Media Center

Environmental Groups React to Final Rule for Oil and Gas Leasing on Federal Lands

April 12, 2024 Press ReleaseWest

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) today finalized its updated rule governing oil and gas leasing and permitting on federal lands. The rules will apply to the hundreds of millions of acres of public lands that remain open to oil…

White House Announces Modernized Leasing Rule To Support Green Energy Development

April 11, 2024 Press ReleaseUnited States

WASHINGTON — The Biden Administration announced a new rule that reforms public land leasing to assist in the expansion of green energy production while protecting delicate ecosystems and communities.

New Rule Targets Methane Waste On Federal Lands

March 27, 2024 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON — In an effort to curb dirty methane pollution, the Bureau of Land Management released a new rule that charges industry operators for unnecessarily wasting publicly owned methane on federal and tribal lands. Right now, more than 150 billion…

Regulators Move to Reject Proposed LNG Storage Facility in Albuquerque

February 21, 2024 Press ReleaseNew Mexico

A top hearing examiner today recommended that the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission reject a proposal to build a liquefied natural gas storage facility in northwest Albuquerque on grounds that it is not needed, provides no public benefit, and has…

NRDC Backs WH Pause on LNG Exports Far into the Future: "The Stakes Could Not Be Higher”

January 26, 2024 Press ReleaseUnited States, International

WASHINGTON (Jan. 26, 2024) - The Biden administration hit pause on new LNG export permits while it revaluates the criteria by which it determines whether it’s in the public interest to permit massive new projects that would expand exports of…

“State of the Forest” Report Countering Canada's Annual Account of Logging’s Sustainability

January 18, 2024 Press ReleaseCanada

In a first-of-its-kind joint report released today, leading North American environmental organizations have challenged the Canadian federal government’s annual account of the country’s forestry sector that understates the impacts of industrial logging.

Supreme Court Rejects Lawsuit to Reverse EPA Protections for Bristol Bay

January 8, 2024 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

The United States Supreme Court today rejected the State of Alaska’s unusual lawsuit seeking to challenge, directly in that court, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Water Act veto of the Pebble Mine. The decision means any challenge to EPA’s…

FERC approves Major Milestone for Western Grid Integration

December 21, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON – Federal regulators yesterday approved a new program that will allow utilities in the western U.S. to share resources more efficiently. The new Extended Day-Ahead Market (EDAM) allows utilities to buy and sell electricity for the following day, helping…

Biden Administration Announces Action to Protect Old Growth Forests

December 19, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON — The Department of Agriculture unveiled a proposed nationwide forest plan amendment focused on protecting federal old-growth forests. The proposal would amend all land management plans governing the National Forest System with new directions for the management of old growth…

NRDC: COP28 Sends Clear Message: Twilight for Fossil Fuels

December 13, 2023 Press ReleaseUnited States

WASHINGTON — Global climate talks concluded in Dubai with an agreement to triple renewable energy, double the pace of energy-efficiency gains, phase-out fossil fuels, and end deforestation and forest degradation as part of a larger long-term strategy to steadily reduce…

Report: U.S. Must Ban Seafood From 11 Nations Over Whale, Dolphin Deaths 

November 30, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

A report issued today by conservation groups finds that 11 nations have at least some fisheries that fail to meet U.S. standards for preventing whale and dolphin bycatch. Entanglement in fishing gear kills hundreds of thousands of marine mammals around…

Countries Establish Historic Loss and Damage Fund

November 30, 2023 Press ReleaseInternational

DUBAI - On the opening day of the COP28 UN climate summit, governments adopted the governing instrument to formally establish a new fund to support particularly vulnerable countries dealing with loss and damage resulting from climate change. An initial group…

Amid Chemical Industry Misinformation, Advocates Push for Governor Hochul to Stand Up for Pollinators, Public Health

November 15, 2023 Press ReleaseNew York

Today a coalition of environmental, health, and farm groups gathered outside Governor Kathy Hochul’s office to ask her to sign the Birds and Bees Protection Act (S1856-A/A7640), which has been sitting on her desk since June.

U.S.–China Accord Sets Foundation of Ambition for Climate Talks in Dubai 

November 14, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C., China

The United States and China, which together account for 43 percent of world GDP and about 36 percent of global greenhouse gases, agreed Tuesday on important goals to reduce methane and the carbon pollution from burning coal and to raise…

240 Groups Urge Biden Administration to Take Bold Action on Plastic Pollution

November 9, 2023 Press ReleaseUnited States

As negotiations for a global plastics treaty are scheduled to resume in Nairobi, Kenya, 240 U.S. environmental, public health, and other NGOs sent a letter to the Biden administration today calling for stricter limits on plastic pollution and a crackdown…

Biden Administration Signs Off On Low-Carbon Materials for 150 Federal Projects

November 6, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON — Today the General Services Administration (GSA) announced $2 billion in investments for clean materials in federal construction projects. This initiative advances commitments made a year ago to accelerate Buy Clean efforts within the GSA and Department of Transportation…

Laura Daniel-Davis the Right Pick for Interior Post

November 2, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has named Laura Daniel-Davis acting deputy secretary of the Department of the Interior.

NOAA Denies Key Protections in Fight to Protect Rice’s Whale

October 31, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

On Friday, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries denied a petition to establish a 10-knot vessel speed limit and other protective measures in the Gulf of Mexico to protect the endangered Rice’s whale, which is estimated to have a…

DOE Makes Vital Investment in Grid Expansion

October 19, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON – Today the Department of Energy announced a significant investment of $3.46 billion for 58 projects across 44 states to strengthen electric grid resilience and reliability across America. 

EPA Cuts HFC Use in Air Conditioning, Supermarket Refrigerators

October 6, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON – In a move supported by both environmental groups and industry associations, the Environmental Protection Agency finalized standards that will phase out the most climate-warming hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in key applications -- from aerosols to heat pumps; supermarket refrigerators to…