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Michigan's Gas Giveaway

Expert BlogMichiganAmulya Yerrapotu

The Michigan Legislature is currently considering a massive giveaway to gas utilities, tucked away in the state budget. This proposal would allocate $250 million of taxpayer money towards paying for gas utility infrastructure expansions, with no specification on how many…

Nurses Wanted in a City Long Plagued by Coal Plant Pollution

DispatchPeoriaMaudlyne Ihejirika
Through efforts to train a more diverse pool of nurses and create family-sustaining careers, workforce leaders in Peoria, Illinois, are jump-starting their economy and addressing the inequities of the past.

The West Coast: Carbon Free by 2045 . . . or Earlier

Expert BlogWest, California, Oregon, WashingtonRalph Cavanagh

HB 2021, Oregon’s “100% Clean Electricity” bill just approved by the legislature and sent to Governor Brown’s desk for signing, aligns with New York for the most aggressive state clean electricity goal in the country—zero greenhouse gas emissions in the…

Power Outages in Colorado: Why Now and How to Stay Safe

Expert BlogColoradoAriana Gonzalez, Sam Gilchrist

Hot days and climate-fueled disasters are the times we need reliable power the most, yet all too often, that’s when we experience blackouts. Keep reading to learn about why Colorado is experiencing blackouts, how to prepare and protect your family…

Colorado Steps Up for Healthy Homes and Good Jobs

Expert BlogColoradoAlejandra Mejia Cunningham

New laws will put Colorado’s building sector on track to meet the state’s climate goals and ensure that the transition to healthy, 100% clean energy buildings will result in good, family-sustaining jobs for those who need them most.

The PA General Assembly Should Pass the RGGI Investments Act

Expert BlogPennsylvaniaMark Szybist

As Pennsylvania draws nearer to participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, Pennsylvanians are increasingly interested in how the state will invest the proceeds it receives from the auction of RGGI allowances—likely hundreds of millions of dollars per year.

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.

Smart RGGI Investments Can Lower Electricity Bills in PA

Expert BlogPennsylvaniaMark Szybist

Investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) can help lower electricity bills for Pennsylvanians, as well as improve public health, our climate, and Pennsylvania’s economy.

PA Bill Would Block Local Efforts to Clean Up Buildings

Expert BlogPennsylvaniaMark Szybist

After an extra dark, long, COVID winter, the trees are finally in bloom and the birds are singing. Unfortunately, it’s also the season when bills that would stifle Pennsylvania’s transition to a brighter clean energy future are popping up in…

A New Customer Bill of Rights: Affordable Utility Services

Expert BlogIllinois, United StatesDeron Lovaas, Larry Levine
The vital need for uninterrupted utility service was evident before the coronavirus pandemic, but the COVID-19 public health emergency has reinforced the essential nature of utility service and the threats of energy and water poverty.

Brief Filed in Lawsuit to Protect Delaware River from PCBs

Expert BlogNew Jersey, PennsylvaniaMarisa Guerrero, Julia Jonas-Day
Water quality in the Delaware River is under threat of PCB chemical pollution from a proposed liquefied natural gas export terminal. To protect the river, NRDC filed an amicus brief in a federal lawsuit challenging the facility's dredging and construction…

Fix the MOPR Problem With a Dose of Humility

Expert BlogPennsylvania, New JerseyTom Rutigliano
The MOPR problem, and the other issues that have turned PJM into a barrier to decarbonization need to be fixed once and for all.

Colorado’s SB 246 a Major Step Toward Healthier Homes

Expert BlogColoradoAlejandra Mejia Cunningham
Colorado Senate Majority Leader Steve Fenberg introduced a much-needed proposal this legislative session to help Coloradans transition to healthier homes powered by affordable, clean electricity.

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.

Time to Bury Big Oil's Criminal Enhancement Bill for Good

Expert BlogIllinoisJ.C. Kibbey
An Illinois legislator is pushing for a bill which would significantly enhance criminal penalties for anyone entering or causing damage to a very widely defined group of “critical infrastructure facilities,” effectively chilling peaceful exercise of freedom of speech, and threatening…

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…