News & Commentary

The Clean Energy Expert Bringing Black Voices to the Table

October 5, 2020 NRDC in ActionCaliforniaRasheena Fountain

As NRDC’s California state lead for clean energy and equity, Alexis Cureton is working to ensure that communities of color help shape energy policy, both inside and outside of the energy sector.

Katrina, Climate, and Justice: A Future in Foreshadow?

August 28, 2020 PerspectivesNew Orleans, LouisianaZaria Howell

After Hurricane Laura hit Louisiana just days before the Katrina remembrance, photojournalism from 15 years ago reminds us that disaster preparation isn’t just about wind and water.

Defender of Housing Justice

August 25, 2020 NRDC in ActionNew Orleans, United States, LouisianaJenny Shalant

Energy efficiency and social safety net advocate Khalil Shahyd explains why supporting affordable housing is intrinsic to the climate fight.

Connector of the Gulf South, 15 Years and Counting

August 24, 2020 DispatchNew Orleans, LouisianaKaren L. Smith-Janssen

Colette Pichon Battle is getting the conversation going—and the preparations moving—for Black and Indigenous communities of Louisiana who are still healing from Hurricane Katrina, even as they stand on the frontlines of climate change.

Advancing Park Equity in Los Angeles and Beyond

July 27, 2020 Expert BlogLos AngelesDamon Nagami

Experts discuss how they fight against systems of power that have decided who does—and does not—get to have access to parks, open spaces, and nature.

California Seeks to Reduce Inequity in Access to Nature

July 22, 2020 Expert BlogCaliforniaDrevet Hunt, Damon Nagami

Natural spaces like rivers, beaches, wetlands, and forests are critical to human health and well-being. California's legislature is poised to take action to ensure access to nature for all its citizens by enacting AB3030.

Voces for Climate Action

July 14, 2020 NRDC in ActionChicago, Illinois, CaliforniaNicole Greenfield

NRDC staffers are helping to build environmental equity and empower Latino voices for climate action—a cause that hits close to home.

The Pathway to New All-Electric Low Income Housing in CA

June 29, 2020 Expert BlogCaliforniaMerrian Borgeson

A key question for equity, health, and the environment is how to ensure that affordable housing providers are supported in building efficient, emissions-free all-electric homes.

California Makes History with Clean Trucks Rule

June 25, 2020 Expert BlogCaliforniaPatricio Portillo

In a groundbreaking win, CARB adopted the world’s first zero-emission commercial truck requirement, the Advanced Clean Trucks rule. The rule, which requires truck makers to sell an increasing number of clean, zero-emission trucks in California in place of dirty diesel…

All Californians Deserve Clean Tech Access: Keep EPIC Funded

June 23, 2020 Expert BlogCaliforniaSergio Sanchez Lopez

It's crucial to continue supporting the development of technologies that contribute to our clean energy goals while helping low-income communities save money and continued access to the benefits of technological advancements.

As Sea Level Rise Threatens Their Ancestral Village, a Louisiana Tribe Fights to Stay Put

April 13, 2020 DispatchLouisianaBarry Yeoman

They survived the BP oil disaster, Hurricane Katrina, and decades of industry spoiling their wetlands. Whatever their future holds, the people of Grand Bayou want to decide it for themselves.

Restoring the L.A. River for All Angelenos

December 26, 2019 DispatchLos AngelesJeff Turrentine

Advocates who have fought for years to bring back this beleaguered urban waterway are joining local communities of color to ensure that new development doesn’t equal displacement.

Keeping the Lights On with Clean Energy

November 14, 2019 Expert BlogCaliforniaPeter Miller

California needs to ensure a reliable supply of electricity. But we need to do it as much as possible with clean resources, to avoid further burdening vulnerable communities that have historically hosted polluting facilities and to reduce our climate pollution…

California's Clean Truck Rule: First of its Kind and Long Overdue

October 4, 2019 Expert BlogUnited States, CaliforniaPatricio Portillo

California is launching a new rule to tackle one of the largest sources of pollution: medium- and heavy-duty trucks.

Public Banks Will Help Fight Climate Change!

September 24, 2019 Expert BlogUnited States, CaliforniaJulia Prochnik

Public Banks restore economic power to local communities, empowering them to invest in projects that fight climate change and improve their quality of life.

The People of the Isle de Jean Charles Are Louisiana’s First Climate Refugees—but They Won’t Be the Last

September 23, 2019 DispatchLouisianaRobynne Boyd

Whether and how to uproot communities are difficult and painful questions, and we need to get better at answering them.

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…

California Moves to Make Paying for EV Charging Easier

August 12, 2019 Expert BlogCaliforniaMiles Muller

California recently approved regulations for public charging stations to ensure people can pay for charging as easily as they pay for gasoline. However, a bill moving through the California Legislature would unwind those regulations, making charging less accessible and less…

Trump EPA Refuses to Ban Pesticide—Where’s California?

August 8, 2019 Expert BlogCaliforniaMiriam Rotkin-Ellman

California’s agricultural communities are continuing to sound the alarm for the health of their children, as a promised statewide ban on chlorpyrifos—a pesticide that harms children’s brains—has yet to go into effect.

In Los Angeles, Renters Want Their Own Green New Deal

August 8, 2019 DispatchLos AngelesKaren L. Smith-Janssen

Residents of the city’s affordable housing units don’t normally get prioritized for energy efficiency upgrades. That’s about to change.