News & Commentary

Preventing the Next Drinking Water Emergency

February 19, 2021 Expert BlogTexasAaron Colangelo

States must update emergency response plans to avert the next water crisis.

Texas Needs a Smarter, More Resilient Electric Grid

February 16, 2021 Expert BlogTexasJohn Moore

Freezing cold temperatures put the Texas electric grid into distress this week, with likely dozens of deaths and other human suffering, more than 4 million losing power, and more than 40% of the state’s gas, coal, and nuclear fleet offline…

Climate Wins!

November 12, 2020 Expert BlogUnited States, San Antonio, Denver, Columbus, CincinnatiHilary Firestone

Voters make it clear that the climate matters in this year’s local elections.

Food Systems Analyst

July 14, 2020 NRDC in ActionBaltimore, Nashville, Denver, Maryland, Tennessee, ColoradoJeff Turrentine

Andrea Spacht Collins is working to minimize food waste by changing the way we think about what we eat—and what we don’t eat, where it comes from, and where it ends up.

Urban Innovator

June 30, 2020 NRDC in ActionCharlotte, North Carolina, St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Paul, Minnesota, Austin, TexasKeith Mulvihill

Through her work in the buildings sector, Wendy Lee helps propel cities into a fairer and more energy-efficient future.

San Antonio Finds the Key to Flood Control in Its Gardens

December 23, 2019 DispatchSan Antonio, TexasAnne N. Connor

As climate change brings heavier rains, local officials and developers are managing the deluge of stormwater runoff with some low-tech—and pretty—solutions.

Blueprint of a Buyout: Harris County, Texas

September 17, 2019 Expert BlogUnited States, TexasAnna Weber

Harris County’s program may be a harbinger of the future, when Americans are displaced by flooding and frustrated by the uncertainties of relocation assistance.

Principles for Parks and Equitable Development

August 28, 2019 Expert BlogUnited States, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, MemphisSasha Forbes, AICP

Assets in our communities that offer us increased connectivity, shelter, and planned outdoor spaces can act as triggers that escalate land values which usually price out existing residents, often low-income and people of color, and more often renters. But communities…

How Austin Plans to Grow—Without Adding More Cars to Its Roads

July 17, 2019 DispatchAustin, TexasMike Clark-Madison

By tackling transit, ride sharing, and more, the Texas capital hopes to embrace its big-city identity.

These Texans Are Sick of Chemical Fires and Toxic Spills in Their Backyard

June 11, 2019 DispatchTexasTim Vanderpool

A community along the Houston Ship Channel ramps up its fight against heavy industry and lax oversight after another petrochemical factory blaze closes local schools and causes a spike in respiratory illness.

American Cities Climate Challenge PACE Roundtable in NYC

June 5, 2019 Expert BlogGeorgia, Atlanta, Ohio, Columbus, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Texas, San AntonioPhilip Smith

Riding a strong tailwind from recent climate and sustainability legislative successes, earlier this month, the Bloomberg American Cities Climate Challenge brought its PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) Financing Cohort to New York for an intensive, dialogue-driven Roundtable with the four…

You Can’t Stop the Wind. But These Folks Are Trying Anyway.

April 19, 2019 Latest NewsTexasJeff Turrentine

In Texas, tax breaks for fossil fuels outpace tax breaks for renewables by a rate of two to one. Guess which sector is whining about unfairness?

Wind and Solar Are the Final Nails in Coal’s Coffin

January 11, 2019 Latest NewsTexasJeff Turrentine

If you want to know where coal is headed, look no farther than Texas—where this dirty fuel is in its death throes.

Hundreds of Workers Who Cleaned Up the Country’s Worst Coal Ash Spill Are Now Sick and Dying

December 17, 2018 DispatchTennesseeAustyn Gaffney

Ten years after the disaster at a Tennessee power plant, the cleanup crew is seeking justice. At the same time, the Trump administration is weakening protections for this toxic pollution.

The Oil and Gas Industry Wants Us to Protect It From Climate Change

August 31, 2018 Latest NewsTexasJeff Turrentine

Seriously. It’s asking American taxpayers to fund a 60-mile seawall along the refinery-heavy Texas Gulf Coast.

Climate Change Is Worsening Houston’s Housing Crisis

August 8, 2018 DispatchHouston, TexasTim Vanderpool

Since Hurricane Harvey, homelessness has gone up, some public housing residents are living in severely damaged homes, and others have been cast out to remote suburbs—to the detriment of local well-being and the economy.

The South Is Warming Up to Solar

May 11, 2018 DispatchGeorgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, MississippiRobynne Boyd

In the past five years, solar capacity in the South has increased nearly thirtyfold.

When a Study Singled Out Memphis’s Unfairly High Power Bills, Grassroots Groups Took Action

March 19, 2018 DispatchMemphis, TennesseeRobynne Boyd

Residents of the southern city spend twice as much as the average American on power. Why? It’s complicated.

This Thanksgiving, Nashville Saves Food and Feeds the Hungry

November 16, 2017 DispatchNashville, TennesseeRobynne Boyd

In Music City, restaurateurs, grocers, farmers, volunteers, the mayor, and NRDC's Nashville Food Waste Initiative are harmonizing in the fight against wasted food.

Before Flint, Before East Chicago, There Was Smeltertown

November 29, 2016 DispatchFlint, Indiana, Texas, NewarkLauren Villagran

After a 1970s CDC study showed that the mostly Mexican-American population of this Texas town had dangerously high blood lead levels, its buildings were demolished and its residents were booted.