Media Center

Cuomo Administration Takes Next Step in Making Fracking Ban Official

May 13, 2015 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK, NY (May 13, 2015)—Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Department of Environmental Conservation today took the next step toward making the state’s fracking ban official, releasing its final environmental impact review of the proposed heavy industrial activity in New York.

NRDC’s Award-Winning Film WILD THINGS to Premiere on Pivot

May 8, 2015 Press ReleaseCalifornia

LOS ANGELES (May 8, 2015) – The award-winning documentary film, Wild Things, produced by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), will premiere on Participant Media’s television network, Pivot, as part of “Doc Watch:” Wednesdays on May 13 at 9 p.m…

Always-On Inactive Devices May Devour $19 Billion Worth of Electricity Annually

May 6, 2015 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (May 7, 2015) – Approximately $19 billion worth of electricity, equal to the output of 50 large power plants, is devoured annually by U.S. household electronics, appliances, and other equipment when consumers are not actively using them…

Water Board Implements First-Ever Mandatory Water Reductions Across California

May 5, 2015 Press ReleaseCalifornia

State Water Resources Control Board makes official plans to cut water use by 25 percent across the state

Governor Brown Announces 2030 Statewide Climate Pollution Limit

April 29, 2015 Press ReleaseCalifornia

LOS ANGELES (April 29, 2015) – Speaking before the annual Navigating the American Carbon World conference, Governor Brown issued a historic new executive order to reduce California’s carbon pollution to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. The order will…

New Study: Tar Sands to Skyrocket West Coast’s Climate and Air Pollution

April 28, 2015 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SACRAMENTO (April 28, 2015) – The Pacific coast faces a looming health, climate, and environmental crisis posed by an influx of tar sands fuel from oil interests in Alberta, Canada, according to new analysis released today by the Natural Resources…

Plug-in Equipment Energy Efficiency Bill Advances in California Legislature

April 28, 2015 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SACRAMENTO (April 28, 2015) – Legislation to help curb energy waste from the 50-plus plugged-in appliances, electronics, and miscellaneous electrical devices in the average California household, such as video equipment and kitchen appliances, as well as similar power-guzzling equipment in…

NRDC Statement on Mayor de Blasio’s First Sustainability Plan

April 22, 2015 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK (April 22, 2015) – Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration today released its first-ever sustainability plan for New York City, One New York: The Plan for A Strong and Just City (OneNYC). The plan builds and expands on former…

Five Years After the BP Disaster, We’re Still Not Safe

April 16, 2015 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK (April 16, 2015) – Next Monday, April 20, marks five years since the catastrophic BP blowout in the Gulf of Mexico that killed 11 workers and dumped millions of barrels of crude oil into the sea. Five years…

Mayor Eric Garcetti Announces Plans for a Sustainable Los Angeles

April 8, 2015 Press ReleaseCalifornia

LOS ANGELES (April 8, 2015) — Mayor Eric Garcetti today announced a comprehensive plan to address environmental, economic, and equity challenges across key aspects of life in the City of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Sustainability Plan proposes solutions in…

State Gives Big Oil and Gas a Free Pass to Continue Endangering California’s Dwindling Groundwater

April 2, 2015 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. (April 2, 2015) – The California Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) today announced a plan – developed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – to bring into compliance thousands of wells currently injecting potentially…

First-Ever Mandatory Water Reductions for Urban and Agriculture Across California

April 1, 2015 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. (April 1, 2015) – In response to the ongoing drought and record low snow in California, Governor Jerry Brown today announced a statewide directive including mandatory water reductions, investment in new technologies, implementation of conservation pricing in water…

Court Rules Navy War Games Violate Law Protecting Whales and Dolphins

March 31, 2015 Press ReleaseCalifornia

LOS ANGELES (March 31, 2015) —A federal court today announced that the U.S. Navy’s training and testing activities off the coast of Southern California and Hawaii illegally harm more than 60 whale, dolphin, seal, and sea lion populations. The U.S…

McDonald’s to Have Chicken Raised Virtually Antibiotic-Free

March 4, 2015 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK (March 4, 2015) – McDonald’s – the world’s largest fast food chain – today announced that it is committing to serving chicken raised without antibiotics used in human medicine in all of their U.S. restaurants within two years…

China’s one-year ban on ivory imports is a big step forward – but more reform is needed

February 26, 2015 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK (February 26, 2015) — In an important recognition of the role Chinese citizens’ appetite for ivory has played in helping to fuel the slaughter of African elephants, Chinese officials today announced a one-year ban on African ivory carving…

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…

New Study: Rapid Ocean Acidification Threatens Coastal Economies in 15 States

February 23, 2015 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK (February 23, 2015) – The first nationwide vulnerability assessment for ocean acidification, published today in Nature Climate Change, shows that coastal communities in 15 states that depend on the nation’s approximately $1 billion shelled mollusk (e.g., oysters and…

Atlantic Ocean Council Fails to Protect East Coast Coral Canyons

February 11, 2015 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK (February 11, 2015) — The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council today postponed a vote on a protection plan for rare, ecologically-important and highly vulnerable deep sea coral communities off the region’s coast. The Council manages U.S. fisheries resources in…

Cuomo Announces Fracking Will Not Move Forward in New York

December 17, 2014 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK (December 17, 2014) – New York Governor Andrew Cuomo today announced the state will not move forward with high volume hydraulic fracturing.

Deep-Sea Discovery: Atlantic Coast Ocean Canyons Teeming with Newfound Marine Life and over 40 Species of Vibrant Deep-sea Coral

December 9, 2014 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK (December 9, 2014) -- Recent National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-led explorations into deep undersea canyons off the East Coast have uncovered a steady stream of scientific discoveries, including over 40 different species of corals, some potentially brand…