News & Commentary

Meet the activists and NRDC staff propelling change, read our expert analysis, and learn about the latest challenges and solutions to advancing a healthier, more sustainable, and equitable world.

Latest News

Stay on top of the latest research, policy updates, publication releases, and environmental news. 

Explainer

Get a breakdown of complex climate, public health, nature, and equity topics to inform your activism.

Dispatch

Read about activists tackling climate justice and other environmental causes in their communities and beyond.

Perspectives

Discover intersectional viewpoints from activists and artists on the environmental issues of the moment.

NRDC in Action

Find out how NRDC protects people and the planet by learning about some of our key fights.

Expert Blogs

Hear from our policy advocates, scientists, and litigators about the challenges and solutions for building a healthier and more just world.

SFI Offers Greenwashing of Unsustainable Logging

Expert BlogUnited States, CanadaCourtenay Lewis
As the climate crisis intensifies, scientists stress that conserving never-logged primary forests must be a global priority for protecting carbon stores.

New Jersey Enacts Groundbreaking Neonic Legislation

Expert BlogNew JerseyLucas Rhoads
New Jersey has enacted legislation that significantly curtails use of neonicotinoid pesticides, or "neonics," insect-killers that are a leading cause of mass bee losses, contribute to declines in birds and other wildlife, and pose risks to human health.

Western Climate Initiative: OR & WA Add Caps to CA's AB32

Expert BlogCalifornia, Oregon, Washington, WestRalph Cavanagh
In 2021, fifteen years after California made climate history by becoming the first US state to adopt an economy-wide carbon emissions cap, Oregon and Washington completed a West Coast hat trick by becoming the second and third. Well, almost.

Pebble Mine 2021 Year in Review: Back to the Future at EPA

Expert BlogAlaskaJoel Reynolds
Destructive Bristol Bay mega-mine is all but dead following EPA’s re-start in 2021 of Clean Water Act 404(c) process for region’s lasting protection, long sought by Bristol Bay tribes and communities.

Clean Trucks Rules Are NJ’s First Step

Expert BlogNew JerseyKathy Harris, Patricio Portillo
By adopting the Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) rule—which requires an increasing number of zero-emission truck sales each year in the state—New Jersey took a major step to reduce harmful air pollution.

Independent Review Rejects Pebble Mine Economic Analysis

Expert BlogAlaskaJoel Reynolds

Citing major flaws in Pebble Mine’s Preliminary Economic Assessment, Rio Tinto’s former Environment Chief concludes destructive Bristol Bay mining project risks losing “many hundreds of millions to multiple billions of dollars."

WA & OR Solidify West Coast Vehicle Electrification

Expert BlogWashington, OregonPatricio Portillo, Dr. Simon Mui

Adopting the Clean Trucks Program in Oregon and the Advanced Clean Trucks and Zero Emission Vehicle Programs in Washington solidifies the West Coast as one of the world’s biggest markets for electric vehicles.

EPA Sets Schedule for Bristol Bay Protections

Expert BlogAlaskaTaryn Kiekow Heimer

Demonstrating its commitment to ending the threat of large-scale mining to the world’s most productive wild salmon fishery, EPA announced a new timeframe for considering whether to permanently protect Bristol Bay and stop the Pebble Mine.

Groups Urge EPA to Protect Bristol Bay by Summer 2022

Expert BlogAlaskaTaryn Kiekow Heimer

More than 50 groups urge EPA to issue permanent protections for Bristol Bay, Alaska under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act by the start of the 2022 fishing season. 

A Chance to Coordinate on Offshore Wind

Expert BlogNew York, New Jersey, EastCullen Howe

Offshore wind energy is essential for transitioning the grid to a clean energy future. Recognizing this reality, coastal states such as New York and New Jersey are working to add more offshore wind to their energy mix but have not…

Portland POEM Project Models Equitable Transportation Plans

Expert BlogPortland (Oregon), OregonElizabeth Stampe

As Americans readjust to life as our communities reopen, we’re unfortunately also seeing more traffic and tailpipe pollution. But Portland, Oregon, is looking to chart a different path forward.

Court Vacates Trump Reversal of Bristol Bay Protections

Expert BlogAlaskaTaryn Kiekow Heimer

Granting EPA motion to vacate, federal judge in Alaska reinstates safeguards against widely condemned Pebble Mine, dealing latest blow to embattled copper and gold mine in world's greatest wild salmon fishery

Canada’s Accounting Artifice Masks Logging’s Climate Toll

Expert BlogCanadaJennifer Skene

A new report from NRDC, Nature Canada, Environmental Defence Canada, and Nature Québec illustrates that, through a series of accounting and regulatory loopholes, the Government of Canada has drawn a curtain over the logging industry’s carbon emissions, allowing the sector…

Biden Team Moves to Save the Boundary Waters

Expert BlogMinnesotaDavid Doniger

The Biden administration’s very welcome decision to block sulfide-ore copper mining on the edges of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is personal to me and my family. My in-laws have roots there going back more than a century, and…

Orcas Lose a Grandmother, Matriarch L47

Expert BlogWashington, OregonGiulia C.S. Good Stefani

This Saturday is Orca Recovery Day and people are coming together for some healing—and to demand action.

Pulp Fiction: New Report Shows P&G Is Spinning Tales

Expert BlogUnited States, CanadaCourtenay Lewis

In recent years, P&G has faced mounting criticism over the fact that many of its tissue products are made from virgin forests, which is contributing to the clearcutting of some of the world’s last primary forests, including in the climate-critical…

Clean Trucks Rules Are Good for New Jersey

Expert BlogNew JerseyKathy Harris, Shelby Parks

A new, independent report shows that zero-emission trucks and buses will cut health-harming pollutants in New Jersey, protect lives, and provide $11.6 billion in societal benefits to the state over the next 30 years through a Clean Trucks New Jersey…