News & Commentary

After Decades, Tenants Are Still Fighting NYC Public Housing for Speedy Mold Relief

September 21, 2023 DispatchNew York, New York CityNicole Greenfield

In the 1990s, they organized. In 2013, they sued. In 2023, residents continue the fight for safe homes in NYCHA developments across the city.

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.

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.

These Energy Efficiency Advocates Give Home Comforts a New Look

August 2, 2021 DispatchNew York CityMaudlyne Ihejirika

The Association for Energy Affordability is helping to keep low-income housing cool in the summer, warm in the winter, and good for the pocketbook and our climate, all at the same time.

This Lawyer Is Leading the Fight for New York’s Clean Energy Future

May 25, 2021 NRDC in ActionNew York, New JerseyShelia Hu

Senior attorney Kimberly Ong is taking on the dirty fossil fuel industry in a state that has the eyes of the nation: “Where New York goes, other states have the chutzpah to follow.”

How Rikers Island Became a Vehicle for Justice (Once It Started Shutting Down)

May 3, 2021 DispatchNew York City, New YorkCourtney Lindwall

The Renewable Rikers plan to reimagine the site of New York City’s notorious jail complex could bring green jobs, cleaner air, and community investment to the neighborhoods most harmed by mass incarceration.

A New York Climate Justice Activist with Roots in the Blue Ridge Mountains

December 11, 2020 DispatchNew York City, Washington, D.C.Carmen Cusido

WE ACT’s director of environmental health and education, Taylor Morton, who found their path to environmental justice work through a childhood spent in nature, wants to help the next generation get outside without fear.

A Catalyst for the Midwest’s Clean Energy Transition

December 1, 2020 NRDC in ActionKansas City (Kansas), St. Louis, Missouri, New York CityBrian Palmer

Ashok Gupta spent decades cleaning up New York’s grid and reducing its reliance on dirty fuels. Now he’s working to bring the clean energy future to the Midwest.

These Farmer-Activists Are Fixing Our Racist and Unjust Food System

October 27, 2020 DispatchNew YorkNicole Greenfield

Black Farmer Fund is part of a collaboration of New York–based groups working to repair a system that has long discriminated against BIPOC farmers.

The Entrepreneurs Transforming Scraps Into a Fashion Statement

August 18, 2020 DispatchNew York CityLauren Evans

A new generation of designers and resource specialists is springing up around the textile waste created by the fashion industry—and taking it to market.

A Translator for the Climate Crisis, Grief Included

May 4, 2020 NRDC in ActionNew York City, New York, Birmingham, AlabamaKaren L. Smith-Janssen

Writer, editor, teacher, and podcast host Mary Annaïse Heglar uses the art of storytelling to help people feel less alone in facing the climate crisis—and to build the movement for climate justice.

Mobilizer for Change

May 1, 2020 NRDC in ActionNew York CityCourtney Lindwall

Community manager Tejal Mankad is working to amplify the voices of today’s younger, more diverse environmental movement and to foster more awareness and action among NRDC’s 2.2 million social followers.

Getting the Lead Out of Yonkers Schools

April 2, 2020 DispatchYonkers, New YorkNicole Greenfield

When New York State pulled back the curtain on its school lead problem, Yonkers stood out as one of the worst performers.

These Prehistoric Fish Are Making a Slow Comeback in the Midwest

January 23, 2020 DispatchWisconsin, MichiganSusan Cosier

Conservationists, fishers, and fans of the iconic lake sturgeon have seen some success in their efforts to revive the population, including through hand-rearing and releasing the babies—and yes, spearing the big ones.

America’s Dairyland May Have a PFAS Problem

October 11, 2019 DispatchMidwest, Wisconsin, MaineSusan Cosier

The toxic chemicals have been showing up in milk around the country, prompting midwestern farmers to take a closer look at their land.

How to Win Parks and Influence People, NYC Edition

August 16, 2019 DispatchNew York CityJeff Turrentine

In Manhattan, green-space advocates realized their dream of building Chelsea Green, a new community park, by becoming affordable-housing advocates, too.

New York City Students Are Taking On Climate Change, Starting in the Lunchroom

June 24, 2019 DispatchNew York CityJessica Rodriguez

This fall, a Meatless Mondays initiative will go into effect across all 1,800 NYC public schools.

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.

How the Dairy Industry Is Fouling the Drinking Water of These Wisconsinites

March 6, 2019 DispatchWisconsinAustyn Gaffney

With the manure of one mega-dairy already contaminating the water supply and another operation on the drawing board, Central Sands residents have had enough.