Media Center

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…

Biden Administration Won’t Update Health Limits for Ozone by 2024

August 21, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency will not finish by 2024 its reconsideration of an unsafe ozone health standard left in place by the Trump administration, the agency announced today. Instead, EPA will start its review over, significantly delaying the process…

“Forever Chemicals” Data from EPA Shows Widespread Contamination but Is “Most Certainly” an Underestimate of PFAS Contaminating Tap Water

August 17, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) released the first tranche of testing data for PFAS in drinking water that found hundreds of water systems are contaminated with the toxic “forever chemicals.”

Court Rejects Trump Administration Denial of Critical Habitat Protection to Endangered Rusty Patched Bumblebees

August 14, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

A federal judge on Friday rejected the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to refuse to designate critical habitat for highly endangered rusty patched bumblebees and ordered the Service to reconsider. Despite the bees having been listed as an endangered…

NRDC: Biden Protects Iconic Grand Canyon Lands and Waters

August 8, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON (Aug. 8, 2023) — President Biden today established the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni - Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument, under the Antiquities Act, permanently protecting more than 900,000 acres of some of the most iconic landscape…

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.

NEPA Proposals Support Climate Action, Clean Energy Build-Out

July 28, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C., United States

The Biden administration proposed phase-two regulations for the National Environmental Policy Act, the landmark 1970 law that guides federal agencies in the review of major projects and decision-making.

New National Monuments Recall Courage in the Face of Racial Terror

July 25, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON (July 25, 2023) – The Biden administration named three new national monuments under the Antiquities Act to memorialize Emmett Till and to honor the work of his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, in memory of an egregious act of racial terror.

DOE’s Water Heater Standards Promise Substantial Energy Savings

July 21, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced updated energy efficiency standards for residential water heaters today promising substantial energy savings of 27 quadrillion BTUs ("quads") of energy over the next 30 years and reduced energy bills for consumers.

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…

NRDC Report: Building Batteries Better

July 10, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON – A new report from NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) lays out key strategies so the transition away from fossil fuels and to electric vehicles can drive better mining practices.

Feds Approve Dangerous and Destructive Mountain Valley Pipeline

June 29, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

“When you’re in a hole as deep as the climate crisis, the worst thing is to keep digging. This destructive and unnecessary pipeline was rubber stamped with complete disregard for its climate impacts, the safety of communities along its route…

Joint Statement on Supreme Court Decision to Strike Down Affirmative Action in College Admissions

June 29, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

Today, seven top environmental organizations released a joint statement following the Supreme Court’s decision on the future of affirmative action programs in college admissions.

Inflation Reduction Act to Drive Historic Clean Energy Transition

June 29, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON – A new compilation of government, academic, industry and other analyses provides the strongest evidence yet that the Inflation Reduction Act is poised to drive a historic transformation of the U.S. economy toward cleaner, renewable energy.

California Legislature Strengthens Infrastructure Trailer Bill Package to Protect Communities and the Environment

June 27, 2023 Press ReleaseSacramento

California’s legislature has agreed to a significantly modified set of infrastructure trailer bills to accompany the 2023-2024 budget bills, significantly strengthening the proposed trailer bills in order to better protect communities and the environment.

Shooting Weapons into the Potomac: Groups Sue Navy for Failure to Get Clean Water Act Permit

June 21, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON, DC  – Potomac Riverkeeper Network (PRKN) and NRDC (the Natural Resources Defense Council) filed a lawsuit today against the U.S. Navy in federal court in Maryland over violations of the Clean Water Act.