News & Commentary

Virginia Gov. Youngkin Appoints Fossil Fuel Industry Stooges

May 19, 2022 Expert BlogVirginiaWalton Shepherd

The Virginia Air Pollution Control Board, designed to be run by governor-appointed citizens rather than elected officials, is specifically charged with overseeing—and reducing the dirty air impact of—the very polluters that Youngkin just tapped.  

New Report: Pathways to Net-Zero for New Mexico’s Economy

January 24, 2022 Expert BlogNew MexicoJacqueline Ennis, Noah Long

Achieving the state’s near and long-term climate goals will depend on New Mexico’s leaders undertaking ambitious and timely action in the upcoming legislative session.

Bipartisan States Commit to Clean and Healthy Transportation

December 21, 2020 Expert BlogMassachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Washington, D.C.Bruce Ho

A bipartisan group of Eastern states announce an agreement to modernize transportation.

New Water Worries in Climate-Stressed New Mexico

May 13, 2020 DispatchNew Mexico, Santa FeLora Shinn

Federal rollbacks could leave New Mexico’s limited water dirtier by excluding up to 90 percent of the state’s waterways from protection.

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…

Defender of Energy Efficiency—and Equity

February 3, 2020 NRDC in ActionGeorgia, Detroit, Michigan, Baltimore, Maryland, Norfolk, VirginiaKeith Mulvihill

Dawone Robinson, regional director of NRDC’s Energy Efficiency for All Project, works to create opportunities for low-income communities of color to save energy and money.

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.

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.

Will CITES Parties Stick Necks Out for Giraffes at CoP18?

August 6, 2019 Expert BlogAfrica, InternationalElly Pepper

Giraffes receive little international protection even though they face many threats, including habitat loss, disease, international trade in giraffe parts, and hunting trophies.

It’s Groundhog Day for Rhinos at CITES CoP18

August 6, 2019 Expert BlogAfrica, InternationalElly Pepper

At the 18th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which takes place August 17-28, the Parties will again vote on whether to legalize the international commercial…

Will CITES CoP18 Help or Hurt Already Struggling Elephants?

August 5, 2019 Expert BlogAfricaElly Pepper

Unfortunately, some countries still fight to resume the ivory trade at almost every CITES meeting and this one is no exception. 

Justice Warrior on the Affordable Energy Front

June 12, 2019 NRDC in ActionVirginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New YorkKaren L. Smith-Janssen

Dawone Robinson is righting the inequities that low-income communities of color face in accessing the benefits of energy efficiency—like more comfortable homes and lower energy bills, for starters.

Drilling Off VA Coast: An Invitation for Climate Havoc

September 20, 2018 Expert BlogVirginiaFranz Matzner

The public is keenly aware that auctioning off public ocean waters to oil giants is not in the national interest. From catastrophic spills like the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster that oiled the entire Gulf region, to “minor” spills and almost…

The Race to Develop Offshore Wind—and Protect Endangered Whales

September 17, 2018 DispatchEast, Rhode IslandNicole Greenfield

As Northeast states make impressive commitments to this clean energy source, scientists are helping them stay out of the way of marine mammals.

Brooklyn Printmaker Hilary Lorenz Celebrates an Overlooked Pollinator: the Moth

February 14, 2018 PerspectivesNew Mexico, United StatesPatrick Rogers

The Moth Migration Project gathers ink-and-paper insects from all over the world in an immersive crowd-sourced installation.

Offshore Drilling in the Atlantic? “That’s Not Who We Are.”

July 24, 2017 DispatchEast, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, GeorgiaRobynne Boyd

Southern communities prefer their coastlines sandy, beautiful, and bountiful—not filled with rigs and air guns blasting ships or covered in oil.

Status Check for African Elephants

December 22, 2016 ExplainerUnited States, Africa

Vulnerable here, endangered there, threatened over yonder. What do all these classification systems mean for the future of our largest living land animals?

To Save These Rare Giraffes, Uganda Built an Ark (of Sorts)

October 26, 2016 DispatchAfricaTim Sohn

As poachers and oil drills threaten a recently war-torn national park, a team of rangers and scientists send an endangered herd on an epic journey.

A Smuggler’s Fridge Is No Place for the Weird and Wonderful Pangolin

September 21, 2016 ExplainerAfrica, ChinaJason Bittel

The world must crack down on the pangolin trade or risk losing these animals for good.

Il Primo Piatto

January 14, 2016 DispatchAfricaClara Chaisson

As the bushmeat trade drives the Bioko drill monkey toward extinction, some West Africans are realizing these animals are worth more in the woods than on the plate.