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NY Needs Gas Utility Planning for Equitable Clean Energy Transition

Expert BlogNew YorkChristopher Casey

In recently filed comments and reply comments, NRDC together with Sierra Club, the Regional Plan Association, Association for Energy Affordability, and New Yorkers for Clean Power presented a vision for a gas system planning process to identify the lowest-cost, least-risk…

Safer Drinking Water in Schools: NY Leg. Votes for Our Kids

Expert BlogNew YorkJoan Leary Matthews

The New York State Legislature passed a bill (S2122-A / A160-B) in the closing days of this legislative session to require more stringent measures to reduce lead in drinking water in schools. This is a huge victory for kids!

PeoriaCorps Green Infrastructure Training Increases Stipend

Expert BlogPeoria, IllinoisAlyssa Brown, Jared Knicley

This is the fourth in a series of blogs celebrating the grant projects funded through our Clean Air Act settlement with the owners of the E.D. Edwards coal-fired power plant outside Peoria, Illinois. The settlement provides for the plant to…

Putting Pembroke’s Priorities Above a Gas Giveaway

Expert BlogIllinoisAmulya Yerrapotu

Nicor Gas is currently pushing a gas line extension bill to foist costly and dangerous fossil fuel energy onto Pembroke—one of Illinois’s last remaining historical Black farming communities—for decades to come.

Plastic Straws Only On-Request Coming to NYC

Expert BlogNew York, New York CityEric A. Goldstein

In New York’s latest move to curb the ever-growing amount of plastic trash, the City Council is about to enact legislation that will prohibit restaurants from providing plastic straws to customers, except on request.

Minnesota Advances to Become First Midwest Clean Cars State

Expert BlogMinnesotaDr. Simon Mui

The proposal to adopt a Clean Cars Minnesota program was given a greenlight today, which would mean Minnesota will become the first Midwest state to adopt a Clean Cars program to introduce more electric vehicles together with cleaner internal-combustion engine…

NYC Moves Modestly to Restore Composting; More Is Needed

Expert BlogNew York CityEric A. Goldstein
The DeBlasio Administration, seeking to dispel criticism that it broke one of its cornerstone sustainability promises, has announced plans to restore voluntary food waste composting opportunities in the nation’s largest city.

Latin America at the Leaders Summit on Climate

Expert BlogArgentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, MexicoCarolina Herrera, Jessica Carey-Webb, Marilyn Kunce, Amanda Maxwell
The five Latin American countries that participated in the Leaders Summit on Climate – Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico – displayed a broad range of ambition. Once again, some countries demonstrated their willingness to be climate action leaders while…

Chicago Lays Out New Green Recovery Priorities on COVID-19

Expert BlogChicago, IllinoisStefan Schaffer
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced a series of environmental priorities aligned with a “Green Recovery,” a significant step toward reducing the city’s reliance on fossil fuels and creating more equitable economic opportunities in the face of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

How Cities Are Centering Equity in Benchmarking Policies

Expert BlogDenver, Colorado, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Seattle, WashingtonCaroline Keicher
A new resource from the City Energy Project—Incorporating Equity into Energy Benchmarking Requirements: Guidance for Policy and Program Practitioners—helps cities understand the opportunity to leverage benchmarking and transparency policies to address racial and social equity.

Environmental Justice Protects Public Health

Expert BlogChicago, IllinoisGina Ramirez
Chicago’s health care professionals are calling on the city’s Department of Public Health to be accountable to policy decisions that put communities at risk. This is a major step in our fight for environmental justice because racism is a public…