News & Commentary

Back to the Future: New Jersey Rejoins RGGI Climate Program

June 17, 2019 Expert BlogBruce Ho

New Jersey will soon breathe easier thanks to Governor Phil Murphy’s fulfillment of a promise to rejoin the groundbreaking pollution-cutting program known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, after an eight-year hiatus.

Pipeline Construction Harm to Farms, Including Organic

June 13, 2019 Expert BlogAmy Mall

Michigan Integrated Resource Plan Primer

June 11, 2019 Expert BlogAriana Gonzalez

Planning is one of the most important exercises you can do to bring any vision or goal to life. That’s why 2016 Michigan energy law kickstarted a cycle of required long-term energy planning for utilities like Consumers and DTE called…

These Texans Are Sick of Chemical Fires and Toxic Spills in Their Backyard

June 11, 2019 DispatchTexasTim Vanderpool

A community along the Houston Ship Channel ramps up its fight against heavy industry and lax oversight after another petrochemical factory blaze closes local schools and causes a spike in respiratory illness.

Environmental Groups Sue to Keep Oil Rig Safety Standards Intact

June 11, 2019 Expert BlogNRDC

Under attack by the Trump administration, the safeguards help protect workers, wildlife, and coastal communities from disasters like the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

DTE IRP: Find Out What It Means to MI

June 11, 2019 Expert BlogAriana Gonzalez

On the heels of the ambitious and recently approved Consumers Integrated Resource Plan, we shift to look at how DTE’s IRP compares and what it will mean for the state.

The Natural Gas Industry Has a Methane Problem

June 7, 2019 ExplainerUnited States, LouisianaJeff Turrentine

Oil and gas operations leak this potent greenhouse gas far more than previously thought, and (par for the course) the Trump administration is making the situation worse.

After Broad Run, FERC's GHG Policy Is on Thin Ice

June 7, 2019 Expert BlogGillian Giannetti

The DC Circuit fired a warning shot this week at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and its analysis of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with gas pipeline projects. The court rejected the core legal arguments that underpin the agency’s policy…

PA Senate to Consider Program to Cut Power Plant Pollution

June 6, 2019 Expert BlogMark Szybist

G20 in Japan: Time for PM Abe to End Support for Coal Plants

June 6, 2019 Expert BlogHan Chen

If instead Prime Minister Abe continues using Japan’s taxpayer money to subsidize inefficient Japanese coal equipment manufacturers, then he risks being branded a hypocrite who writes platitudes in the Financial Times about Japan’s climate commitments, while financing dirty coal plants…

New Jersey Blocks the Williams Pipeline!

June 5, 2019 Expert BlogKimberly Ong, Rob Friedman

But the fight is not over, and with our allies, we’ll use every tool in the kit to stop this dangerous pipeline from ever being built.

Protecting California Waters From Oil: AB 936 Advances

June 4, 2019 Expert BlogCaliforniaJosh Axelrod

An important piece of oil spill legislation is moving through the California legislature that will help the state respond more effectively to spills of non floating oil.

DTE's Rate Case and Your Energy Bill

May 30, 2019 Expert BlogAriana Gonzalez

The Michigan Public Service Commission recently ordered significant cutbacks to a proposed rate increase by DTE. See what the DTE rate case means to families’ monthly energy bills across Michigan.

Battered by Floods, Nebraskans Worry About Pipeline Spills

May 28, 2019 DispatchNebraskaCourtney Lindwall

Historic flooding recently inundated parts of the Cornhusker State where the proposed Keystone XL pipeline would pass through. Here’s why that’s a disaster in the making.

Offshore Oil Revenue Is a Damaging Deal for Virginia

May 23, 2019 Expert BlogVirginiaJacob Eisenberg

If offshore drilling were expanded as the Trump administration intends, coastal communities, economies, and ecosystems would all suffer. And revenue sharing is not worth those damages.

The Student Activist Fighting Pittsburgh’s Dirty Industry

May 23, 2019 DispatchPittsburghCourtney Lindwall

Anaïs Peterson is busy organizing, educating, and ushering in a new era of environmentalism in the Steel City.

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and NRDC Confront Federal Failures

May 17, 2019 Expert BlogNorth Dakota, South DakotaDr. Jennifer Sass

What Can Green Groups, Labor Unions, Veterans, and a Coal Mining Exec All Get Behind? Solar Power in Appalachian Ohio.

May 14, 2019 NRDC in ActionOhioCourtney Lindwall

Dan Sawmiller, NRDC’s Ohio energy policy director, forms unexpected alliances to build out renewables in the Buckeye State.

Pennsylvania's Gas Power Problem, Part II: Cost and Risk

May 10, 2019 Expert BlogMark Szybist

To avoid the worst impacts of climate change, we need to make dramatic cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. Where the power sector is concerned, that means using energy much more efficiently, scaling up renewables, and putting a legally binding and…

Could “Liking” an Anti-Pipeline Facebook Post Soon Be Illegal?

May 6, 2019 Expert BlogJosh Axelrod

A new South Dakota law—written in consultation with the company that owns Keystone XL—could punish people for exercising their right to peaceful protest. Is it a harbinger of things to come?