Media Center

GAO Report: Drinking Water at Risk from Underground Fracking Waste Injection

July 28, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (July 28, 2014) – The Environmental Protection Agency’s program to protect drinking water sources from the underground injection of fracking waste needs improvement, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. Underground injection of fracking waste has…

Governor Brown Extends Climate Commitment Across Border

July 28, 2014 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SACRAMENTO (July 28, 2014) – California Governor Jerry Brown signed a climate change memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Mexico's Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources today. This California-Mexico accord follows a series of MOUs Governor Brown has signed with leaders…

McCarthy Lays out Clear Case for Clean Power Plan

July 23, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (July 23, 2014) – Natural Resources Defense Council President Frances Beinecke issued the following statement after Gina McCarthy, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, testified before a congressional panel on carbon pollution standards: “Gina McCarthy laid out a compelling…

Federal Support Could Spur Construction of Cape Wind by End of Year

July 1, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (July 1, 2014) — The U.S. Department of Energy today gave the Cape Wind offshore wind project a major boost by providing a $150 million loan guarantee that could prove key to attracting the remaining financing for the project…

Supreme Court Greenlights California’s Clean Fuels Plan

June 30, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (June 30, 2014) – In a big win for the fight against climate change, the Supreme Court today declined oil and ethanol companies’ request to review a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that upheld California’s Low Carbon Fuel…

Supreme Court Reaffirms EPA Authority to Curb Power Plant Carbon Pollution

June 23, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (June 23, 2014) — Building on two prior decisions affirming the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to set carbon pollution standards like those recently proposed for power plants, the Supreme Court today upheld the core of EPA’s associated permitting requirements…

Four Million Californians at Risk from Oil Train Danger Zones

June 18, 2014 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SAN FRANCISCO (June 18, 2014) – A series of detailed crude oil rail route maps, released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), show nearly four million Bay Area and Central/San Joaquin Valley residents are at risk should an…

Senate Panel’s Keystone XL Measure about Politics and Bad Policy

June 18, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (June 18, 2014) — The Senate Energy Committee today considered yet another political ploy by some in Congress to force construction of the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, which will worsen climate change and jeopardize communities along its…

Regardless of Approval, Northern Gateway Tar Sands Pipeline Will Likely Never Be Built

June 17, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (June 17, 2014) -- With the announcement that the Canadian federal government would approve Enbridge’s Proposed Northern Gateway tar sands pipeline to British Columbia, First Nations and environmental advocates reacted with the following statements:

NRDC Launches TV Ad Countering Polluters’ Lies About Power Plant Carbon Pollution Limits

June 17, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (June 17, 2014) — The Natural Resources Defense Council today unveiled a new ad striking back at a disinformation campaign waged by Big Polluters intent on subverting the country’s first-ever carbon pollution standards in order to protect their profits.

California Budget Puts Proceeds from Carbon Pollution Auctions to Work Building a Cleaner, Healthier California

June 16, 2014 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SACRAMENTO (June 16, 2014) – The State Budget passed by the Legislature last night and sent to Governor Brown for the first time puts carbon pollution proceeds collected under California’s Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32) to work to combat…

Federal Investigation Sought into Radio Stations Airing False Ads on Carbon Standards

June 11, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (June 11, 2014) – More than two dozen national and state organizations are urging the Federal Communications Commission to investigate 23 radio stations in five states that are airing a widely discredited radio advertisement critical of the first-ever proposed…

New Carbon Pollution Standards Can Save Americans $37.4 billion on Electric Bills, Create 274,000 Jobs

May 29, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (May 29, 2014) – The first-ever limits on carbon pollution from power plants can save American households and business customers $37.4 billion on their electric bills in 2020 while creating more than 274,000 jobs, a Natural Resources Defense Council…

New Report Shows Decline in Carbon Dioxide and Other Pollutants from U.S. Power Plants, but State and Power Company Emissions Vary Widely

May 28, 2014 Press Release

BOSTON (May 28, 2014) A new report on U.S. power plant emissions from the country’s top 100 electric power producers shows a downward trend in nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxides (SO2), mercury and carbon dioxide (CO2) since 2000, with CO2…

Chicago’s Petcoke Problem: City Council Ordinance Moves in the Right Direction

April 30, 2014 Press Release

CHICAGO (April 30, 2014) – Chicago’s City Council today prohibited more oil refining waste storage sites from blighting the city’s neighborhoods, air and waterways with the passage of an ordinance aimed at banning new coal and petroleum coke (petcoke) operations…

Koch Brothers in Court Over Chicago's Petcoke Piles?

April 28, 2014 Press Release

CHICAGO (April 28, 2014) – Environmental groups today signaled their intention to sue the owners of two sites that together hold massive mounds of oil refining waste and coal on Chicago’s Southeast Side. The Southeast Environmental Task Force (SETF) and…

State Department Takes Prudent Action on Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline

April 18, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (April 18, 2014) – The State Department announced today it will extend its decision-making period on the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

In Ad and Letter, Nobel Laureates Urge Obama to Deny Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline

April 16, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (April 16, 2014) – Ten Nobel Peace Prize laureates today are urging President Obama to deny the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, citing the moral imperative of protecting some of the world’s most vulnerable populations from the devastating effects…

Citing Climate Damage, More than 100 Scientists, Economists Urge Obama and Kerry to Reject Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline

April 7, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (April 7, 2014) – More than 100 leading scientists and economists are calling on the Obama Administration to deny the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline because it will trigger massive development of the world’s dirtiest oil, and escalate…

Willie Nelson Joins Fight Against Mountaintop Removal in Video

March 24, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (March 24, 2014)--Country music legend Willie Nelson is joining the fight in Congress to protect Appalachian communities from the impacts of the devastating mining practice of mountaintop removal.