News & Commentary

Countries to Strengthen Montreal Protocol as Treaty Turns 35

October 28, 2022 Expert BlogInternational, India, AfricaPrima Madan, Alex Hillbrand, David Doniger, Christina Theodoridi

After General Iron Fire, Sims Should be Shut Down

April 29, 2022 Expert BlogChicagoGina Ramirez

The EPA and the city of Chicago must do the right thing and keep harmful industries out of our neighborhoods.

One Year After Hunger Strike to Stop General Iron

February 8, 2022 Expert BlogChicagoGina Ramirez

This time last year, Chicago Southeast Siders vowed not to eat until the city denied a permit for General Iron. Now it’s time to deny the permit.

A Look Back on Another Year Fighting General Iron

December 21, 2021 Expert BlogChicago, IllinoisGina Ramirez

And where things stand today.

Pristine Prairie, Home to Endangered Bee, May Be Destroyed

October 14, 2021 Expert BlogIllinoisLucas Rhoads

An airport expansion threatens to wipe out a population of the once-common, now endangered, rusty patched bumble bee. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's failure to protect the bee's habitat is partly to blame.

No, We Don’t Need a Mine on the Southeast Side

July 22, 2021 Expert BlogChicagoGina Ramirez

Yes, you read that right.

NRDC Sues to Challenge Seismic Testing in the Gulf of Mexico

July 22, 2021 Expert BlogTexas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, FloridaMichael Jasny

Among the animals at greatest risk from the impacts of seismic testing is the Gulf of Mexico whale—one of the most endangered marine mammals on the planet.

Chicago Officials Halt Permit Process for Move of General Iron’s Notorious Metal Shredding Operation to Southeast Side

May 10, 2021 Expert BlogIllinois, ChicagoNRDC

This marks a major step forward in dismantling the environmental racism that has plagued the neighborhood for decades.

Victory in California

March 30, 2021 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.

Chicago, a “Sweet Home” for an Endangered Bee?

March 29, 2021 Expert BlogChicago, IllinoisDaniel Raichel

The rusty patched bumblebee's appearance in Chicago underscores how one patch of native habitat can be meaningful, but what’s most needed is a network of interconnected habitat so that the bee’s populations can recover and once again thrive.

Protecting the Wintering Home of Migratory Birds

February 4, 2021 Expert BlogTexasJessica Carey-Webb

The Chihuahuan Desert is the largest desert in North America and home to the most biodiverse grasslands in the world, including 500 species of birds.

Environmental Justice in Chicago: It’s Been One Battle After Another

October 29, 2020 PerspectivesChicagoKeith Mulvihill

Cheryl Johnson and Peggy Salazar have been speaking out against pollution and environmental injustice for decades, but the city of Chicago sees their South Side neighborhoods as sacrifice zones. They are demanding change.

The Big Muddy River’s Long, Turbulent Relationship with Coal

August 14, 2020 DispatchIllinoisSusan Cosier

As a proposal threatens to dump mining waste into a Mississippi River tributary, an Illinois community reassesses its coal industry ties.

Pritzker, Lightfoot: Stop Passing the Buck on Enviro Justice

July 8, 2020 Expert BlogChicagoMeleah Geertsma

On June 25, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (“IEPA”) granted an air permit that will enable the relocation of a notorious metal shredding operation from Chicago’s wealthy and largely white Lincoln Park to the Southeast Side environmental justice community. In…

Don't Bring General Iron's Mess Down to the Southeast Side

June 9, 2020 Expert BlogChicagoGina Ramirez

Despite the links between air pollution and higher rates of COVID-19 deaths, Chicago’s most vulnerable are still being put in harm's way by the city’s dirtiest industrial facilities.

Life in the Chihuahuan Desert Grasslands

May 8, 2020 Expert BlogTexas, New MexicoJessica Carey-Webb

90 percent of the grassland bird species that breed on the Great Plains in the United States and Canada winter in the grasslands of the Chihuahuan Desert, which encompasses the northwestern region of Mexico, spreading into the states of Arizona…

Victory for Imperiled Species at World Wildlife Conference

August 29, 2019 Expert BlogInternational, AfricaZak Smith

African elephants, Asian otters, giraffes, vaquita, rhinos, and sharks win big at World Wildlife Conference.

Showing Migrating Monarch Butterflies Some Southern Hospitality

August 26, 2019 DispatchMexico, Texas, HoustonRobynne Boyd

Non-native tropical milkweed fuels monarchs on their journey through southern states, but when cooler weather hits, the plant can bring parasites and starvation. Here’s what butterfly-loving southerners can do.

Giraffes Win International Protections to Limit Their Trade

August 22, 2019 Expert BlogInternational, AfricaElly Pepper

The protections will ensure that all giraffe parts trade were legally acquired instead of from poached giraffes trade by requiring countries to make non-detriment findings before allowing giraffe exports.

The Ohio River Defines the Borders of Five States—But Its Pollution Doesn’t Stop at State Lines

August 21, 2019 DispatchPennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, IllinoisSusan Cosier

In a move that could open the door to industrial waste and interstate squabbles, the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission is making its water quality standards voluntary.