News & Commentary

Public Land Grab: Senate Bill Gifts Miners Pass to Pollute

April 28, 2023 Expert BlogWest, Nevada, Idaho, United StatesJosh Axelrod

Senators Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-NV) and Jim Risch (R-ID) have introduced legislation that makes it easier for mining companies and others to acquire rights to federal land and to be able to use them as dumping grounds and worse. The legislation…

The Health of Chicago Students Should Never Be Sacrificed

September 19, 2022 Expert BlogIllinois, ChicagoGina Ramirez

Teachers and students from the Southeast Side have come together to advocate for green schools in some of the most polluted areas in Illinois.

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.

Biden Can Protect Communities, Halt Mountain Valley Pipeline

March 9, 2021 Expert BlogWest Virginia, Virginia, North CarolinaAmy Mall

We have new leadership in Washington under President Biden, and his administration should take action to send the Mountain Valley Pipeline right where it belongs—into the dustbin of history.

"We Are the Same as the Salmon": A Story of Suffering and Perseverance

December 17, 2020 DispatchWyoming, Idaho, Oregon, WashingtonNicole Greenfield

Thirty years ago, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes led the effort to save Snake River sockeye salmon from extinction. Today, they’re still fighting for the fish’s survival—along with their own.

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.

Pollution Strikes Again on the Southeast Side

July 2, 2020 Expert BlogChicagoGina Ramirez

The EPA has begun remediation of another nearby ballfield, this time because of shockingly high levels of lead and arsenic in the soil that require immediate removal.

Artists and Climate Week at EXPO Chicago

September 17, 2019 Expert BlogUnited States, ChicagoAndrew Wetzler

During Climate Week, NRDC's partnership with Moscow’s Garage Museum of Contemporary Art will mobilize action on climate change at EXPO Chicago.

These Texans Are Sick of Chemical Fires and Toxic Spills in Their Backyard

June 11, 2019 DispatchTexasTim Vanderpool

A community along the Houston Ship Channel ramps up its fight against heavy industry and lax oversight after another petrochemical factory blaze closes local schools and causes a spike in respiratory illness.

The Desire to Stop Canadian Tar Sands Transcends Borders

January 10, 2019 NRDC in ActionAlberta, Canada, Nebraska, Chicago, IllinoisNicole Greenfield

For more than a decade, NRDC has worked with indigenous communities in Alberta, U.S.-based grassroots groups, and intergovernmental bodies to halt the expansion of dirty tar sands oil.

Can the Great Lakes Become Fishable, Drinkable, and Swimmable Again?

January 29, 2018 DispatchMidwest, Canada, Ohio, IllinoisSusan Cosier

A joint United States–Canada report maps out the way to clean up the world’s largest freshwater ecosystem

Controversial New Pipelines May Slice Through the Southeast

January 16, 2018 DispatchVirginia, West Virginia, North CarolinaRobynne Boyd

The Atlantic Coast Pipeline—and the Mountain Valley Pipeline, with a similar path—could tear up land and negatively impact people throughout Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina.

Before Flint, Before East Chicago, There Was Smeltertown

November 29, 2016 DispatchFlint, Indiana, Texas, NewarkLauren Villagran

After a 1970s CDC study showed that the mostly Mexican-American population of this Texas town had dangerously high blood lead levels, its buildings were demolished and its residents were booted.

The Petcoke Problem: Where to Store the Risky Tar Sands Refining By-Product

November 1, 2016 ExplainerUnited States, Canada, Chicago, Detroit, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Virginia

Petroleum coke, typically stored outdoors in big open piles, can blow right into nearby homes and cause serious health problems. Unsurprisingly, communities are fighting Big Oil to keep this noxious material out of their backyards.

Sometimes Art Has to Get Gritty—Especially When Big Oil Provides the Muse

August 10, 2016 PerspectivesChicagoSusan Cosier

A new exhibit displays the many forms of petcoke and the Chicagoans determined to rid it from their communities.

Yellowstone's Grizzlies Aren't Out of the Woods Yet

March 14, 2016 NRDC in ActionWyoming, Montana, IdahoJeff Turrentine

The park's threatened bears are on the road to recovery. But without continued federal protection, they'll be back on the path to extinction.

Toxic Two-Step

May 15, 2015 DispatchTexasJeff Turrentine

When politicians and corporate polluters step onto the dance floor in Texas, the state’s environmental agency provides the music.

Say Hello to Your Next National Monument

November 20, 2014 Latest NewsChicago, United StatesSusan Cosier

It’s a neighborhood in Chicago.