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“Forever Chemicals” Called PFAS Show Up in Your Food, Clothes, and Home

ExplainerUnited StatesMolly M. Ginty, Courtney Lindwall
These toxic chemicals are so common in consumer products and manufacturing that they’re everywhere—including inside our bodies.
A river with green trees on either side, with yellow hills in the background

In Planning for Climate Change, Native Americans Draw on the Past

ExplainerUnited States, CanadaTim Vanderpool
Across North America, Indigenous tribes and nations are consulting their traditional ecological knowledge to help prepare for a warming world.
Homes lined on a street with large power plants right behind them, spewing out pollution

In a Win for Health, the EPA Toughens Limits on Soot Air Pollution

Expert BlogUnited StatesDr. Vijay Limaye, John Walke, Emily Davis
Today's agency action will deliver life-saving protections from dangerous air pollution.

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Preserving Oregon's Economy-wide Cap on Carbon Emissions

Expert BlogOregon, California, WestRalph Cavanagh

Oregon’s Environmental Quality Commission adopted the second state-level economy-wide carbon cap in the country (in December 2021), after California’s. The resulting Climate Protection Program (CPP) relies on the state’s sovereign authority to regulate environmental hazards, and on supporting authority under…

A Former Utility Regulator’s Views on Diablo Canyon

Expert BlogCaliforniaRalph Cavanagh

Reprinted statement by Peter Bradford before the California Energy Commission on August 12, 2022 public workshop on the future of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.

Could Diablo Canyon be Another Lazarus Story?

Expert BlogCaliforniaRalph Cavanagh

One of my friends recently suggested that the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant was on the verge of becoming “another Lazarus.” The analogy is misplaced.

NRDC Wraps Up the 2022 Washington State Legislative Session

Expert BlogWashingtonRalph Cavanagh
Despite ongoing challenges from the Covid-19 pandemic and remote legislative operations, we concluded Washington State’s short legislative session with notable successes for the climate and environment.

Diablo Canyon Redux: Joint Letter to CA Governor Misfires

Expert BlogCalifornia, WestRalph Cavanagh
NRDC hopes that those who submitted the letter will join us and many others in supporting much more affordable and practicable approaches to decarbonizing California’s economy.

Oregon Looks to “Reach” Code for Energy, Carbon Savings

Expert BlogOregonRalph Cavanagh
Senate Bill 1518, to be considered during Oregon’s “short” February 2022 legislative session, is a critical pushback against the embedded lowest common denominator aspect of building codes when it comes to energy and climate.

Western Climate Initiative: OR & WA Add Caps to CA's AB32

Expert BlogCalifornia, Oregon, Washington, WestRalph Cavanagh
In 2021, fifteen years after California made climate history by becoming the first US state to adopt an economy-wide carbon emissions cap, Oregon and Washington completed a West Coast hat trick by becoming the second and third. Well, almost.

Should CA Seek Another Life Extension for Diablo Canyon?

Expert BlogUnited States, CaliforniaRalph Cavanagh

In an op-ed calling for the nuclear power plant’s operating license to be extended past 2025, Steven Chu and Ernest Moniz acknowledge that the process would be “complex.” It wouldn’t just be complex; it would be hugely expensive and wrong.

The West Coast: Carbon Free by 2045 . . . or Earlier

Expert BlogWest, California, Oregon, WashingtonRalph Cavanagh

HB 2021, Oregon’s “100% Clean Electricity” bill just approved by the legislature and sent to Governor Brown’s desk for signing, aligns with New York for the most aggressive state clean electricity goal in the country—zero greenhouse gas emissions in the…

A Tale of Two Grids: Texas and California

Expert BlogCalifornia, TexasRalph Cavanagh

Although both California and Texas recently faced traumatic weather events, the consequences for electric system reliability were dramatically different. 

Ending Carbon Pollution: The Energy Efficiency Imperative

Expert BlogRalph Cavanagh
A recommendation for America to “invest in energy efficiency and productivity” leads a new blueprint for “Accelerating Decarbonization of the U.S. Energy System” by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. This is the latest confirmation of a resounding…

Looking Ahead to 2021: U.S. Utilities Move to Decarbonize

Expert BlogUnited StatesRalph Cavanagh
The past year added telling illustrations of how crucial energy efficiency and other approaches to smart energy use will be in phasing out U.S. carbon emissions, known as “decarbonization.”

California’s Clean Electricity Grid Powers Forward

Expert BlogRalph Cavanagh
California’s clean energy policies are being blamed incorrectly for what some critics have called “crippling power outages.” The brief rolling blackouts ordered last month by the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) hardly “crippled” the state, and severe heat and record-setting…

California's Rolling Blackouts: Causes and Remedies

Expert BlogRalph Cavanagh
When the first rolling blackouts in two decades struck California late last week, many were quick to invoke an earlier California electricity crisis and look for a convenient villain. But we need first to understand exactly what happened and to…

A Leadership Change for the Western Grid

Expert BlogRalph Cavanagh
California’s Independent System Operator (CAISO) has established itself as a crucial clean energy partner for everyone connected to the giant electricity grid that links 14 western states, two Canadian provinces, and portions of Northern Mexico. CAISO’s efforts to enhance western…

A Billion Dollar Milestone for the Western Grid

Expert BlogWestRalph Cavanagh
Everyone who is part of the giant 14-state western power grid just learned of a $1 billion reduction in their utility bills, courtesy of a regional initiative called the Energy Imbalance Market (EIM).