News & Commentary

The Biden Administration Cancels Its Offshore Drilling Plan for Alaska’s Cook Inlet—Let’s Keep It Off the Books

May 13, 2022 DispatchAlaskaSusan Cosier

The lease sale would have endangered Indigenous communities, threatened rare whales, added to the Far North’s climate crisis, and gambled with a 20 percent chance for a large oil spill.

A Leader for Conservation in Gabon and Beyond

May 21, 2021 DispatchAfricaMelissa Denchak

Dr. Aurélie Flore Koumba Pambo works to preserve and protect the biological wealth of this central African coastal nation while also advocating for a global agreement to safeguard one-third of earth’s ecosystems by 2030.

A New York Climate Justice Activist with Roots in the Blue Ridge Mountains

December 11, 2020 DispatchNew York City, Washington, D.C.Carmen Cusido

WE ACT’s director of environmental health and education, Taylor Morton, who found their path to environmental justice work through a childhood spent in nature, wants to help the next generation get outside without fear.

He’s Leading D.C.’s Movement for Climate Action—and He’s a High School Senior

January 30, 2020 DispatchWashington, D.C.Karen L. Smith-Janssen

Jerome Foster II is the 17-year-old helming the Fridays for Future strike in Washington, D.C., the founder of the OneMillionOfUs movement to mobilize young voters, and the voice of a generation demanding climate action now.

A Fearless Defender for Our Future

January 6, 2020 NRDC in ActionBoston, Washington, D.C., United StatesJeff Turrentine

President and CEO Gina McCarthy started out as a public health agent in small-town Massachusetts, rose to become head of the EPA under Obama, and now guides NRDC into its next chapter.

A Roadmap for Frontline Communities

December 15, 2019 NRDC in ActionWashington, D.C., United StatesJeff Turrentine

To address the growing climate impacts on low-income people and communities of color, NRDC signed on to a historic platform that seeks to create a future that benefits all.

That Summer When Climate Change Baked Alaska

August 9, 2019 DispatchAlaskaJeff Turrentine

An Anchorage-based wildlife biologist describes what life is like in our northernmost state—one that’s been dramatically altered by rising temperatures.

Mining Oil Shale Would Be Disastrous to Utah’s Rivers, Climate, and Public Health—but the Trump Administration Wants to Do It Anyway

June 21, 2019 DispatchUtahStarre Vartan

NRDC and other environmental and public health groups are suing to stop an extraction project (the first of its kind in the United States) proposed by the Estonian company Enefit.

These Alaska Residents Are Watching Their Hometowns Slide Into Rising Waters

October 29, 2018 DispatchAlaskaAlisa Opar

At least 31 villages now face imminent threats from climate change and may have to relocate, at a cost of as much as $200 million each.

In Utah, Industry Pounces on What Were, Not Long Ago, Our Public Lands

October 10, 2018 DispatchUtahStarre Vartan

Cobalt mining and other interests lay claim to Grand Staircase–Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments, rankling local communities tied to these lands.

She Breathes In Pollution, and Fights It, in the Windy City

May 15, 2018 NRDC in ActionChicago, Illinois, Washington, D.C.Carmen Cusido

NRDC’s Gina Ramirez is helping to bring attention to the wafts of manganese dust that plague her family and neighbors on Chicago’s Southeast Side.

Saving Science in the Age of Trump

April 17, 2018 NRDC in ActionWashington, D.C., CaliforniaNicole Greenfield

The current administration’s suppression of data and information is unprecedented. But so are NRDC’s efforts to combat it.

Why Women Rule NRDC’s Science Center

March 27, 2018 NRDC in ActionSan Francisco, Washington, D.C., New York City, Ahmedabad, India, United StatesJenny Shalant

And why female leaders tend to be more attuned to issues of environmental equity.

The March for Equity, the Environment, and Women Are One, Says This Advocate

January 19, 2018 NRDC in ActionFlorida, Miami, Washington, D.C.Nicole Greenfield

NRDC’s Sasha Forbes talks environmental justice, and why women are often at the helm of this work.

This Is How We Stand Up to Trump

December 20, 2017 NRDC in ActionUnited States, Washington, D.C., Utah, Michigan, CaliforniaNicole Greenfield

Meet a handful of the NRDC staffers who resisted Trump’s attacks and defended our environment in 2017—and who won’t stop fighting anytime soon.

This Leader of the (Legal) Resistance Has Never Felt More Ready

December 7, 2017 NRDC in ActionWashington, D.C., Flint, Michigan, MaineJeff Turrentine

NRDC Chief Counsel Mitch Bernard takes on big polluters, climate deniers, and their powerful allies—including those who sit in the West Wing.

The Fight to Keep Oil and Gas Rigs Out of Our Waters. For Good.

October 3, 2017 NRDC in ActionAlaska, Florida, California, Washington, United StatesMelissa Denchak

NRDC played a key role in banning offshore drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic. Once again, it’s fighting to protect those oceans—and the rest of America’s waters.

A Veteran of Uphill Battles

March 13, 2017 NRDC in ActionWashington, D.C., United States, CanadaJordan Davidson

NRDC’s chief program officer, Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, knows that resistance takes persistence—and a lot of collaboration.

To Save These Rare Giraffes, Uganda Built an Ark (of Sorts)

October 26, 2016 DispatchAfricaTim Sohn

As poachers and oil drills threaten a recently war-torn national park, a team of rangers and scientists send an endangered herd on an epic journey.

Why the West Is Best (for Clean Energy)

October 5, 2016 DispatchColorado, Utah, New MexicoBecca Cudmore

Solar and wind power are booming in Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. Here are some secrets to their success.