News & Commentary

Meet the activists and NRDC staff propelling change, read our expert analysis, and learn about the latest challenges and solutions to advancing a healthier, more sustainable, and equitable world.

Latest News

Stay on top of the latest research, policy updates, publication releases, and environmental news. 

Explainer

Get a breakdown of complex climate, public health, nature, and equity topics to inform your activism.

Dispatch

Read about activists tackling climate justice and other environmental causes in their communities and beyond.

Perspectives

Discover intersectional viewpoints from activists and artists on the environmental issues of the moment.

NRDC in Action

Find out how NRDC protects people and the planet by learning about some of our key fights.

Expert Blogs

Hear from our policy advocates, scientists, and litigators about the challenges and solutions for building a healthier and more just world.

Viewing 61 - 80 of 232

Who (and What) Are Excluded from Backroom Bay-Delta "Deal"

Expert BlogCaliforniaDoug Obegi
The State’s recent announcement of a proposed voluntary agreement for the Bay-Delta watershed is the result of an illegitimate, exclusionary backroom negotiation that fails to protect the health of the estuary, its native fish and wildlife, and the jobs and…

Drought Shows that CA’s Water Rights System Is Bankrupt

Expert BlogCaliforniaDoug Obegi
The only way out of this cycle of destruction—other than praying for rain, which is not a strategy—is to reduce water deliveries and diversions in order to maintain adequate carryover storage in Shasta and upstream reservoirs this year.

Saving California's Salmon Is Now Up to Governor Newsom

Expert BlogCaliforniaKate Poole
Keeping the Trump administration's biological opinions in place would likely drive California’s wild salmon—as well as their habitat in the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary and all who depend on them—into a death spiral from which they may never recover.

California Should Strengthen Commitment to Ropeless Fishing Systems

Expert BlogCaliforniaDr. Francine Kershaw
An updated draft Conservation Plan issued by the state represents a positive step towards reducing entanglements of whales and sea turtles, but the state should do more to advance ropeless (or "pop-up") fishing systems.

Ten New Environmental Laws in California

Expert BlogCaliforniaVictoria Rome

The environmental community continued to chalk up wins in the state legislature despite another unusual year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a gubernatorial recall election.

Biden Admin Takes 1st Step to Undo Trump’s Delta Destruction

Expert BlogCaliforniaDoug Obegi

The Trump Administration’s biological opinions were the result of scientific misconduct, political interference, and bias. The end result is nothing short of a plan for extinction that is playing out before our eyes.

California Enacts Plan for Smart Offshore Wind Development

Expert BlogCaliforniaSandy Aylesworth, Mohit Chhabra

When AB 525 became law last month, California set the standard for floating offshore wind energy development in the United States. The law requires California to develop offshore wind in a way that creates good jobs, protects California's unparalleled marine…

California’s Wildly Inequitable Water Rights System

Expert BlogCaliforniaKate Poole

It's time to put the interests of the community above the interests of the ancestors of a handful of white settlers who staked their claim to our public resources over a century ago.

California Oil Disaster Brings New Urgency to Calls to Ban Drilling

Expert BlogCalifornia, United StatesValerie Cleland

We have to transition away from fossil fuels. That’s why it’s essential that Congress pass budget reconciliation with offshore drilling provisions—and enact President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda.

Agencies Planning a Disaster for CA Salmon if 2022 Is Dry

Expert BlogCaliforniaDoug Obegi

If next year is dry in California, modeling from the Bureau of Reclamation shows that Shasta Reservoir would store nearly 750,000 acre feet less water in April 2022 than it did in April 2014—a year that was an unmitigated disaster…

NRDC Sets Region Specific Water Targets for Each Office

Expert BlogUnited States, New York City, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Bozeman, Beijing, San Francisco, Santa MonicaMaria McCain

NRDC has seen a steady decline in total water usage institution-wide and has taken steps to advance water stewardship.