Media Center

China’s one-year ban on ivory imports is a big step forward – but more reform is needed

February 26, 2015 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK (February 26, 2015) — In an important recognition of the role Chinese citizens’ appetite for ivory has played in helping to fuel the slaughter of African elephants, Chinese officials today announced a one-year ban on African ivory carving…

Ballast Water Bill Would Open Coasts and Great Lakes to Invasive Species Assault

February 25, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON, DC (February 25, 2015) – The US Senate Commerce Committee reported a bill to the Senate that would exempt ship ballast water—the source of numerous damaging invasive species infestations in the Great Lakes, inland waterways and sensitive waters along…

After Veto, President Should Reject the Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline Once and For All

February 24, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON (February 24, 2015) – President Obama today vetoed, as promised, congressional legislation to force approval of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

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…

Praising Pullman: NRDC Supports New National Monument Designations

February 18, 2015 Press Release

CHICAGO (February 18, 2015) – President Obama will be in Chicago tomorrow to sign an order designating the city’s Pullman District as a national monument. He is also expected to announce two other new monuments, Browns Canyon in Colorado 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…

Groups Go To Court to Protect Blueback Herring from Extinction

February 10, 2015 Press Release

Washington, D.C. – The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and a coalition of fishing and watershed protection groups filed a complaint today in federal court seeking to reverse a decision by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) not to list…

Green Leaders Urge President to Ban Bee-Killing Insecticides

February 5, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON (February 5, 2015) — Top officials of leading environmental groups representing millions of Americans today urged President Obama to take strong and swift action against neonicotinoid insecticides that are devastating honey bee and wild bee populations, threatening the nation’s…

NRDC’s Suh Urges Congress to Support Clean Water Proposal to Protect Drinking Supplies

February 3, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON (February 3, 2015)— Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, today urged Congress to support a proposed new federal Clean Water Rule, noting, “The fate of nearly two million miles of streams and tens of millions of…

Illinois Tollways to Become Butterfly Highways

January 29, 2015 Press Release

CHICAGO (January 29, 2015) – Today, the Illinois Tollway Authority agreed to work with the Natural Resources Defense Council to create a monarch butterfly restoration program that would plant milkweed along the agency’s 286 miles of roadways. The plant is…

Administration Drilling Plan Would Expose Eastern Seaboard, Atlantic and Arctic Waters to Blowout Risk

January 27, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON (January 27, 2015) -- The Obama Administration proposed a five-year offshore drilling lease plan today that would expose much of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans to oil and gas production.

Monarch Butterfly Numbers Show Migration Still at Grave Risk, Despite Uptick

January 27, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON (January 27, 2015)—The low number of migrating monarch butterflies returning to their Mexican refuge shows that the migration remains under grave threat, even though the figures announced today are higher than last year’s, according to the Natural Resources Defense…

Obama Seeks Wilderness Designation for Coastal Plain of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

January 25, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON (January 25, 2015) -- President Obama today recommended to Congress that it designate the coastal plain of the iconic Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska as a wilderness. The following is a statement by Rhea Suh, president of the…

Scientific Review Supports New Clean Water Protections

January 15, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON (January 15, 2015)— A new scientific report showing that small streams and wetlands can affect downstream water quality and help supply drinking water to millions of Americans is further evidence that these water bodies need protection from pollution, the…

Supreme Court Allows Scientifically Sound Protections for California’s Bay-Delta Estuary to Stand

January 12, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON (January 12, 2015) – The Supreme Court today let stand a federal plan to protect California’s vital Delta ecosystem. The Court refused to hear an appeal brought by agribusinesses trying to undermine protections for the Delta smelt under the…

Making a Killing: California Ivory Sales Largely Illegal, Contributing to Recent Rise in African Elephant Poaching

January 7, 2015 Press Release

SAN FRANCISCO (January 7, 2015) – Every 15 minutes, an African elephant is killed for its tusks. And some of that ivory ends up right here on store shelves in California. According to a report commissioned by the Natural Resources…

Ninth Circuit Court Upholds Protections for California’s Endangered Salmon

December 22, 2014 Press Release

Some of California’s most endangered fish – and the fishermen that rely on salmon for their livelihoods – got a helping hand from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today, which released its opinion in the case of San Luis…

EPA Coal Ash Rule Fails to Protect Public Health and Waterways

December 19, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (December 19, 2014)—The Environmental Protection Agency’s long-awaited rule on disposal of toxic ash from coal-burning power plants falls far short of what’s needed to protect the public and our waterways from the millions of tons of dangerous sludge that…

Environmentalists Sue to Protect Water Quality

December 19, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (December 19, 2014)— The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Environmental Defense Center (EDC) today announced they have sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to strengthen standards to prevent pollution from stormwater, one of the nation’s most widespread…

NRDC Lauds Obama Drilling Ban in Alaska’s Spectacular Bristol Bay

December 16, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (December 16, 2014)—The Natural Resources Defense Council today welcomed the decision by President Obama to withdraw permanently Alaska’s Bristol Bay from offshore oil development. Bristol Bay supports the world’s largest salmon fishery, worth $1.5 billion per year, and is…