D.C., Utah, Michigan, CaliforniaNicole Greenfield

Meet a handful of the NRDC staffers who resisted Trump’s attacks and defended our environment in 2017—and who won’t stop fighting anytime soon.

This Leader of the (Legal) Resistance Has Never Felt More Ready

December 7, 2017 NRDC in ActionWashington, D.C., Flint, Michigan, MaineJeff Turrentine

NRDC Chief Counsel Mitch Bernard takes on big polluters, climate deniers, and their powerful allies—including those who sit in the West Wing.

"Sonic Sea" Documentary: The Harms of Ocean Noise

October 10, 2017 NRDC in ActionUnited States

This Emmy award–winning film shows viewers how the underwater racket caused by human activities is destroying marine life.

The Fight to Keep Oil and Gas Rigs Out of Our Waters. For Good.

October 3, 2017 NRDC in ActionAlaska, Florida, California, Washington, United StatesMelissa Denchak

NRDC played a key role in banning offshore drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic. Once again, it’s fighting to protect those oceans—and the rest of America’s waters.

A Veteran of Uphill Battles

March 13, 2017 NRDC in ActionWashington, D.C., United States, CanadaJordan Davidson

NRDC’s chief program officer, Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, knows that resistance takes persistence—and a lot of collaboration.

Trashing the Gregory Canyon Landfill

December 12, 2016 NRDC in ActionSan Diego, CaliforniaMelissa Denchak

The California garbage dump project would have desecrated sacred tribal lands, destroyed vital wildlife habitat, and put local waters at risk.

What It Took to Create the Atlantic’s First Marine National Monument

October 4, 2016 NRDC in ActionConnecticut, Massachusetts, United StatesMelissa Denchak

After years of work by NRDC and its partners, about 5,000 square miles of ocean—with massive canyons, majestic underwater mountains, and more than 1,000 species—have received permanent protection.