News & Commentary

Fighting Inequity with Solar Power

March 30, 2021 DispatchMinneapolis, St. PaulSusan Cosier

Minneapolis’s 4d program to boost energy efficiency and affordable housing in the city is kicking it up a notch.

What Is Climate Feminism?

March 18, 2021 ExplainerInternational, United StatesNicole Greenfield

The climate crisis disproportionately impacts women—and women of color in particular. This is why women must lead on its solutions.

Meet Deb Haaland

March 15, 2021 Latest NewsUnited StatesJeff Turrentine

Biden's pick to lead the Interior Department is the first Native American to run a Cabinet-level agency. And this agency, in particular, needs someone like Haaland to run it.

Meet Michael Regan

March 11, 2021 Latest NewsUnited StatesJeff Turrentine

Biden’s pick to head the EPA is a seasoned fighter in the battle for clean air and a champion for environmental justice.

When the World Stopped, These Essential Workers Started Their Engines

March 11, 2021 PerspectivesUnited StatesMaudlyne Ihejirika

In Part Three of our “Pandemic at Work” series, a bus driver, airline custodian, and Uber driver reflect on their year “helping to keep the cogs of society rolling.”

The Celilo Wy'am Are Still Here

March 10, 2021 DispatchOregonNicole Greenfield

Matriarch Lana Jack continues a decades-long fight for federal recognition of her band—and the right to continue living on the lands of her ancestors.

Honolulu Charts a Path Away from Fossil Fuels

March 2, 2021 DispatchHawaii, HonoluluCourtney Lindwall

As part of the American Cities Climate Challenge, a coalition of climate advocates just helped pass a series of bills that will curb emissions and rein in Honolulu’s sky-high cost of living at once.

Deb Haaland Is the Interior Secretary Our Country Needs

February 22, 2021 Latest NewsUnited StatesJeff Turrentine

The fact that senators tied to the fossil fuel industry are opposing her nomination is a big clue as to why.

The COVID-19 Impacts You May Not See

February 11, 2021 PerspectivesUnited StatesMaudlyne Ihejirika

In Part Two of our “Pandemic at Work” series, three undocumented immigrants share their struggles for a paycheck, a future, and simply, acknowledgment.

Taking Care of the Food Workers Who Take Care of Us

February 10, 2021 NRDC in ActionColoradoNicole Greenfield

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the inequities faced by food- and farmworkers who put their health in danger just by coming to work each day. NRDC is pushing to change that.

A Growing Concern: Microplastic Pollution on Farm Fields

February 2, 2021 Latest NewsUnited StatesSusan Cosier

Scientists are showing that we are sending tons of tiny plastic particles into our soils each year, potentially affecting crops and our health.

Black Walden Came First. Thoreau, After.

February 1, 2021 DispatchMassachusettsCourtney Lindwall

A little-known community of formerly enslaved Black residents in Concord, Massachusetts, took up home in Walden Woods long before Henry David Thoreau arrived. Today, local activists are working to ensure the stories of Black Walden stay alive.

With His “Climate Day” Orders, Biden Moves to Protect the Country—Its People, Lands and Waters, and Science

January 27, 2021 Latest NewsUnited StatesJeff Turrentine

National security, environmental justice, scientific integrity, and the economy are just a few issues covered by the president’s sweeping climate strategy.

How to Start Saving the Planet in 100 Days: the Joe Biden Edition

January 25, 2021 Latest NewsUnited StatesJeff Turrentine

Here’s what we want to see from our new president on the environmental front between now and May.

What Biden Should Get Done on Day One (or Close to It)

January 20, 2021 Latest NewsUnited StatesJeff Turrentine

Our next president could address many pressing environmental and public health issues right away—some with just a stroke of the executive pen.

Performance Art Worthy of 2020—the Hottest Year on Record (Wrapping Up the Hottest Decade on Record)

January 14, 2021 PerspectivesFloridaClara Chaisson

Watch these wax sculptures melt under the Florida sun to reveal important messages about climate change.

In a Segregated Chicago, Art Puts Environmental Racism on Display

December 22, 2020 PerspectivesChicagoZaria Howell

If the General Iron plant is too dirty for the city’s North Side, it’s also too dirty for the Southeast Side.

As a Year of Struggle Ends, One of Fearful Uncertainty Begins

December 21, 2020 PerspectivesUnited StatesMaudlyne Ihejirika

In Part One of our “Pandemic at Work” series, a hotel housekeeper, a fast-food worker/drugstore manager, and an elementary school janitor share their journeys through 2020—and anxieties for 2021.

Jennifer Granholm and Pete Buttigieg—Two Biden Cabinet Picks to Help Steer the Country Toward a Better Climate Future

December 21, 2020 Latest NewsUnited StatesJeff Turrentine

A pair of policy wonks with a shared goal of creating jobs while cutting carbon pollution: That sounds pretty good after the last four years.

"We Are the Same as the Salmon": A Story of Suffering and Perseverance

December 17, 2020 DispatchWyoming, Idaho, Oregon, WashingtonNicole Greenfield

Thirty years ago, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes led the effort to save Snake River sockeye salmon from extinction. Today, they’re still fighting for the fish’s survival—along with their own.