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The Supreme Court Ends Chevron Deference—What Now?

ExplainerUnited StatesJeff Turrentine
For one, the ability of federal agencies like the EPA to set rules and enforce environmental protections now shrinks.
An illustration of two people lying down on grass surrounded by flowers on one side and litter on the other, with one person holding a ladybug in their hands

It’s Time to Talk about Climate Anxiety

ExplainerUnited StatesJenny Shalant
Don’t bottle it up—openly acknowledging your climate anxiety and grief gives you the power to heal and move forward.
A brightly colored illustration showing a green hydrogen hub. A container ship on a waterway and a hydrogen production and storage facility are in the foreground, a solar panel array and wind turbines are in the mid-ground, and a city and sunset sky are in the distance.

Can Hydrogen Help Combat the Climate Crisis?

ExplainerUnited StatesSusan Cosier
Hydrogen hubs across the country seek to fuel high-emission industries with cleaner energy.

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Delta Voluntary Agreements Are a “Plan to Fail” in Droughts

Expert BlogCaliforniaDoug Obegi
Rather than planning for droughts and ensuring that minimum water quality objectives are achieved in critically dry years, the proposed voluntary agreement appears to be a “plan to fail” to protect the Delta in future droughts.

Bay-Delta VA: A Sweetheart Deal to Subsidize Agribusiness

Expert BlogCaliforniaDoug Obegi
It’s not surprising, given who was in the room negotiating this backroom deal, that the VAs are a sweetheart deal that would subsidize the mitigation obligations of the state’s largest irrigation districts and industrial agribusinesses, undermining the Public Trust.

Running on Empty: Is California Doing Enough on Drought?

Expert BlogCaliforniaTracy Quinn
Pacific Institute’s report, Untapped Potential, shows communities are using less water, even with an increase in population. The report also shows that we still have significant opportunities to continue to improve water efficiency and develop cost-effective supplies.

Honey, the VAs Shrunk the Delta Flows

Expert BlogCaliforniaDoug Obegi
Since the State Water Resources Control Board began its public process to update the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan in 2008, the amount of water proposed for the Bay-Delta environment has continuously shrunk.

Who (and What) Are Excluded from Backroom Bay-Delta "Deal"

Expert BlogCaliforniaDoug Obegi
The State’s recent announcement of a proposed voluntary agreement for the Bay-Delta watershed is the result of an illegitimate, exclusionary backroom negotiation that fails to protect the health of the estuary, its native fish and wildlife, and the jobs and…

Drought Shows that CA’s Water Rights System Is Bankrupt

Expert BlogCaliforniaDoug Obegi
The only way out of this cycle of destruction—other than praying for rain, which is not a strategy—is to reduce water deliveries and diversions in order to maintain adequate carryover storage in Shasta and upstream reservoirs this year.

Saving California's Salmon Is Now Up to Governor Newsom

Expert BlogCaliforniaKate Poole
Keeping the Trump administration's biological opinions in place would likely drive California’s wild salmon—as well as their habitat in the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary and all who depend on them—into a death spiral from which they may never recover.

Get Ready for Climate Whiplash from DWR’s February Forecast

Expert BlogCaliforniaDoug Obegi
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation hasn’t and DWR need to reconsider the water supply allocations announced to date and limit water allocations to human health and safety until there is more certainty about how much water there will be this…

Western Climate Initiative: OR & WA Add Caps to CA's AB32

Expert BlogCalifornia, Oregon, Washington, WestRalph Cavanagh
In 2021, fifteen years after California made climate history by becoming the first US state to adopt an economy-wide carbon emissions cap, Oregon and Washington completed a West Coast hat trick by becoming the second and third. Well, almost.

California Drought: Deja Vu All Over Again

Expert BlogCaliforniaKate Poole

It’s time for California's State Water Resources Control Board and other decisionmakers to take the reins of drought management away from Department of Water Resources.

Biden Admin Takes 1st Step to Undo Trump’s Delta Destruction

Expert BlogCaliforniaDoug Obegi

The Trump Administration’s biological opinions were the result of scientific misconduct, political interference, and bias. The end result is nothing short of a plan for extinction that is playing out before our eyes.

California’s Wildly Inequitable Water Rights System

Expert BlogCaliforniaKate Poole

It's time to put the interests of the community above the interests of the ancestors of a handful of white settlers who staked their claim to our public resources over a century ago.

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.