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Expert Blogs

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LA Must Tackle Clean Buildings & Affordable Housing Together

Expert BlogLos Angeles, CaliforniaStefan Schaffer, Michele Knab Hasson, Megan Ross

Currently, LA’s building stock is responsible for 43% of the city’s total greenhouse gas emissions. A recent report dives deep into the complex relationship between getting fossil fuels out of buildings and creating and preserving affordable housing in Los Angeles…

California Enacts Plan for Smart Offshore Wind Development

Expert BlogCaliforniaSandy Aylesworth, Mohit Chhabra

When AB 525 became law last month, California set the standard for floating offshore wind energy development in the United States. The law requires California to develop offshore wind in a way that creates good jobs, protects California's unparalleled marine…

Madison Commits to Food Waste Reduction

Expert BlogWisconsin, MadisonMadeline Keating

A new resolution passed by the Madison, WI Common Council sets a food waste diversion goal of 50% from the landfill by 2030 and commits to establishing metrics for measuring and tracking progress.

The Chlorpyrifos Ban Is a Win for Science—and Children

NRDC in ActionCaliforniaNicole Greenfield
NRDC advocates and our partners spent decades fighting against a highly toxic pesticide that harms kids, farmworkers, and their families. In August, the EPA finally banned it.

Oregon’s Can’t-Miss Chance to Lead on Clean Trucks Is Here

Expert BlogOregonPatricio Portillo

This year, Oregon has the can't-miss opportunity to adopt the Advanced Clean Trucks and Heavy-Duty Omnibus rules. In doing so, Oregon will decrease reliance on fossil fuels and transitioning to clean energy in the transportation sector to protect hearts and…

Living Among the Diesel Trucks: My Environmental Injustice Story

PerspectivesCaliforniaAndrea Guerra
To a college student who grew up surrounded by heavy truck traffic, warehouses, and commercial hubs in one of California’s most polluted communities, the push to electrify transportation is more than just urgent health policy—it’s personal.

Celebrating Year One of the Food Matters Regional Initiative

Expert BlogChicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, Madison, Ohio, Baltimore, Jersey City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, North Carolina, Memphis, OrlandoMadeline Keating, Darby Hoover

A year after the launch of the Food Matters Regional Initiative, we are pleased to report considerable progress and accomplishments from the 15 regional initiative participants.

Port of LA Revives the Environmentally Unjust SCIG Railyard

Expert BlogLos Angeles, CaliforniaHeather Kryczka

Air pollution from SCIG would exacerbate health problems, including asthma rates, cancer rates, and premature deaths, for people who are already overburdened by diesel pollution associated with the nearby San Pedro Bay Ports.

CA PFAS Pollution Widespread in Disadvantaged Communities

Expert BlogCaliforniaDr. Anna Reade, Susan Lee

A report published by NRDC, along with its partners Community Water Center, Physicians for Social Responsibility – Los Angeles, and Clean Water Action, finds that drinking water throughout California is contaminated with harmful PFAS chemicals, particularly in already overburdened communities.

Fighting Climate Change Through Farming

DispatchCaliforniaAlisa Opar
In Central California, small ranches and farms are growing their connections—to the land, to the past, and to each other.

California’s Lead Problem: Partials Aren't Good Enough

Expert BlogCaliforniaCorinne Bell

President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda is a big opportunity for California to create high quality water-related jobs, to protect Californians, and to right the state’s course on lead pipe replacements.

NRDC Sets Region Specific Water Targets for Each Office

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.

California’s NEM 3.0 Must Grow Rooftop Solar Sustainably

Expert BlogCaliforniaJulia de Lamare, Mohit Chhabra

One of the foremost challenges that the California Public Utilities Commission faces in developing a new net energy metering policy, called NEM 3.0, is to ensure that rooftop solar continues to grow sustainably in California as required by law.

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…

It’s Time to End Subsidies for New Gas Hook-Ups

Expert BlogCaliforniaMerrian Borgeson

California utility customers contribute over $100 million every year to subsidize gas connections for new customers. But it doesn’t make sense to keep extending gas pipelines as California moves away from using fossil fuels that add to the climate problem…

Ocean Wind Becomes California’s Future Power

Expert BlogCaliforniaSandy Aylesworth, Mohit Chhabra

Department of Interior advances leasing for offshore wind energy development in California offshore waters, ending years-long impasse with the Department of Defense.