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.

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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.

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Why Illinois Has a Power Supply Crunch, and How to Fix It

Expert BlogIllinoisJ.C. Kibbey
Market forces have driven a lot of coal power offline in the past decade—but regulatory barriers and outdated thinking by some utilities has led to missed opportunities to expand affordable clean energy resources.

Time to End Consumers Energy’s Use of Coal

Expert BlogMichiganDerrell E. Slaughter
Consumers Energy wants to speed up the retirement of its remaining coal plant—the J.H. Campbell Power Plant, located just outside of Grand Rapids—as part of its plan to become carbon-neutral by 2040.

Community Resilience for All

Expert BlogChicago, IllinoisMarissa Ramirez

Latinos Progresando is one of the first community organizations to go all-electric in the Chicago Area. With a small amount of funds to cover the energy assessment, upgrades not only reduced energy costs, but allowed the building to fully electrify…

Illinois Passes Nation-Leading, Equitable Climate Bill

Expert BlogIllinoisJ.C. Kibbey

Illinois has passed the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (SB2408) into law, redefining the possible and positioning the state as a national leader on equitable climate action.

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.

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 Unlikely Takedown of Keystone XL

NRDC in ActionNebraska, South Dakota, Canada, MontanaCourtney Lindwall
The notorious tar sands pipeline was a lightning rod in the fight against climate change and the seemingly unstoppable oil industry. NRDC advocates were part of a broad coalition that helped stop Keystone XL—for good.

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.

Time to Repeal New England’s Anti-Consumer Dirty Energy Rule

Expert BlogEast, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, ConnecticutBruce Ho
The arcane Minimum Offer Price Rule threatens to frustrate New England's efforts to tackle the climate crisis while raising electricity bills by $3 billion dollars over 10 years.

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…

Fighting Inequity with Solar Power

DispatchMinneapolis, St. PaulSusan Cosier
Minneapolis’s 4d program to boost energy efficiency and affordable housing in the city is kicking it up a notch.

Stressed by Heat, Farmworkers Deserve Federal Protections

Expert BlogCalifornia, Washington, MinnesotaTeniope Adewumi-Gunn
Unprotected from many basic workplace rights and in the face of a growing climate crisis that threatens their well-being, farmworkers deserve federal safeguards from extreme heat and its dangerous effects.

MISO and SPP Can Benefit from a More Connected Grid

Expert BlogTexas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Kansas, MissouriToba Pearlman

Electric grids across the Midwest, South, and in Texas failed a key resilience test during last month’s winter storm, and one key conclusion is clear: The grids connected via transmission lines fared significantly better than those isolated and on their…

Cities Are Leading the Way: 2020 Wins & Look Ahead

Expert BlogUnited States, Charlotte, Honolulu, Pittsburgh, St. LouisJay Orfield, Kimi Narita
Cities made tremendous progress in their climate challenge goals throughout a difficult 2020. Now, cities are eyeing all that is possible in the new year.