News & Commentary

Western Electricity Grid Is Entering Its Day-Ahead Market Era

April 28, 2023 Expert BlogWest, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, WashingtonKelsie Gomanie

NRDC is working with stakeholders to safeguard consumer interests and environmental protections as utilities from California to the Great Plains weigh proposals to share energy resources through an organized market.

Canada Must Intervene to Protect Caribou in Ontario

April 21, 2023 Expert BlogCanadaDr. Julee Boan

In 2022, environmental groups called out the caribou conservation agreement between Canada and Ontario as being the weakest in the country - with no measurable targets to protect critical habitat. Now, a year later, the federal Environment Minister has stated his…

Auditor Calls for Canada’s Transparency on Logging Emissions

April 20, 2023 Expert BlogOttawaJennifer Skene

Canada's Environment Commissioner found that the Government of Canada has failed to transparently report on the climate impact of industrial logging, with potentially sweeping ramifications for its forest policymaking. 

Canada Rejects Transparency on Logging’s Climate Toll

April 18, 2023 Expert BlogOttawa, CanadaJennifer Skene

Canada has again failed to transparently report on the logging industry's climate impacts, giving the sector a free pass for more than 70 megatonnes of carbon emissions annually, and perpetuating a "climate blind" forest policy framework. 

Colorado Gas Customers Demand Action to Lower Bills, Emissions

April 11, 2023 Expert BlogColoradoKiki Velez, Alana Miller

Coloradans are demanding relief from high gas heating bills. Legislators can take action by reducing the state’s dependence on gas, a fossil fuel that is bad for our wallets, our climate, and our health.

Smart Housing Policy Is a Climate Strategy for Colorado

March 22, 2023 Expert BlogColoradoAlana Miller

Colorado leaders are looking for ways to expand housing availability, improve housing affordability, and ensure housing development advances climate goals, including proposed legislation from Governor Jared Polis and legislative leadership.

IPCC Report Leaves No More Room for Climate Denial in Logging

March 21, 2023 Expert BlogCanada, United States, InternationalJennifer Skene

Industrial logging is a significant driver of global climate change. Ignoring its emissions is a dangerous new form of climate denial.

On International Day of Forests, the Global North Must Show Leadership

March 21, 2023 Expert BlogInternational, Canada, United States, AlaskaElly Pepper, Carolyn Ramírez

On International Day of Forests, the Global North must show leadership on forest protection and acknowledge its own role in forest loss.

Paper Excellence Expands Control into Canada’s Logging

February 17, 2023 Expert BlogCanadaCourtenay Lewis

With Paper Excellence’s planned purchase of one of Canada’s largest logging companies, the country's forestry industry is increasingly falling under the sway of the controversial Sinar Mas family empire.

New Program Will Help Ensure Reliable Electricity in the West

February 16, 2023 Expert BlogCanada, Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, WestKelsie Gomanie

The Western Resource Adequacy Program (WRAP) is designed to provide benefits for customers, utilities, and the environment.

Colorado’s Opportunity for Cleaner Cars

February 16, 2023 Expert BlogColoradoClaire Lang-Ree, Kathy Harris, Alana Miller

The state can lead by adopting the full Advanced Clean Cars II rule and ensuring all Coloradans have the freedom to choose quality clean vehicles.

Four Years in, P&G Still Flunks Out on Tissue Sustainability

February 16, 2023 Expert BlogCanadaAshley Jordan

Procter & Gamble’s stubborn failure to make its tissue products more sustainable lands its flagship brands Charmin, Bounty, and Puffs with straight “F” grades.

A Disappointing Low Bar

February 15, 2023 Expert BlogCanada, United StatesShelley Vinyard

Lowe’s latest forestry sourcing update lacks the ambition and specificity needed to protect forests and promote human rights.

One Year Since Court Restored ESA Protections for Wolves

February 10, 2023 Expert BlogCalifornia, Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, WisconsinDr. Jennifer Sherry

Without these protections, wolf recovery could be stopped dead in its tracks—or even reversed—as we have seen happen when states with authority over wolf management work to cut populations down through aggressive measures.

Canada Must Resist Pressure to Weaken Conservation Criteria

February 2, 2023 Expert BlogCanada, OntarioDr. Julee Boan

Is Prime Minister Justin Trudeau feeling the pressure to downplay the impacts of industrial development and dismiss the very purpose of conservation?

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.

20 Years of Resistance: Grassy Narrows' Land Defenders

January 18, 2023 Expert BlogCanadaDr. Julee Boan

Asubpeeschoseewagong Anishinabek (Grassy Narrows First Nation) and allies commemorate their fight to stop the industrial logging that was taking place on their territory without their consent.

The Race to Organize Energy Markets in the Western U.S. Is On

January 13, 2023 Expert BlogArizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, WyomingKelsie Gomanie

A western regional transmission organization would spur the development of clean electricity sources and lower costs for consumers.

In Colorado, Oil and PFAS Shouldn’t Mix

January 12, 2023 DispatchColoradoNicole Greenfield

We can add PFAS contamination to the list of ways the oil and gas industry is threatening Coloradans’ health. Two new laws aim to stop it—but are they enough?

Two First Nations Pledge to Save Lake Superior Caribou

January 12, 2023 Expert BlogCanada, OntarioDr. Julee Boan

Two First Nations—Biigtigong Nishnaabeg and Michipicoten—are raising the alarm for the dwindling Lake Superior caribou, the southernmost remaining woodland caribou in North America.