News & Commentary

The Uinta Basin Railway Would Be a Bigger Carbon Bomb Than Willow

December 13, 2023 ExplainerUtah, Colorado, United StatesNicole Greenfield

The project could sabotage U.S. climate goals, send oil-filled trains along the Colorado River, and pollute the air from Utah to the Gulf Coast.

Risky Realities—Recognizing the Harms of Global LNG Expansion

December 4, 2023 Expert BlogInternational, United States, Africa, MexicoJamie Lee, Mima Holt

Liquefied natural gas should be phased out in tandem with other fossil fuels, paving the way for renewable energy to meet international climate and sustainable development goals.

Water Is Life—from Standing Rock to Oaxaca’s Mixtecan Highlands

September 18, 2023 PerspectivesMexico, West, South DakotaElybeth Sofia Alcantar

A geographer sees a familiar pattern of government-backed energy projects devastating Indigenous communities and violating tribal sovereignty.  

RGGI States Learning and Sharing On Climate and Equity

June 6, 2023 Expert BlogEast, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, VirginiaJackson Morris

A new report finds that the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative delivers on jobs, emissions reduction, and economic benefits—and provides a framework to address equity in the future.

Colorado River Carbon Bomb: Utah's Uinta Railway Project

April 6, 2023 Expert BlogUnited States, UtahJosh Axelrod

Backers of a proposed crude-by-rail project in northeastern Utah—which would unleash a carbon bomb potentially larger than the controversial Willow Project—want taxpayer support to the tune of $2 billion.

Delaware River Commission Further Guards Basin from Fracking

December 19, 2022 Expert BlogDelaware, New Jersey, New York, PennsylvaniaSahana Rao

The Delaware River Basin Commission has moved to further protect the 13,579 square-mile watershed by finalizing new rules that, among other things, ban the discharge of fracking wastewater.

PennEast Gas Pipeline Cancelled by Developers

September 27, 2021 Expert BlogNew York, New Jersey, Delaware, PennsylvaniaSahana Rao

Development of the PennEast Pipeline has been put on hold! This fracked gas pipeline would be disastrous for the Delaware River Basin and would exacerbate the climate crisis—here’s how we can stop the pipeline permanently.

NRDC Sets Region Specific Water Targets for Each Office

August 10, 2021 Expert BlogUnited States, New York City, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Bozeman, Beijing, San Francisco, Santa MonicaMaria McCain

NRDC has seen a steady decline in total water usage institution-wide and has taken steps to advance water stewardship.

Latin America at the Leaders Summit on Climate

April 23, 2021 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…

Fracking Banned in the Delaware River Basin!

February 25, 2021 Expert BlogNew York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, DelawareMarisa Guerrero, Kimberly Ong

The historic vote, made today by the Delaware River Basin Commission, signals a strong stance in favor of a fossil fuel–free future.

Monarch Butterflies Struggle as Feds Delay Protection

December 15, 2020 Expert BlogMexico, United StatesDr. Sylvia Fallon

In the last six years, many voluntary efforts have been made to help boost monarch populations. Now the butterflies will have to wait even longer to receive more help.

Mario Molina's Life Understanding, Protecting Our Atmosphere

October 13, 2020 Expert BlogUnited States, MexicoDavid Doniger, Amanda Maxwell

Remembering Dr. Mario Molina, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his 1974 discovery of the mortal threat to the earth’s protective ozone layer from chlorofluorocarbons.

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.

The Desire to Stop Canadian Tar Sands Transcends Borders

January 10, 2019 NRDC in ActionAlberta, Canada, Nebraska, Chicago, IllinoisNicole Greenfield

For more than a decade, NRDC has worked with indigenous communities in Alberta, U.S.-based grassroots groups, and intergovernmental bodies to halt the expansion of dirty tar sands oil.

The Festering Sanitation Crisis at Our Border

December 3, 2018 DispatchArizona, Mexico, CaliforniaTim Vanderpool

As the Trump administration ratchets up its rhetoric demanding billions for a wall, American communities along the Mexico border are in need of basic services, like reliable sewage treatment.

Will China Save the Planet?

November 27, 2018 NRDC in ActionBeijing, ChinaNicole Greenfield

Barbara Finamore, NRDC’s senior strategic director for Asia, witnessed the birth of China’s clean energy movement. Her new book considers its future.

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.

The Sordid Backstory Behind the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Decisions

March 9, 2018 Latest NewsUtahJeff Turrentine

A lawsuit forced Ryan Zinke’s Interior Department to disclose files relating to the shrinking of national monuments. It’s easy to see why he wanted them to stay hidden.

For the Delaware River Basin, a Partial Fracking Ban Is a Partial Victory

January 11, 2018 DispatchDelaware, New York, Pennsylvania

Proposed regulations would still allow wastewater to be disposed of in the watershed, with risks to both drinking water and the environment.

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.