News & Commentary

Meet the activists and NRDC staff propelling change, read our expert analysis, and learn about the latest challenges and solutions to advancing a healthier, more sustainable, and equitable world.

Skip carousel items
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.
Homes lined on a street with large power plants right behind them, spewing out pollution

In a Win for Health, the EPA Toughens Limits on Soot Air Pollution

Expert BlogUnited StatesDr. Vijay Limaye, John Walke, Emily Davis
Today's agency action will deliver life-saving protections from dangerous air pollution.

Latest News

Stay on top of the latest research, policy updates, publication releases, and environmental news. 

Explainer

Get a breakdown of complex climate, public health, nature, and equity topics to inform your activism.

Dispatch

Read about activists tackling climate justice and other environmental causes in their communities and beyond.

Perspectives

Discover intersectional viewpoints from activists and artists on the environmental issues of the moment.

NRDC in Action

Find out how NRDC protects people and the planet by learning about some of our key fights.

Expert Blogs

Hear from our policy advocates, scientists, and litigators about the challenges and solutions for building a healthier and more just world.

Viewing 21 - 40 of 100

Active filters:

Remove all filters

Filter Results

Time to Protect Clean Energy by Ending PG&E’s Bankruptcy

Expert BlogRalph Cavanagh
The Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) has been in bankruptcy for fifteen months. The process has reached a critical stage, and state and federal regulatory proceedings need to conclude before June 30 in order to meet a crucial deadline…

A First: Converting Energy Efficiency Gains into Clean Power

Expert BlogRalph Cavanagh
Can a utility in one region buy some of the pollution-free electricity that a utility in another region saves when its customers improve their energy efficiency? We’re about to find out. And if this effort succeeds, it will be a…

PG&E Reasserts Its Clean Energy Leadership

Expert BlogRalph Cavanagh
The Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) has issued a comprehensive reorganization plan that strengthens the utility’s clean energy and climate commitments. The plan was unveiled in a filing on Friday with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), which will…

Electric Utilities’ Energy Efficiency Progress in 2019

Expert BlogUnited StatesRalph Cavanagh

America’s electric utilities have emerged as essential partners in the nation’s ongoing clean energy transition, as acknowledged forcefully in a joint statement last year by their principal trade association and NRDC, and that continued throughout 2019 (although we don’t, of…

Potential Progress on California Wildfire Issues

Expert BlogRalph Cavanagh
A California state commission has issued a long-awaited draft report on how to manage costs and liabilities associated with catastrophic wildfires, which remain both agonizing recent memories and a continuing threat linked in part to climate disruption. The initial response…

New Clean Energy Milestones from Arizona and Oregon

Expert BlogRalph Cavanagh
Recent announcements from Arizona and Oregon underscore continued progress in reducing renewable energy costs, along with those of storage technologies that help stretch out the availability of power from wind and solar generation.

PG&E’s Bankruptcy Filing

Expert BlogRalph Cavanagh
PG&E formally initiated proceedings under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code on January 29, 2019, citing its exposure to wildfire liability claims of $30 billion or more. As NRDC warned months ago, potential adverse consequences include a loss of…

In Praise of Jim Rogers

Expert BlogRalph Cavanagh
For more than three decades, Jim Rogers was a dominant force for good in national and global energy circles. On the website highlighting his book Lighting the World, published after he retired from Duke Energy in 2013, Jim wrote: “I’d…

Clean Energy Progress in America’s Electric Sector in 2018

Expert BlogRalph Cavanagh
Americans are paying less of their incomes for electricity and breathing cleaner air as 2018 draws to a close (electricity bills represent less than 1.5 percent of average household income, the smallest share since 1955). And just this week, a…

Temporary Setback for Western Grid Integration

Expert BlogRalph Cavanagh
In an effort that lasted until the final day of its 2018 session, the California Legislature couldn’t quite get to Yes on Assembly Bill 813, the bill authorizing a transition to a fully integrated western power grid -- which will…

How Not to Waste Clean Energy: New Support for CA’s AB 813

Expert BlogRalph Cavanagh
Important new evidence just surfaced about a growing problem that burdens California’s clean energy transition: we are quite literally throwing away increasing amounts of clean energy, enough during some months to power more than 100,000 households with pollution-free electricity. Fortunately…

Historic California Climate Protection Bill Advances

Expert BlogRalph Cavanagh
California’s legislature is moving yet again to create an historic clean energy precedent for its residents and the world. The Assembly Committee on Energy and Utilities voted on July 3 to approve a bill that will set the state on…

Avoiding Another California Electricity Crisis

Expert BlogRalph Cavanagh
The adage about history not repeating itself but rhyming is inescapable in the California debate about potentially ruinous financial liabilities facing electric utilities in the aftermath of disasters worsened by climate change, such as last fall’s wildfires and mudslides. And…

Timely Warning from California's Public Utilities Commission

Expert BlogRalph Cavanagh
Almost a quarter century has passed since a staff report for the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) paved the way for an ill-fated electricity restructuring initiative that led to chaos and blackouts in 2000-2001, leaving painful memories that are still…

Annual Update on Energy Efficiency from America's Utilities

Expert BlogRalph Cavanagh
America’s electric and natural gas utilities are now investing more than $7.8 billion annually in programs to help customers use energy more efficiently, according to the latest comprehensive survey. The electricity savings alone exceed the annual production of eight giant…

NRDC, EEI Recommendations Will Spur Clean Energy Progress

Expert BlogRalph Cavanagh
At the close of a lively debate before the nation’s utility regulators, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) today released a joint statement supporting new utility policies to accelerate America’s transition to a clean…

Utilities Important Partners to Achieve Clean Energy Future

Expert BlogSheryl Carter, Ralph Cavanagh
As we look back at a year marked with doses of exasperation and bewilderment, one bright spot is continued progress in America’s clean energy transition, and the jobs and economic development that go with it. Substantial acceleration is still needed…