Media Center

Report: Unchecked Energy Development Threatens Wildlife, Hunting, and Tourism in Montana and Wyoming

November 17, 2015 Press Release

BOZEMAN, MT (November 17, 2015) – Hundreds of coal mining and oil and natural gas projects in the Powder River Basin area of Wyoming and Montana are destroying the habitat of some of the West’s most beloved wildlife – including…

Residents of Flint, Michigan, to Sue City, State over Lead in Drinking Water

November 16, 2015 Press Release

CHICAGO – Residents of Flint, Mich., together with the ACLU of Michigan and the Natural Resources Defense Council, today announced their intention to sue state and city officials for ongoing violations of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act amid the…

Northern Gateway No More - Controversial Tar Sands Pipeline Denied

November 13, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON (November 13, 2015) – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s federal government is following through on an election promise to ban crude oil tanker traffic off the coast of northern British Columbia. This announcement will effectively kill the Northern Gateway…

Obama Administration Announces Landmark Plan for Conservation and Renewable Energy Development in California’s Mojave Desert

November 10, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON (November 10, 2015) — The Department of Interior today released a milestone plan for conservation and renewable energy development on public lands in California’s Mojave Desert.

Illegal Diversion of Water Threatens to End Chinook Salmon Survival in California

November 10, 2015 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SAN FRANCISCO (November 10, 2015) – Environmental groups filed a request yesterday to supplement their complaint against the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and growers who flood irrigate rice in the Sacramento Valley for mismanaging water supplies that should have been…

Southern Forests at Risk: New Report Identifies Three Southern Forest Regions in Immediate Crosshairs of Wood Pellet Industry

October 19, 2015 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK (October 20, 2015) – A new report released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) reveals the imminent threat from the burgeoning wood pellet industry on three fragile forest ecosystems in the U.S. Southeast. Innovative GIS mapping…

Victory for the Arctic as Lease Sales are Cancelled

October 16, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON (October 16, 2015) – The Obama administration announced Friday it would cancel proposed auctions for drilling rights in the Arctic waters off the coast of Alaska for 2016 and 2017.

Clean Water Rule Decision Delays Enforcement but Reinforces Need for Protections

October 9, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON (October 9, 2015) – A federal court decision handed down today temporarily delays enforcement of the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Clean Water Rule, which guarantees pollution protections for tens of millions of acres…

Court Rules that EPA Failed to Protect U.S. Waters from Aquatic Invasive Species

October 6, 2015 Press Release

ANN ARBOR, MICH. (October 5, 2015) – In a unanimous 3-0 decision that has ramifications for waters across the country—from Long Island Sound to the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico to San Francisco Bay—the U.S. Court of Appeals…

Shell's Decision to Halt Arctic Drilling Is Good News For Our Climate

September 28, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON (September 28, 2015) — Royal Dutch Shell's decision to halt oil drilling in the Arctic, after its exploratory well failed to yield enough oil and gas to make its mission worth the tremendous risk and cost, is a watershed…

Report: Revitalizing Chicago’s Waterways Could Enrich Communities and Rebuff Invasive Species

September 23, 2015 Press Release

CHICAGO (September 23, 2015) – A new report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) highlights the need for investment in the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS) to revitalize its economic value, enrich communities and rebuff the advance of invasive…

Environmental Groups Petition EPA to Make Polluters Pay for LA Water Contamination

September 18, 2015 Press Release

LOS ANGELES (September 17, 2015) — American Rivers, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Los Angeles Waterkeeper petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency today to make polluters accountable for stormwater runoff contamination of two Los Angeles waterways: the Dominguez Channel and the…

Senate Resolution against Clean Water Protections Puts Polluters before People

September 18, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON (September 18, 2015) — Senate Republicans have launched a concerted effort to repeal the Clean Water Rule, introducing a resolution under the Congressional Review Act, which allows faster consideration of Congressional efforts to block regulations. The Clean Water Rule…

EPA Agrees to Revisit Rules for Polluted Runoff by Next Year

September 16, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON (September 16, 2015) — A federal court has approved a settlement in which the Environmental Protection Agency will update its national regulations for stormwater runoff, one of the nation’s largest sources of water pollution, by November 2016. The EPA…

Water Light Graffiti: NRDC Presents Interactive Canvas of Light to Ignite Conversation about Water Issues at EXPO CHICAGO

September 14, 2015 Press Release

CHICAGO (September 9, 2015) - Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) will present Water Light Graffiti by Paris-based artist Antonin Fourneau at EXPO CHICAGO, the International Exposition of Contemporary & Modern Art, at Navy Pier’s Festival Hall from September 17-20. Water…

Navy Agrees to Limit Underwater Assaults on Whales and Dolphins

September 14, 2015 Press Release

HONOLULU (September 11, 2015) —A federal court today entered an order settling two cases challenging the U.S. Navy’s training and testing activities off the coasts of Southern California and Hawai‘i, securing long-sought protections for whales, dolphins, and other marine mammals…

Advocates Take to Skies to Urge President to Abandon Atlantic Drilling

September 4, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON (September 4, 2015) — Millions of beach-going Americans along the Atlantic Seaboard this weekend will learn some unsettling news: Giant oil-drilling rigs and the industrialization of our coast could be coming soon. That warning will come from airplane-towed banners…

California Legislature Sends Near-Total Ban on Ivory Sales to Governor Brown for his Signature

September 4, 2015 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SACRAMENTO (September 4, 2015) – In a show of bipartisan support for elephant protection, California’s ivory ban bill (AB 96 by Speaker Toni Atkins and Senator Ricardo Lara) passed the State Legislature and is on its way to Governor Brown…

Bill to Manage Utility Water Leaks Sent to Governor Brown for his Signature

September 4, 2015 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SACRAMENTO (September 4, 2015) – The State Senate today sent a water bill to the Governor’s desk that would help manage water losses by utilities. Nearly a million acre-feet of treated drinking water is lost to leakage each year; about…

COURT: Worst Mercury Pollution in Maine’s History Must be Cleaned Up

September 2, 2015 Press Release

BANGOR, Maine (September 2, 2015) – A Maine court today held the former owners of a chlorine bleach plant accountable for tons of mercury it dumped into the Penobscot River over the course of four decades. The judge ordered the…