News & Commentary

PA Needs CO2 Limits—and Strong Renewables Policy, Too

August 8, 2019 Expert BlogPennsylvaniaMark Szybist, Amanda Levin

New modeling shows that Pennsylvania can remain a large electricity exporter while building a better, cleaner, and stronger economy.

New Report: Climate Change Harms Pennsylvanians’ Health

August 1, 2019 Expert BlogPennsylvaniaJuanita Constible, Mark Szybist

State and federal leaders must move quickly to help Pennsylvania residents stay healthy, productive, and safe in the face of current and future climate risks.

Cities Fight to Keep Courts Open for Claims Against Big Oil

August 1, 2019 Expert BlogCalifornia, Baltimore, Rhode IslandDavid Hawkins, Pete Huffman

Federal appeals courts will soon hear important cases brought by municipal governments grappling with the mounting costs of climate change.

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.

American Cities Climate Challenge PACE Roundtable in NYC

June 5, 2019 Expert BlogGeorgia, Atlanta, Ohio, Columbus, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Texas, San AntonioPhilip Smith

Riding a strong tailwind from recent climate and sustainability legislative successes, earlier this month, the Bloomberg American Cities Climate Challenge brought its PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) Financing Cohort to New York for an intensive, dialogue-driven Roundtable with the four…

Offshore Oil Revenue Is a Damaging Deal for Virginia

May 23, 2019 Expert BlogVirginiaJacob Eisenberg

If offshore drilling were expanded as the Trump administration intends, coastal communities, economies, and ecosystems would all suffer. And revenue sharing is not worth those damages.

The Student Activist Fighting Pittsburgh’s Dirty Industry

May 23, 2019 DispatchPittsburghCourtney Lindwall

Anaïs Peterson is busy organizing, educating, and ushering in a new era of environmentalism in the Steel City.

Pennsylvania's Gas Power Problem, Part 1: The Build-Out

May 10, 2019 Expert BlogUnited States, PennsylvaniaMark Szybist

For most of the last decade, the biggest energy story in Pennsylvania has been fracking—the use of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling to extract shale gas—and the dramatic increase in gas production that fracking has driven.

Call on Virginia's Governor Now to Protect Climate Action

April 19, 2019 Expert BlogVirginiaWalton Shepherd

Virginia just advanced a groundbreaking climate action plan—but pro-polluters are trying to block it.

Baltimore Is Poised to Put a Major Dent in Its Food Waste Stream

December 13, 2018 DispatchBaltimore, MarylandNicole Greenfield

The city has developed a bold new food waste management and recovery strategy to protect residents from harmful air pollution, boost its economy, and help feed those most in need.

Laurie Goodrich Tracks Raptors by the Thousands From a Lookout in the Appalachians

November 13, 2018 DispatchPennsylvaniaKeith Mulvihill

This wildlife biologist has seen some surprising trends while counting birds of prey on Pennsylvania’s Hawk Mountain over the past 30 years.

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…

Virginians Fly Flags of Resistance in the Fight Against Two Pipelines

August 17, 2018 PerspectivesVirginiaPatrick Rogers

Armed with 1,000 blue pennants—one for each waterway put at risk by the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast Pipelines—communities are taking up their battle stations.

Northam Brings Virginia's Energy Future into Sharper Focus

August 10, 2018 Expert BlogVirginiaWalton Shepherd

While the Trump administration puts the nation in reverse on cleaning up vehicle pollution, Governor Ralph Northam put the Commonwealth on the road to cleaner energy in announcing yesterday a $14 million investment in electric vehicle (EV) charging stations across…

6 Ways the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast Pipelines Would Be Bad for Virginia

February 28, 2018 Latest NewsVirginiaCourtney Lindwall

A new report outlines exactly how the two proposed gas pipelines would threaten the state's waterways and reservoirs.

The Connection Between Mass Incarceration and Environmental Justice

January 19, 2018 ExplainerUnited States, Pennsylvania, KentuckyNicole Greenfield

The country’s prison industry has little regard for where its facilities are located—even if that means building on noxiously polluted ground.

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.

For the Delaware River Basin, a Partial Fracking Ban Is a Partial Victory

January 11, 2018 DispatchDelaware, New York, Pennsylvania

Proposed regulations would still allow wastewater to be disposed of in the watershed, with risks to both drinking water and the environment.

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.

In Philadelphia, Climate Change Can Take Your Breath Away

July 11, 2017 DispatchPhiladelphiaClara Chaisson

But plans to cut local carbon pollution might help this asthma capital shake its wheezy reputation.