News & Commentary

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.

The Big Muddy River’s Long, Turbulent Relationship with Coal

August 14, 2020 DispatchIllinoisSusan Cosier

As a proposal threatens to dump mining waste into a Mississippi River tributary, an Illinois community reassesses its coal industry ties.

Meet the Sunshine State’s New Clean Energy Darling—Community Solar

August 6, 2020 DispatchOrlandoCourtney Lindwall

As part of the American Cities Climate Challenge, Orlando, Florida’s solar strategies are helping make the clean energy revolution more accessible for all.

At 59 Million Tons, Our E-Waste Problem Is Getting Out of Control

July 24, 2020 PerspectivesUnited StatesJeff Turrentine

Every year, we blithely discard billions of phones, laptops, TVs, and other electronics that can end up poisoning communities around the world.

The Deadly Chicago Heat Wave Is As Relevant to Racial Justice Today As It Was 25 Years Ago

July 15, 2020 PerspectivesChicagoKeala Uchoa

The documentary “Cooked: Survival by Zip Code” examines the unnatural disasters of environmental and structural racism.

Voces for Climate Action

July 14, 2020 NRDC in ActionChicago, Illinois, CaliforniaNicole Greenfield

NRDC staffers are helping to build environmental equity and empower Latino voices for climate action—a cause that hits close to home.

Food Systems Analyst

July 14, 2020 NRDC in ActionBaltimore, Nashville, Denver, Maryland, Tennessee, ColoradoJeff Turrentine

Andrea Spacht Collins is working to minimize food waste by changing the way we think about what we eat—and what we don’t eat, where it comes from, and where it ends up.

Air Quality Is Worsening for Half of the World’s People

July 2, 2020 Latest NewsUnited StatesBrian Palmer

A new study shows that most of us humans are likely inhaling more air pollution each year.

Public Transit Just Helped Save America. Now America Needs to Return the Favor.

July 2, 2020 PerspectivesUnited StatesJeff Turrentine

The Moving Forward Act could put more than $100 billion into our ailing bus, subway, and train infrastructure—promoting equity and strengthening public safety along the way.

Urban Innovator

June 30, 2020 NRDC in ActionCharlotte, North Carolina, St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Paul, Minnesota, Austin, TexasKeith Mulvihill

Through her work in the buildings sector, Wendy Lee helps propel cities into a fairer and more energy-efficient future.

Dear Congress: If You Don’t Understand Climate Urgency, Let Us Draw You a Picture

June 30, 2020 PerspectivesUnited StatesCourtney Lindwall

The illustrated letters of hundreds of young artists are demanding action on climate change in the hopes of helping shape the country’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Remembering Eeyou Pimatseewin, the Cree Life

June 18, 2020 PerspectivesCanada

Allan Saganash Jr. grew up in the bush, living off the land—then watched as industry shrank and changed his beloved boreal forest home. He’s determined to save what’s left.

Climate Change Is Drying Out the American West

June 4, 2020 Latest NewsUnited StatesBrian Palmer

A new study shows that drought is no longer a periodic crisis, but a harbinger of things to come.

Clean Energy Has Struggled During the Current Economic Crisis—but It’s Strong Enough to Recover

May 28, 2020 PerspectivesUnited StatesJeff Turrentine

Despite job losses and open hostility from the Trump administration, renewables are still poised to lead the way in our country’s recovery.

Murder Hornets Are Scary. But Pesticides Are Scarier.

May 21, 2020 Latest NewsUnited StatesJason Bittel

While everyone is freaking out about invasive hornets, the largest threats to America’s pollinators remain unchanged.

By 2070, More Than 3 Billion People May Live Outside the “Human Climate Niche”

May 14, 2020 Latest NewsUnited StatesBrian Palmer

If we don’t act now to curb climate change, we may be faced with the migration of a third of the world’s future population.

These NRDC Experts Show Us How We Can Slow the Spread of Zoonotic Diseases

May 14, 2020 NRDC in ActionChina, United StatesCourtney Lindwall

It will take the highest levels of international cooperation, but by working to curb wildlife trade and conserve vast swaths of disappearing habitat, we can minimize the interspecies interactions that spread viruses.

The Forgotten Essential Workers

May 13, 2020 PerspectivesUnited StatesJeff Turrentine

The laborers who harvest our fruits and vegetables are heroes, although they’re rarely treated that way. Now climate change threatens their safety—and our food supply.

New Water Worries in Climate-Stressed New Mexico

May 13, 2020 DispatchNew Mexico, Santa FeLora Shinn

Federal rollbacks could leave New Mexico’s limited water dirtier by excluding up to 90 percent of the state’s waterways from protection.

Expand the DAPL? Only Illinois Stands in the Way

May 5, 2020 DispatchIllinois, North Dakota, South DakotaSusan Cosier

Environmental advocates are fighting a proposal to double the amount of crude oil flowing through the pipeline.