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.

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.

What It Took to Create the Atlantic’s First Marine National Monument

NRDC in ActionConnecticut, Massachusetts, United StatesMelissa Denchak
After years of work by NRDC and its partners, about 5,000 square miles of ocean—with massive canyons, majestic underwater mountains, and more than 1,000 species—have received permanent protection.

Going Deep to Save Our Ocean Treasures

NRDC in ActionNew York, New JerseyLora Shinn
How NRDC helped form an unlikely alliance to help protect 38,000 square miles of unique habitat in the Atlantic.

The Battered Belugas of Cook Inlet

NRDC in ActionAlaskaNicole Greenfield
Only a few hundred beluga whales remain in Alaska’s Cook Inlet, and they’re facing threats from every direction.

What We Learned from the BP Oil Disaster

ExplainerUnited States, LouisianaPatrick Rogers
The resulting loss to life, livelihoods, and the environment hasn't slowed offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. But it should.

As India Goes, So Goes Civilization

Latest NewsIndiaBrian Palmer
How India builds its energy grid could decide the fate of humanity. Maybe we should help the country out.

The Woman Who Loves Orcas

DispatchAlaska, WestTed Genoways
Scientist, poet, and cancer survivor Eva Saulitis says that orcas saved her life. If only she could return the favor.

Hold the Applause

Latest NewsArcticBrian Palmer
Shell has left the Arctic for now, but the region isn’t safe from oil drills until the president locks the door.

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.

Not-So-Vacant Lots

DispatchNew Orleans, LouisianaAlisa Opar
From birds to trees to rats, post-Katrina New Orleans is a study in “disaster ecology.”

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.

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.

Bringing the Noise

Latest NewsArcticAlisa Opar
How will Shell’s Arctic drilling affect marine mammals in the Chukchi Sea?

Gone Fishing

PerspectivesLouisianaSarah Craig, Rocky Kistner
Come to the best sportfishing resort in the bayou (if only the trout would start biting again).