News & Commentary

Colorado Legislative Roundup: 2024

May 9, 2024 Expert BlogColoradoAlana Miller

This legislative session, Colorado once again solidified its place as a climate leader by taking on new and innovative approaches to reduce emissions and protect the environment.

Of Colorado's Wetlands Protection Bills, Only HB 1379 Gets the Job Done

April 29, 2024 Expert BlogColoradoSam Gilchrist

Colorado urgently needs to step up to safeguard our wetlands and streams left vulnerable by the Sackett decision.

The Uinta Basin Railway Would Be a Bigger Carbon Bomb Than Willow

December 13, 2023 ExplainerUtah, Colorado, United StatesNicole Greenfield

The project could sabotage U.S. climate goals, send oil-filled trains along the Colorado River, and pollute the air from Utah to the Gulf Coast.

Farm-to-Glass Supports Organic Farming

November 16, 2023 Expert BlogWashington, D.C., Ohio, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Michigan, Maine, CaliforniaAllison Johnson

Cheers! NRDC and our partners toasted a good cause on Capitol Hill: growing organic!

Major NYC Environmental Advance: City Council to Pass Universal Organics Collection Law

June 7, 2023 Expert BlogUnited States, New York CityEric A. Goldstein

New York City Council is poised to pass a law that would mandate organics collection.

Colorado River Carbon Bomb: Utah's Uinta Railway Project

April 6, 2023 Expert BlogUnited States, UtahJosh Axelrod

Backers of a proposed crude-by-rail project in northeastern Utah—which would unleash a carbon bomb potentially larger than the controversial Willow Project—want taxpayer support to the tune of $2 billion.

New Yorkers Highlight Opportunities to Grow SNAP Incentives

February 14, 2023 Expert BlogNew YorkSahana Rao, Margaret Brown, Sara Imperiale

SNAP incentives play an essential role in addressing challenges around fresh, healthy food affordability and access, provide much needed markets for local farmers, and drive local economic development.

New York Is Exposing the Fashion Industry for What It Is: a Climate Nightmare

February 13, 2023 DispatchNew York, New York City, InternationalNicole Greenfield

The state’s Fashion Act seeks to set a new trend of holding big brands accountable for their exploitation of workers and the environment.

Advocates Swarm Against Neurotoxic Neonic Pesticides

February 1, 2023 Expert BlogNew York, AlbanyDaniel Raichel

With evidence of a steadily worsening neonic problem, New York must pass the Birds and Bees Protection Act.

Six Colorado Basin States Lay Down a Marker for California

January 31, 2023 Expert BlogArizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, WestEd Osann

The "Consensus Based Modeling Alternative" is a positive development in addressing the current water emergency. It’s unfortunate that California did not join in this recommendation.

Colorado River Basin Tribes Address a Historic Drought—and Their Water Rights—Head-On

November 14, 2022 DispatchColoradoTim Vanderpool

Their growing inclusion in the region’s water management will likely prove priceless.

Curbside Composting Legislation on Launchpad in NYC Council

August 4, 2022 Expert BlogNew York CityEric A. Goldstein

Momentum is building for New York City to lock in a citywide curbside food scraps and yard waste composting collection program beginning as early as January 2023.

Mount Vernon: Where Environmental Injustice Became a Sewage Nightmare

June 27, 2022 NRDC in ActionNew YorkNicole Greenfield

For decades, residents of this majority-Black suburb of New York City have been dealing with a noxious infrastructure crisis with little recourse. Finally, they’re getting some relief.

Bitcoin Mining Is Bad for the Climate—and Local Communities Too

April 27, 2022 DispatchNew YorkNicole Greenfield

Upstate New York’s defunct power plants have become a hot spot for cryptocurrency operations, and Finger Lakes residents say they’re just another blight.

Health Experts to New York: Beware of Neonic Pesticides

April 14, 2022 Expert BlogNew YorkDaniel Raichel

Let’s hope that Albany legislators and Governor Hochul listen to the doctors’ orders.

Saving Salmon—from One Generation of Fisherwomen to the Next

March 1, 2022 DispatchOregon, Washington, WestNicole Greenfield

Keyen Singer, a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, carries on a maternal legacy of conserving salmon and preserving culture. Their efforts could soon pay off.

NYC Must Enact a Universal Food Waste Composting Law, Part II

February 18, 2022 Expert BlogNew York CityEric A. Goldstein

The time has arrived for the nation’s largest city to implement a universal, curbside organics collection program for all residents.

Can NY Protect Bees, Birds, People from Toxic Pesticides?

February 9, 2022 Expert BlogNew YorkDaniel Raichel

The Birds and Bees Protection Act would eliminate 80-90 percent of the neonics entering New York’s environment every year by prohibiting only those uses that provide little-to-no benefit to users or are easily replaced with safer alternatives.

NYC Must Enact a Universal Food Waste Composting Law

February 1, 2022 Expert BlogNew York CityEric A. Goldstein

One of the top environmental challenges for Mayor Eric Adams and the City Council is to establish a sensible program for collecting and sustainably disposing of household organics—food scraps, yard waste, and food soiled paper.

Food Waste Generators Now Required to Recycle in New York

January 13, 2022 Expert BlogNew YorkMargaret Brown, Yvette Cabrera

New York's law adds to the growing drumbeat of adoption of these laws, and we look forward to seeing similarly robust programs in other states in the years to come.