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Sharing the Road: Safer Streets Means Safe for Everyone

ExplainerUnited States, California, Missouri, Atlanta, San Jose (California), St. Louis, GeorgiaDan Reed
As they incorporate equity into transportation planning, a number of U.S. cities are making room for bicyclists, pedestrians, scooters, and wheelchairs in every part of town.

Safer Drinking Water in Schools: NY Leg. Votes for Our Kids

Expert BlogNew YorkJoan Leary Matthews

The New York State Legislature passed a bill (S2122-A / A160-B) in the closing days of this legislative session to require more stringent measures to reduce lead in drinking water in schools. This is a huge victory for kids!

PeoriaCorps Green Infrastructure Training Increases Stipend

Expert BlogPeoria, IllinoisAlyssa Brown, Jared Knicley

This is the fourth in a series of blogs celebrating the grant projects funded through our Clean Air Act settlement with the owners of the E.D. Edwards coal-fired power plant outside Peoria, Illinois. The settlement provides for the plant to…

The Electric Car Revolution Shouldn’t Leave Anyone Behind

DispatchUnited States, Missouri, St. LouisSusan Cosier
A new program in St. Louis, Missouri, is bringing EVs and charging stations to low-income neighborhoods—and turning senior and disabled residents into early adopters, one ride at a time.

A New Customer Bill of Rights: Affordable Utility Services

Expert BlogIllinois, United StatesDeron Lovaas, Larry Levine
The vital need for uninterrupted utility service was evident before the coronavirus pandemic, but the COVID-19 public health emergency has reinforced the essential nature of utility service and the threats of energy and water poverty.

Chicago Lays Out New Green Recovery Priorities on COVID-19

Expert BlogChicago, IllinoisStefan Schaffer
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced a series of environmental priorities aligned with a “Green Recovery,” a significant step toward reducing the city’s reliance on fossil fuels and creating more equitable economic opportunities in the face of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

NRDC's Statement on the Derek Chauvin Verdict

Expert BlogMinneapolis, MinnesotaNRDC
Today, a Minnesota jury found Derek Chauvin guilty of the murder of George Floyd, the man who cried out for his mother as Chauvin dug his knee into his neck until he couldn’t breathe.

How Cities Are Centering Equity in Benchmarking Policies

Expert BlogDenver, Colorado, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Seattle, WashingtonCaroline Keicher
A new resource from the City Energy Project—Incorporating Equity into Energy Benchmarking Requirements: Guidance for Policy and Program Practitioners—helps cities understand the opportunity to leverage benchmarking and transparency policies to address racial and social equity.

Latinx Leaders Paving the Way for Climate Action

Expert BlogLos Angeles, Chicago, New York City, San AntonioEloisa Portillo-Morales
Cities are leading the charge on climate action—reimagining how streets can be used, passing bold climate legislation, and creating green, equitable jobs. At the core of many of these efforts are Latinx leaders, whose activism has been instrumental in paving…

Time to Bury Big Oil's Criminal Enhancement Bill for Good

Expert BlogIllinoisJ.C. Kibbey
An Illinois legislator is pushing for a bill which would significantly enhance criminal penalties for anyone entering or causing damage to a very widely defined group of “critical infrastructure facilities,” effectively chilling peaceful exercise of freedom of speech, and threatening…

Environmental Justice Protects Public Health

Expert BlogChicago, IllinoisGina Ramirez
Chicago’s health care professionals are calling on the city’s Department of Public Health to be accountable to policy decisions that put communities at risk. This is a major step in our fight for environmental justice because racism is a public…

Victory in California

Expert BlogCalifornia, Chicago, IllinoisLauren P. Phillips
A court rules that California must stop exempting metal shredding facilities from hazardous waste laws, clearing a path to finally protect California communities from metal shredder pollution.

Stressed by Heat, Farmworkers Deserve Federal Protections

Expert BlogCalifornia, Washington, MinnesotaTeniope Adewumi-Gunn
Unprotected from many basic workplace rights and in the face of a growing climate crisis that threatens their well-being, farmworkers deserve federal safeguards from extreme heat and its dangerous effects.

Major Victory in Coalition Push for Renewable Rikers Island

Expert BlogNew York CitySara Imperiale, Eric A. Goldstein

The New York City Council passed two bills that, when signed into law, will mark the beginning of the end for the notorious Rikers Island jail complex and transform the island into a model of green infrastructure and jobs.

Black Walden Came First. Thoreau, After.

DispatchMassachusettsCourtney Lindwall
A little-known community of formerly enslaved Black residents in Concord, Massachusetts, took up home in Walden Woods long before Henry David Thoreau arrived. Today, local activists are working to ensure the stories of Black Walden stay alive.