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.

A Veteran of Uphill Battles

NRDC in ActionWashington, D.C., United States, CanadaJordan Davidson
NRDC’s chief program officer, Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, knows that resistance takes persistence—and a lot of collaboration.

The Petcoke Problem: Where to Store the Risky Tar Sands Refining By-Product

ExplainerUnited States, Canada, Chicago, Detroit, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Virginia
Petroleum coke, typically stored outdoors in big open piles, can blow right into nearby homes and cause serious health problems. Unsurprisingly, communities are fighting Big Oil to keep this noxious material out of their backyards.

All’s Not Well

Latest NewsNorth DakotaSusan Cosier
North Dakota’s oil and gas boom is scaring away grassland birds.

The Latin Quarter

ExplainerInternational, Brazil, Mexico, Costa Rica, Peru, Colombia, PanamaBrian Palmer
Latin America is key to addressing climate change at the Paris conference. Why doesn’t it get more attention?

Stop, Drop, and Roll

DispatchChicagoSusan Cosier
Every week, barrels upon barrels of volatile crude oil crisscross Chicago by rail, endangering tens of thousands of schoolkids.

Kotzebue Calling

DispatchAlaska, ArcticBruce Barcott
President Obama’s trip to the Arctic will reveal some cold, hard truths about the fossil-fuel industry’s impact on Alaskans.

Northward Ho!

Latest NewsArctic, AlaskaAlisa Opar
Obama is headed to the Arctic. Here are five things the president should put on his must-do-in-Alaska list.

China Commits to Cleaning Up

ExplainerChinaNicole Greenfield
The planet's largest carbon emitter is taking steps to brighten their future—and the world's.

Killing KXL

NRDC in ActionCanada, Nebraska, Washington, D.C., United States
How an unlikely coalition of environmental activists stopped the destructive tar sands oil pipeline.

Thanks, Chevron?

ExplainerUnited States, Washington, D.C.Brian Palmer
How a 1984 Supreme Court ruling for Big Oil could help Obama’s new plan to fight climate change.

Remember the Kalamazoo

DispatchMichiganBrian Palmer
Five years ago, a pipeline spilled a million gallons of tar sands crude into a Michigan river—and we’re still cleaning it up.

Actually, That's Not Right

ExplainerUnited States, Washington, D.C.Jeff Turrentine
Calling the (many) bluffs of the Clean Power Plan’s coal-loving, credulity-straining opponents.

Coal-tural Revolution

Latest NewsChina
China wants to cap coal use by 2020. Can the world’s largest carbon polluter really do it?

Climate Game Change

Latest NewsChina
What you need to know about the historic U.S.-China climate agreement.

Lies the Koch Brothers Tell

ExplainerUnited States, Washington, D.C.
Charles and David Koch think you can’t handle the truth.