Media Center

U.S. to Decide Whether Mexico's Failure to Protect Vaquita Warrants Embargo

April 10, 2023 Press ReleaseNew York

In a settlement filed in court Friday, the U.S. Department of the Interior agreed to determine whether Mexico has failed to stop illegal fishing and trade of totoaba that is driving the vaquita porpoise’s extinction. The determination could result in…

Huntington Beach Disaster is Ugly, Sad Reminder: Offshore Drilling Risks are Real

October 4, 2021 Press ReleaseCalifornia

LOS ANGELES – The massive oil spill off Huntington Beach this weekend tarred and killed birds, fish and other marine life, inundating sensitive wetlands and threatening ecosystems, the community and the local economy. Officials have closed local beaches indefinitely in…

Gulf of Maine Lobster Fishery Temporarily Loses Sustainable Seafood Certification

August 5, 2020 Press ReleaseNew York

New York— The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has suspended its certification of the Gulf of Maine lobster fishery after determining that the fishery was potentially jeopardizing the survival of the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.

California Delivers Blow to Trump Administration’s Plan for Extinction in Bay-Delta

April 21, 2020 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SACRAMENTO – The California Attorney General, representing Governor Newsom and the State of California, filed a motion today in federal court for a preliminary injunction to stop the implementation of the Trump Administration’s biological opinions (permits under the Endangered Species…

Fishing and Conservation Groups Sue Country’s Largest Agricultural Water District Over Illegal Plot to Raise Shasta Dam

May 14, 2019 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SACRAMENTO – Yesterday, a coalition of fishing and conservation groups filed a lawsuit against Westlands Water District for unlawfully aiding efforts by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to raise Shasta Dam. The destructive project would flood critical parts of the…

Gov. Brown Appoints New Coastal Commissioners – Signaling Commitment to Coastal Protection

February 21, 2017 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SACRAMENTO — Governor Jerry Brown today appointed longtime progressive advocate Donne Brownsey and reappointed Effie Turnbull Sanders to the California Coastal Commission. Legislators voted this past fall to require inclusion of at least one commissioner who represents and works with…

Sonic Sea Debuts in Canada: Award-Winning Documentary Exposes Impact of Industrial Ocean Noise on Whales

July 26, 2016 Press ReleaseCalifornia

LOS ANGELES – An award-winning documentary film about the devastating impact of human-produced ocean noise on whales and other marine life will air on Discovery Canada on Sunday, July 31 at 7:00 p.m. An encore presentation will follow on Monday…

Federal Court: Navy Must Limit Long-Range Sonar Use to Protect Marine Mammal

July 18, 2016 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SAN FRANCISCO – In a unanimous rebuke, the Ninth Circuit court ruled Friday that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) had illegally approved a permit authorizing the Navy to use its high-intensity long-range sonar – called low-frequency active sonar (or…

Sonic Sea: Award-Winning Documentary Exposes Impact of Industrial Ocean Noise on Whales

May 6, 2016 Press ReleaseCalifornia

LOS ANGELES — An award-winning documentary film about the devastating impact of human-produced ocean noise on whales and other marine life will premiere globally on Discovery Channel this spring and tour both the United States and Europe throughout 2016. SONIC…

Ocean Victory: More than Two Dozen Undersea Atlantic Coral Canyons Now Protected

June 10, 2015 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK (June 10, 2015) — The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council today voted to protect 27 named deep sea canyons divided into 15 protection zones, as well as a vast swath of surrounding deep sea habitat, off the region’s coast…

Good-bye Polystyrene Tray. Hello Compostable Plate.

May 20, 2015 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK (May 20, 2015) – The Urban School Food Alliance (Alliance), a coalition of the largest school districts in the United States that includes New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami-Dade, Dallas and Orlando, announced that it will start…

Ruptured Pipeline Spills Oil Along Santa Barbara’s Coast

May 19, 2015 Press ReleaseCalifornia

LOS ANGELES (May 19, 2015) — A pipeline burst along Santa Barbara’s coast today, spilling an estimated 21,000 gallons of toxic crude oil in Santa Barbara’s waters and creating a four-mile oil slick.

NRDC honors Senator Barbara Boxer as a Force for Nature

May 15, 2015 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SAN FRANCISCO (May 15, 2015) – The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) will honor Senator Barbara Boxer tomorrow for her lifetime of trailblazing environmental achievements at the 15th “Forces for Nature” benefit. Her work will be celebrated at the Four…

Five Years After the BP Disaster, We’re Still Not Safe

April 16, 2015 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK (April 16, 2015) – Next Monday, April 20, marks five years since the catastrophic BP blowout in the Gulf of Mexico that killed 11 workers and dumped millions of barrels of crude oil into the sea. Five years…

Court Rules Navy War Games Violate Law Protecting Whales and Dolphins

March 31, 2015 Press ReleaseCalifornia

LOS ANGELES (March 31, 2015) —A federal court today announced that the U.S. Navy’s training and testing activities off the coast of Southern California and Hawaii illegally harm more than 60 whale, dolphin, seal, and sea lion populations. The U.S…

New Study: Rapid Ocean Acidification Threatens Coastal Economies in 15 States

February 23, 2015 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK (February 23, 2015) – The first nationwide vulnerability assessment for ocean acidification, published today in Nature Climate Change, shows that coastal communities in 15 states that depend on the nation’s approximately $1 billion shelled mollusk (e.g., oysters and…

Atlantic Ocean Council Fails to Protect East Coast Coral Canyons

February 11, 2015 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK (February 11, 2015) — The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council today postponed a vote on a protection plan for rare, ecologically-important and highly vulnerable deep sea coral communities off the region’s coast. The Council manages U.S. fisheries resources in…

Deep-Sea Discovery: Atlantic Coast Ocean Canyons Teeming with Newfound Marine Life and over 40 Species of Vibrant Deep-sea Coral

December 9, 2014 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK (December 9, 2014) -- Recent National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-led explorations into deep undersea canyons off the East Coast have uncovered a steady stream of scientific discoveries, including over 40 different species of corals, some potentially brand…

Federal Court Tosses Shell Oil Company’s Preemptive Suit Against Environmental Groups

November 12, 2014 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SAN FRANCISCO (November 12, 2014) – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected today a Shell Gulf of Mexico Inc. and Shell Offshore Inc. lawsuit that attempted to prevent environmental groups from challenging its oil drilling plans…

Suit Filed to Ensure Foreign Fisheries Meet American Standards for Dolphin and Whale Safety

July 2, 2014 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK— Each year, nearly half of the more than 5 billion pounds of seafood consumed by Americans — including tuna, swordfish, shrimp, cod and other fish — comes from foreign fisheries that have not been shown as meeting U.S…