News & Commentary

“Chemical Recycling” Isn’t Actually Recycling.

March 12, 2025 ExplainerGeorgia, United StatesNicole Greenfield

Companies are trying to sell communities on a toxic solution to the plastic pollution crisis. The people of Macon, Georgia, saw through it. Will others?

Rural America Is Already on Board with Clean Energy

January 16, 2025 ExplainerOhio, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, IowaShelia Hu

Gutting it wouldn’t just jeopardize our climate goals but also the growing workforce in the heartland and beyond. 

Sharing the Road: Safer Streets Means Safe for Everyone

June 25, 2021 ExplainerUnited States, California, Missouri, Atlanta, San Jose (California), St. Louis, GeorgiaDan Reed

As they incorporate equity into transportation planning, a number of U.S. cities are making room for bicyclists, pedestrians, scooters, and wheelchairs in every part of town.

Agrivoltaics: Sheep (and Soil Scientists) Juice Up the Solar Farm

February 20, 2020 DispatchGeorgia, North Carolina, EastRobynne Boyd

Solar farmers get a hand from regenerative agriculture experts to feed the soil under their arrays—another powerful tool to help fight climate change.

Defender of Energy Efficiency—and Equity

February 3, 2020 NRDC in ActionGeorgia, Detroit, Michigan, Baltimore, Maryland, Norfolk, VirginiaKeith Mulvihill

Dawone Robinson, regional director of NRDC’s Energy Efficiency for All Project, works to create opportunities for low-income communities of color to save energy and money.

Needing Water, Georgia Stirs Up a 200-Year-Old Dispute With Its Northern Neighbor

October 29, 2019 DispatchGeorgiaAustyn Gaffney

As droughts parch the Southeast, interstate squabbles heat up over the Tennessee River (and the Chattahoochee . . . and the Flint . . . and the Apalachicola).

These Farmers Are Sowing Seeds of Diversity in the U.S. Food System (and Have Been for Quite Some Time)

April 8, 2019 DispatchGeorgiaRobynne Boyd

A movement to preserve the cultural heritage and organic practices of African American farmers is growing in the Southeast.

Monarch Butterflies Get a Head Start in the Schoolyard

March 12, 2019 NRDC in ActionGeorgiaCourtney Lindwall

NRDC joins with Monarch Watch to distribute free milkweed plants to schools across the country and turn students into butterfly gardeners.

Robby Astrove’s Vision for Atlanta Is Delicious

November 26, 2018 DispatchAtlantaRobynne Boyd

This visionary green thumb is bringing food justice, and heirloom fruit trees, to low-income communities in Atlanta where grocery stores are few and far between.

The South Is Warming Up to Solar

May 11, 2018 DispatchGeorgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, MississippiRobynne Boyd

In the past five years, solar capacity in the South has increased nearly thirtyfold.

These Southern Cities Are Going 100 Percent Clean (Energy)

October 23, 2017 DispatchAtlanta, Georgia, Columbia, South Carolina, Orlando, St. Petersburg, FloridaRobynne Boyd

These efforts show the rest of the country that a citywide transition to a clean energy grid is a not an issue of if, but when.

The Effort to Replant the “Amazon of the South”

September 25, 2017 DispatchGeorgia, Florida, AlabamaRobynne Boyd

These Southerners are bringing the longleaf pine forest back—with some love, seeds, fire, and snakes.

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.

Atlanta Is Finally Choosing Smart Growth over Sprawl

June 5, 2017 DispatchAtlanta, GeorgiaRobynne Boyd

Infrastructure woes and marathon commutes plague Hotlanta. But as Georgia’s capital city grows, Atlantans are getting smarter (and out of their cars).

The South Needs the Clean Water Rule

April 18, 2017 DispatchSouth Carolina, GeorgiaRobynne Boyd

For drinking water, flood control, climate defense, habitat protection, fishing, swimming, and, of course, craft beer.

Funds for More Electric Car Charging Stations Are Coming Down the Pike

March 2, 2017 DispatchGeorgiaRobynne Boyd

EVs need a reliable and ubiquitous charging network first and foremost.

Can U.S. Highways Evolve After 60 Years of Stagnation?

January 31, 2017 DispatchGeorgiaRobynne Boyd

An 18-mile stretch in Georgia says yes. Will President Trump give the clean energy project a push? Eh, probably not.

One of America’s Great Rivers Fights for Its Life

July 5, 2016 DispatchGeorgia, Florida, AlabamaRobynne Boyd

The Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river system brings precious water to three southern states. If only they could all get along.

Who's Ready for Climate Change?

October 17, 2014 ExplainerInternational, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Miami, India, New York City, Mexico CityJeff Turrentine

Five cities that are steeling themselves…and five that are fooling themselves.