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Aerial view of the National Petroleum Reserve in northwestern Alaska

The Biden Administration Protects Millions of Acres of Arctic Alaska

Latest NewsAlaskaJenny Shalant
The new Special Areas Rule in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska could boost biodiversity and empower Indigenous Peoples to defend the lands they’ve relied on for generations.
Two adults and a child walk along a sandy shoreline

“Forever Chemicals” Called PFAS Show Up in Your Food, Clothes, and Home

ExplainerUnited StatesMolly M. Ginty, Courtney Lindwall
These toxic chemicals are so common in consumer products and manufacturing that they’re everywhere—including inside our bodies.
A river with green trees on either side, with yellow hills in the background

In Planning for Climate Change, Native Americans Draw on the Past

ExplainerUnited States, CanadaTim Vanderpool
Across North America, Indigenous tribes and nations are consulting their traditional ecological knowledge to help prepare for a warming world.

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Duke Energy’s Actions Matter More Than Its Words

Expert BlogNorth CarolinaLuis Martinez, Jossie Steinberg
Given Duke Energy’s track record and current actions, we have to look behind the curtain on its clean energy claims in the Carolinas Carbon Plan.

EVs Will Drive North Carolina to Cleaner Air for Everyone

Expert BlogNorth CarolinaKathy Harris, Luis Martinez
A new report indicates that North Carolina would see $150 billion in cumulative net societal benefits by 2050 through the adoption of The Advanced Clean Cars II, Advanced Clean Trucks, and the Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) Omnibus Rules.

Biden Team Moves to Save the Boundary Waters

Expert BlogMinnesotaDavid Doniger

The Biden administration’s very welcome decision to block sulfide-ore copper mining on the edges of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is personal to me and my family. My in-laws have roots there going back more than a century, and…

Oysters: Raw Bar Delicacy or Climate Warrior?

DispatchNorth CarolinaJodi Helmer
The mighty bivalves are both, and this former schoolteacher and bartender seeks to inspire a new generation of aquaculturists while putting North Carolina oysters on the map.

Carolina Climate on Our Minds

Expert BlogNorth CarolinaLuis Martinez, Jossie Steinberg, Sam Whillans

After many ups-and-downs, North Carolina is committing to 70% reductions in power-sector carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050!

Celebrating Year One of the Food Matters Regional Initiative

Expert BlogChicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, Madison, Ohio, Baltimore, Jersey City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, North Carolina, Memphis, OrlandoMadeline Keating, Darby Hoover

A year after the launch of the Food Matters Regional Initiative, we are pleased to report considerable progress and accomplishments from the 15 regional initiative participants.

Saint Paul Prioritizes People, Not Parking Spaces

Expert BlogMinnesota, St. PaulZak Accuardi

Saint Paul has taken an ambitious and important step toward meeting its climate and equity goals, passing two new ordinances—one eliminating parking minimums, and the other introducing rules that prioritize safer, healthier, low-carbon transportation options in new development projects.

North Carolina Is Moving Forward with Climate Regulations

Expert BlogNorth CarolinaLuis Martinez

The North Carolina Environmental Management Commission (EMC) approved a petition from CleanAIRE NC and the NC Coastal Federation (represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center) to have North Carolina begin rulemaking to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).

Energy From Pig Poop: Industry’s Recent Dupe

Expert BlogUnited States, North CarolinaPaloma Sisneros-Lobato

Pork producer Smithfield Foods, in partnership with Dominion Energy under the new name Align RNG, have focused their corporate agribusiness agenda on building a network of directed biogas to generate energy from methane gas, rather than investing in cleaner waste…

Minnesota Advances to Become First Midwest Clean Cars State

Expert BlogMinnesotaDr. Simon Mui

The proposal to adopt a Clean Cars Minnesota program was given a greenlight today, which would mean Minnesota will become the first Midwest state to adopt a Clean Cars program to introduce more electric vehicles together with cleaner internal-combustion engine…

NRDC's Statement on the Derek Chauvin Verdict

Expert BlogMinneapolis, MinnesotaNRDC
Today, a Minnesota jury found Derek Chauvin guilty of the murder of George Floyd, the man who cried out for his mother as Chauvin dug his knee into his neck until he couldn’t breathe.

How Cities Are Centering Equity in Benchmarking Policies

Expert BlogDenver, Colorado, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Seattle, WashingtonCaroline Keicher
A new resource from the City Energy Project—Incorporating Equity into Energy Benchmarking Requirements: Guidance for Policy and Program Practitioners—helps cities understand the opportunity to leverage benchmarking and transparency policies to address racial and social equity.

Fighting Inequity with Solar Power

DispatchMinneapolis, St. PaulSusan Cosier
Minneapolis’s 4d program to boost energy efficiency and affordable housing in the city is kicking it up a notch.

Every State Should Have a Right to a Healthy Environment

Expert BlogNorth Carolina, Pennsylvania, Montana, Massachusetts, CaliforniaCorinne Bell
A few states currently have a constitutional right to a healthy environment and several more are working to enshrine such rights.

Stressed by Heat, Farmworkers Deserve Federal Protections

Expert BlogCalifornia, Washington, MinnesotaTeniope Adewumi-Gunn
Unprotected from many basic workplace rights and in the face of a growing climate crisis that threatens their well-being, farmworkers deserve federal safeguards from extreme heat and its dangerous effects.