Media Center

House Vote against Clean Water Protections Ignores Toledo Lessons

September 9, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (September 9, 2014) — One month after the toxic algae disaster in Toledo demonstrated the perils of water pollution, the Republican-controlled House today passed a bill (H.R. 5078) to block improvements in the Clean Water Act that would help…

Climate Deniers Are Uninterested in Debating the Need to Address Climate Change, Public Health

September 2, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (September 2, 2014) -- The following is a statement from Ed Chen, federal communications director at the Natural Resources Defense Council, in response to an announced Republican congressional investigation of NRDC’s role in combating climate change and protecting public…

California Legislature Sends a Bumper Crop of Environmental Legislation to Governor Brown for Signature

August 30, 2014 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. (August 30, 2014) – Californians can breathe easier today knowing that the state legislature passed groundbreaking policies to protect public health and clean up our environment.

Nuclear Waste Storage Decision Poses Long-Term Public Health Risks

August 26, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (August 26, 2014) -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission today approved a controversial new rule and Environmental Impact Statement regarding nuclear waste that could pose long-term risks to public health and the environment.

New Water Bond Invests in Local Water Supply Projects, Groundwater Storage and Safe Drinking Water for All Californians

August 13, 2014 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SAN FRANCISCO (Aug. 13, 2014) – With Governor Jerry Brown’s support, state legislative leaders today approved, on a broad bipartisan basis, a $7.5 billion water bond that would provide clean drinking water for disadvantaged communities and provide $1.5 billion for…

EPA Endorses New & Improved Beach Water Quality Safety Threshold

July 31, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (July 31, 2014) – In a move designed to protect more than 180 million people who visit America’s coastal and Great Lakes beaches every year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced stronger National Beach Guidance for all…

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…

Appeals Court Allows Industry Misuse of Antibiotics in Animals to Continue

July 24, 2014 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK (July 24th, 2014) – In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not have to consider banning the practice of regularly feeding antibiotics to…

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…

Report: Chicago’s World-famous Skyline is Crunching Carbon—and Your Town Can too!

July 18, 2014 Press Release

CHICAGO (July 18, 2014) – Chicago’s unique partnership to showcase energy efficiency efforts in the city’s biggest buildings is already delivering impressive savings and offers a replicable model for other municipalities according to a new report released today by the…

House Panel Weakens Protections for Clean Air, Water

July 15, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (July 15, 2014) —The House Appropriations Interior and Environment Committee today pushed through a flawed spending bill that would seriously undermine the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to protect the public from breathing dirty air and drinking polluted water.

Farm Bureau Ducks NRDC Challenge to Debate Clean Water Rule

July 15, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (July 15, 2014)—The American Farm Bureau Federation has tried to duck a challenge from the Natural Resources Defense Council to a public debate over the bureau’s willful misrepresentations regarding a new clean water proposal, which is now under assault…

House Panel Votes to Weaken Protections for Clean Air, Water

July 9, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (July 9, 2014) —House Republicans today rammed a spending bill through the House Appropriations Interior and Environment Subcommittee that would seriously weaken the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to protect the public from breathing dirty air and drinking polluted…

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…

NRDC Poll: Latinos want the government to protect water from pollution

June 23, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (June 23, 2014)— As Senate Republicans try to kill recent steps by the Environmental Protection Agency to protect water supplies, a new poll finds that Latinos in four states overwhelmingly want the federal government to keep our water safe…

Supreme Court Reaffirms EPA Authority to Curb Power Plant Carbon Pollution

June 23, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (June 23, 2014) — Building on two prior decisions affirming the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to set carbon pollution standards like those recently proposed for power plants, the Supreme Court today upheld the core of EPA’s associated permitting requirements…

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…

Senate Panel’s Keystone XL Measure about Politics and Bad Policy

June 18, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (June 18, 2014) — The Senate Energy Committee today considered yet another political ploy by some in Congress to force construction of the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, which will worsen climate change and jeopardize communities along its…

Senate GOP’s Looming Attacks on Health Protections Raise Specter of Government Shutdown

June 18, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (June 18, 2014) — Senate Republicans are putting the country on the path toward another government showdown by aiming to lard up appropriations bills with amendments that block the first-ever federal standards on carbon pollution from power plants and…

California Budget Puts Proceeds from Carbon Pollution Auctions to Work Building a Cleaner, Healthier California

June 16, 2014 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SACRAMENTO (June 16, 2014) – The State Budget passed by the Legislature last night and sent to Governor Brown for the first time puts carbon pollution proceeds collected under California’s Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32) to work to combat…