Media Center

California Climate Plan’s Auction Results Show Carbon Caps Move Us Toward a Cleaner Future

February 25, 2015 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SACRAMENTO (February 25, 2015) – The California Air Resources Board announced today the results of the first carbon auction with polluting fuels such as gasoline included under the cap. For the first time, the oil industry joined other major industries…

Chicago Petcoke: Big Announcements Mark Improvement, but Not an End to the Problem

February 25, 2015 Press Release

CHICAGO (February 25, 2015) – A series of announcements last week regarding Chicago’s controversial petcoke piles signal significant changes coming to the city’s Southeast Side, where the oil refining waste has been mounded in close proximity to homes, parks and…

After Veto, President Should Reject the Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline Once and For All

February 24, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON (February 24, 2015) – President Obama today vetoed, as promised, congressional legislation to force approval of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

Praising Pullman: NRDC Supports New National Monument Designations

February 18, 2015 Press Release

CHICAGO (February 18, 2015) – President Obama will be in Chicago tomorrow to sign an order designating the city’s Pullman District as a national monument. He is also expected to announce two other new monuments, Browns Canyon in Colorado and…

NRDC Airline Scorecard: First-ever ranking of Airline Biofuel Use

February 3, 2015 Press Release

SAN FRANCISCO (February 3, 2015) – Air travel emits more than 650 million metric tons of carbon pollution annually – equivalent to the pollution from 136 million cars– making the increased use of sustainable biofuels a critical to reducing the…

ALEC Conference's Agenda For State Lawmakers Is “Limited Government, Unlimited Pollution”

December 2, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. – December 2, 2014 -- When state lawmakers gather in Washington, D.C. tomorrow for the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) States & National Policy Summit, they will be asked to embrace a climate-science denying, pro-polluter agenda “to gut…

NRDC Praises New Ozone Health Proposals, Urges Safest Standards to Protect the Public

November 26, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (November 26, 2014)—The Environmental Protection Agency today moved to improve public health protections against smog, declaring as unsafe the pollution standards that have been in place since 2008. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said she would recommend a reduction in…

REPORT: EPA Can Quickly Cut Dangerous Methane Pollution from Oil and Gas Industry in Half

November 20, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (November 20, 2014) — A new report from leading climate advocates today shows how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can cut climate warming methane pollution in half, while dramatically reducing harmful, wasteful air pollution from the oil and…

House GOP Continues Its Anti-Science Campaign

November 19, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (November 19, 2014)—House Republicans continued their attack on science-based protections for public health and the environment today, passing on a largely party-line vote a bill that would bar the Environmental Protection Agency from using certain peer-reviewed health research when…

Climate Leaders’ Bill Could Complement Ongoing EPA Climate Action

November 19, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (November 19, 2014) – Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) introduced legislation today aiming to put Congress on record for taking decisive action against the growing threat climate change poses to our children and future generations.

Exide settles with California Department of Toxic Substances Control

November 6, 2014 Press Release

LOS ANGELES (November 6, 2014) — Exide Technologies, Inc. today announced a settlement agreement that will allow the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to begin review of Exide’s hazardous waste permit application. The settlement, which is subject to…

Consumers Need Accurate Fuel Efficiency Data

November 3, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (November 3, 2014)—Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia today agreed to pay a record $100 million in fines to settle charges by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that they cheated consumers by overstating the fuel economy of some of their…

NRDC, Nine other Environmental Groups File Lawsuits Challenging NRC Failure to Comply with 2012 Court Ruling on Nuclear Waste Storage

October 29, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (October 29, 2014) -- The Natural Resources Defense Council and nine other environmental groups filed separate lawsuits today in the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit challenging the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) decision to proceed…

NRDC Report Helps Guide Major Fuel Buyers to Sustainable Biofuels Procurement

July 29, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (July 29, 2014)—Amid increasing interest in alternative transportation fuels, a new report shows how federal agencies and other large commercial customers can buy sustainably produced biofuels and avoid those linked to major deforestation, destroyed wildlife habitat and fouled waterways.

GAO Report: Drinking Water at Risk from Underground Fracking Waste Injection

July 28, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (July 28, 2014) – The Environmental Protection Agency’s program to protect drinking water sources from the underground injection of fracking waste needs improvement, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. Underground injection of fracking waste has…

Governor Quinn Signs Clean Water Initiative

July 23, 2014 Press Release

CHICAGO (July 23, 2014) – Governor Patrick Quinn will sign into law today legislation that will help Illinois cities better prepare for the impacts of climate change. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) worked…

Chicago’s Petcoke Problem: No Happy 4th for Southeast Siders

July 3, 2014 Press Release

CHICAGO (July 3, 2014) – As Independence Day approaches, residents on the Southeast Side of Chicago continue to battle issues associated with the massive piles of petcoke heaped on the edge of the Calumet River, in close proximity to homes…

New York Court Upholds Communities’ Right to Protect Residents from Fracking

June 30, 2014 Press ReleaseNew York

ALBANY (June 30, 2014) — The New York Court of Appeals today upheld communities' right to use traditional local zoning laws to keep fracking out of their borders if they so choose. The ruling came in two cases decided jointly—one…

Supreme Court Greenlights California’s Clean Fuels Plan

June 30, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (June 30, 2014) – In a big win for the fight against climate change, the Supreme Court today declined oil and ethanol companies’ request to review a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that upheld California’s Low Carbon Fuel…

Four Million Californians at Risk from Oil Train Danger Zones

June 18, 2014 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SAN FRANCISCO (June 18, 2014) – A series of detailed crude oil rail route maps, released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), show nearly four million Bay Area and Central/San Joaquin Valley residents are at risk should an…