Media Center

President Biden Can Take Action to Eliminate Shipping Emissions and Advance Environmental Justice

October 2, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

In a letter sent to President Biden on World Maritime Day, 32 organizations called for an Executive Order to decarbonize maritime shipping. The Biden administration has already made significant commitments to eliminate emissions from the shipping industry, as well as…

Exposing Even More Gulf Waters to Drilling “is the last thing we need – and the last place we need it.”

September 29, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced plans to expand the waters available in the Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling, as part of the new five-year leasing plan that will take effect in 2024.

Asm. Carrillo and Over 100 Organizations Call on Governor Newsom to Sign AB 1167, the Orphan Well Prevention Act

September 27, 2023 Press ReleaseLos Angeles

Today, Assemblymember Carrillo and over a dozen advocates with climate, community and environmental justice organizations held a press conference to call on Governor Gavin Newsom to hold oil companies accountable by signing the Orphan Well Prevention Act, AB 1167, into law…

FERC Demands Gas Reliability Legislation following “Unprecedented” Gas Outages in Winter Storm Elliott

September 21, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON – Today the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and North American Reliability Corporation (NERC) released a much-awaited report assessing the failures of gas generators throughout the eastern U.S. during Winter Storm Elliott, concluding that Congress and state legislatures need…

NRDC Digital Tool Tracks Political Opposition to Offshore Drilling

September 21, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON – NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is launching an updated digital tool today to help people track where their Members of Congress stand on offshore oil and gas drilling. The Biden administration is expected to release a final five-year plan for federal…

Green Banks Hold Promise for Equitable Climate Solutions in US and Globally

September 19, 2023 Press ReleaseUnited States

NEW YORK – The United States and countries around the world are poised to exponentially increase investments to accelerate the clean energy transition, according to participants at a Climate Week green bank event today in New York City, featuring a…

Orphan Wells Bill Advances One Step Closer to Governor's Desk

September 14, 2023 Press ReleaseSacramento

California’s senate has approved AB 1167, a bill a by Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo called the Orphan Well Prevention Act, which NRDC and Environment California are sponsoring. The act is designed to intervene before oil wells become “orphaned” without a financially…

House Majority Fiddles While Climate Crisis Burns

September 14, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON – After months of climate-fueled disasters around the nation and facing a deadline in just a few weeks to pass a budget, the House Majority instead wasted time today voting on a measure to try and prevent states from…

Army Corps Considers Continued Operation of Destructive Dakota Access Pipeline

September 8, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a draft environmental impact statement today for the operation of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which threatens the lands, water supply, and valuable cultural resources of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

Biden Administration to Cancel Arctic Refuge Oil and Gas Leases

September 6, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON – The Biden administration canceled Trump-era leases for oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, eliminating an imminent threat to drill within the refuge’s 1.6-million-acre Coastal Plain.

Governor Newsom and CA Legislature Agree on Path to Clean, Reliable Energy

September 1, 2023 Press ReleaseSacramento

Governor Gavin Newsom and the California state legislature have announced an agreement to protect the reliability of California's energy grid amid the state's transition to clean energy. The bill centers the procurement of clean electricity, expedition of electric infrastructure projects, strengthening…

U.S. Department of Transportation Suspends LNG by Rail Rule

September 1, 2023 Press ReleaseNew Jersey, Pennsylvania

According to the Federal Register, the U.S. Department of Transportation has suspended a rule promulgated by the Trump Administration that permits liquefied natural gas (LNG) transport by rail.

More than 150,000 People Called on Biden Administration to Fully Restore Endangered Species Act

August 21, 2023 Press ReleaseUnited States

More than 150,000 people are calling on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to fully restore the Endangered Species Act (ESA), following proposed regulations that resulted from federal lawsuits challenging harmful regulations…

NRDC: EPA’s Power Plant Carbon Standards Are Essential

August 8, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency is on the right path with its proposed standards to cut carbon pollution from power plants, according to comments environmental groups will submit to the agency today.

FERC Interconnection Efforts "Raise the Floor" on Grid Decarbonization Pathways

July 27, 2023 Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) held a meeting on a forthcoming rule to improve interregional transmission. During their presentation, commissioners previewed efforts to standardize processes across different grid operators, increase accountability for action, and usher…

PJM Report Confirms Blackout Danger from Poor Maintenance at Gas-Fired Power Plants

July 24, 2023 Press ReleaseUnited States

Today PJM gave a presentation on its detailed report on Winter Storm Elliott, which caused blackouts across the Southeast and threatened much wider problems within the eastern grid. At the meeting the operator confirmed what was established in the report has long…

Feds Propose New Critical Habitat Designation for Endangered Whale 

July 21, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

The National Marine Fisheries Service has submitted a proposed rule designating critical habitat for the highly endangered Rice’s whale. With only approximately 50 whales remaining, Rice’s whales are among the most endangered whales in the world, making this habitat designation essential…

Biden Administration Proposes Reforms to Oil and Gas Leasing on Public Lands

July 20, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON – The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released a proposal today to reform several aspects of onshore oil and gas leasing. The changes include increases to royalty and bonding rates, ending non-competitive leasing and several other measures…

President Biden Declines to Embargo Products from Mexico for Vaquita Violation

July 18, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

President Biden announced yesterday that he will not embargo products from Mexico despite its failure to halt the illegal wildlife trade threatening the critically endangered vaquita porpoise. The decision responds to the Secretary of the Interior’s recent certification under the…

House Majority’s Bill on Environmental Funding Is Atrocious

July 18, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON – The razor-thin House majority, after weeks of delay and concessions to the most extreme elements of its fractured conference, has put forward its version of the annual appropriations bill that funds most of the federal government’s environmental programs and priorities. The…