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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?

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

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

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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$6.875 Billion Available for Climate Resilience from HUD

Expert BlogUnited StatesRob Moore

The long-awaited funding will go to nine states and five local jurisdictions to support activities like home buyouts, more resilient housing, and infrastructure that can withstand future climate-driven disasters. 

Midwest Floods May Lead Illinois to New Solutions

Expert BlogUnited States, IllinoisRob Moore

The Midwest floods of 2019 have caused hardship and loss but, Illinois has not seen much in the way of damages. Part of the reason is because Illinois has strong floodplain management regulations, something Governor Pritzker is expected to keep…

Midwest Floods: The World at One Degree of Warming

Expert BlogRob Moore
The Midwest floods are an example of how climate change is already outpacing our nation’s ability to adapt to the consequences. This “adaptation and resilience gap” will grow, even under the best-case climate change scenarios if we don't start to…

North Carolina’s New Outlook on Climate Resilience

Expert BlogRob Moore
Two catastrophic hurricanes hit North Carolina between 2016 and 2018. These storms prompted Governor Cooper to initiate a comprehensive assessment of the state’s vulnerability to climate change and the increasing frequency and magnitude of disasters that are resulting.

Climate Adaptation: A Growing Priority for NRDC

Expert BlogJuanita Constible, Rob Moore
NRDC experts are headed to National Adaptation Forum this week, one of the most important gatherings of climate adaptation professionals in the United States.

Flood Insurance Debate Begins

Expert BlogRob Moore
Congress is having its first hearing on flood insurance of the year. How do the proposed bills stack up on: Helping people move to higher ground? Increasing transparency and requiring disclosure of flood risk? Producing flood maps that reflect future…

New Disaster Bill Includes $849M for Water Infrastructure

Expert BlogRob Moore
A new disaster supplemental appropriations bill (H.R. 268) was passed by the House of Representatives this week. It included $849 million for drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater systems,more resilient and less vulnerable to storms in the future. Typically, federal disaster…

Disaster Recovery Reform Act Is a Smart Move...Mostly

Expert BlogRob Moore
On October 8th, Congress passed the Disaster Recovery Reform Act, which makes several smart changes to the Stafford Act—the law that governs how the nation prepares for and responds to natural disasters. These changes will begin to remedy two big…

Maria Exposed Problems With U.S. Disaster Policy

Expert BlogRob Moore
The nation needs to break the habit of simply responding to natural disasters by throwing massive amounts of money and effort at them after-the-fact. And the nation needs a Federal Emergency Management Agency that can better support communities' efforts to…

After Harvey, Congress Still Stuck on Flood Insurance

Expert BlogRob Moore
The nation relies on the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to give people information about flood risks, provide post-flood financial assistance, and help people become safer from flooding. But the NFIP isn’t up to new reality of storms like Harvey…

Congress Wants to Know Why FEMA Buyouts Take So Long

Expert BlogUnited StatesRob Moore

FEMA-backed home buyouts can take years to complete, leaving homeowners caught in limbo worrying whether another flood will strike and waiting to learn if and when they’ll be able to move. The Promoting Flood Risk Mitigation Act (H.R. 5846) seeks…

New Legislation Would Require Review of FEMA Buyout Efforts

Expert BlogUnited StatesRob Moore

A bi-partisan group of Senators and Members of House of Representatives have introduced legislation to determine why it so difficult for repeatedly flooded-homeowners to obtain assistance to move to higher ground. Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Tim Scott (R-SC) have…

States Need to Go Back to the Well and Leverage SRF Dollars

Expert BlogUnited StatesRob Moore

Over the next few decades, the United States is facing a $1 trillion shortfall in water infrastructure funding. To close this gap, more federal funding is needed. States could be doing much more to leverage federal funding they already have…

Disaster Aid Is Part of Bi-Partisan Budget Bill

Expert BlogRob Moore
A Bi-Partisan budget bill includes some encouraging provisions that should improve rebuilding efforts in the wake of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. And it does not include two poison pills that the House had included in the Disaster Supplemental passed…

Hurricane Aid Package Includes Poison Pills

Expert BlogRob Moore
The House's $81 billion hurricane disaster aid package includes some poison pills that would harm disaster mitigation programs and endangered species. The Senate should reject these in it's aid package.

Climate Change Literature that Made Waves in 2017

Expert BlogRob Moore
Here's my list of the climate change studies, news reports, and even fiction that made waves in 2017. It's been a tumultuous year for climate impacts ranging from 3 major hurricanes striking the U.S. to a Delaware-sized chunk of Antarctica…