News & Commentary

Three Trends That Should Make Environmentalists Hopeful About 2018

December 21, 2017 Latest NewsUnited StatesJeff Turrentine

The new year will be a crapshoot, to be sure—but these trends augur well for climate and sustainability.

Climate Change May Bring Big Trouble to Big Bluestems (and the Cattle That Love Them)

December 4, 2017 DispatchMidwestSusan Cosier

As higher temperatures head north, the Great Plains’ grasslands are in for a transformation.

This Thanksgiving, Nashville Saves Food and Feeds the Hungry

November 16, 2017 DispatchNashville, TennesseeRobynne Boyd

In Music City, restaurateurs, grocers, farmers, volunteers, the mayor, and NRDC's Nashville Food Waste Initiative are harmonizing in the fight against wasted food.

Environmental Advocacy Is a First Amendment Right

October 31, 2017 ExplainerUnited StatesBrian Palmer

Industrial polluters have gone to great lengths to stifle environmental advocacy, but their expansion of censorship laws has finally crossed a line for some federal judges.

The “Sioux Chef” Shares His Roots (and the Midwest’s, Too)

September 22, 2017 DispatchMinneapolis, Minnesota, MidwestSusan Cosier

Sean Sherman wants to show the world another type of North American cuisine: indigenous food.

Trading Coal Plants for Solar Farms in India

August 31, 2017 NRDC in ActionIndiaNicole Greenfield

Senior attorney and India program director Anjali Jaiswal leads a small team that’s accomplishing big things in one of the world’s most polluted countries.

Farms on the Fringe: New Takes on America’s Farming Tradition

August 1, 2017 DispatchCalifornia, Colorado, Iowa, New York, Kentucky, New MexicoTracie McMillan

These six farmers have found innovative ways to grow plants in today’s climate, whether in corn country or coal country, with fish tanks or smartphones.

State Legislators Say Iowa Has Achieved Sustainable Farming (It Hasn’t) and Doesn’t Need More Research (It Does)

July 17, 2017 DispatchIowaSusan Cosier

The state’s lawmakers have cut funding for the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, leaving rural farmers in the lurch.

The Pesticide in Your Crisper Drawer

May 2, 2017 ExplainerUnited States, CaliforniaNicole Greenfield

Shown to be toxic to kids, chlorpyrifos is nevertheless still being sprayed on crops across the country—and making its way into our bodies. So why has the EPA refused to ban it?

Colonel Sanders, We Salute You!

April 20, 2017 NRDC in ActionUnited States

KFC will eliminate medically important antibiotics in its U.S. chicken supply chain by the end of 2018.

The Concrete Farmer

April 11, 2017 DispatchNew York CityMelissa Denchak

A farmer’s daughter turned marketing exec tries something in-between: community gardening—where the business of “knowing your audience” applies just as well.

These 17th Century–Style Still Lifes Find the Beauty in Unwanted Food

December 16, 2016 PerspectivesNew York CityClara Chaisson

A photographer combats food waste by cultivating old-fashioned respect for what’s on our dinner plates.

Manure Is Spilling and Seeping into Wisconsin’s Waterways and Wells

November 17, 2016 DispatchWisconsinSusan Cosier

As the state’s dairy farms get bigger, cow poop is polluting Lake Michigan and people’s drinking water.

What’s the Buzz on the Street? 50,000 Hand-Painted Honeybees.

October 7, 2016 PerspectivesUnited StatesClara Chaisson

Artist Matthew Willey is leaving his mark all around the world—making sure everyone knows about this pollinator’s plight.

Tech Support: The Software Developer Who’s Fighting Food Waste

October 4, 2016 DispatchNew York CityJolene Edgar

Jeff Schacher knew that restaurants waste food. And that people are hungry. So he invented a tech-savvy way to rescue millions of meals.

Taking a Stand for Peru’s Old-Growth Trees

July 13, 2016 NRDC in ActionPeruClara Chaisson

How NRDC helped protect the Tahuamanú Rainforest from illegal logging.

Subway Cleans Up Its Chicken Game

May 12, 2016 NRDC in ActionConnecticut

NRDC helped get the world’s second-largest restaurant chain out of the antibiotics business.

2,4-D: The Most Dangerous Pesticide You've Never Heard Of

March 15, 2016 ExplainerUnited StatesDanielle Sedbrook

This toxic herbicide comes with known health risks, but it’s still being used on crops, in parks, and maybe even in your own backyard.

Greening the Playing Fields

March 14, 2016 NRDC in ActionPhiladelphia, Seattle, San Francisco, Portland (Oregon), BostonAmanda MacMillan

How the sports industry became one of the planet's most powerful allies.

Why Are Our Waters Turning Green?

March 14, 2016 NRDC in ActionLouisiana, Toledo, Ohio, Des Moines, IowaNicole Greenfield

Toxic algal blooms are suffocating waterways from the Gulf of Mexico to Lake Erie.