News & Commentary

Our Public Lands Are on the Chopping Block Again

August 21, 2026 ExplainerUnited States, Utah, AlaskaTim Vanderpool

Another assault on America’s natural heritage puts cultures, wildlife, tourism, and our climate at risk.

Alaska’s Tongass National Forest at Risk Once Again

August 19, 2026 NRDC in ActionAlaskaCourtney Lindwall

After a quarter century of fighting to keep these wild lands and others safe from road construction and logging, NRDC’s battle for the Roadless Rule presses on.

The Long, Long Battle for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

October 24, 2025 DispatchAlaskaBrian Palmer, Nicole Greenfield

For decades, politicians have vacillated between protecting Alaska’s refuge as one of the last unspoiled places on earth and plundering it for oil.

The Trump Administration Seeks to Undo Protections for Millions of Acres of Arctic Alaska

June 5, 2025 Latest NewsArctic, AlaskaJenny Shalant

The government is backtracking on the Special Areas Rule in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, threatening biodiversity and the cultural traditions of Indigenous Peoples who’ve relied on these lands for generations.

“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. 

The Biden Administration Cancels Its Offshore Drilling Plan for Alaska’s Cook Inlet—Let’s Keep It Off the Books

July 23, 2024 DispatchAlaskaSusan Cosier

The lease sale would have endangered Indigenous communities, threatened rare whales, added to the Far North’s climate crisis, and gambled with a 20 percent chance for a large oil spill.

Why the Willow Project Is a Bad Idea

November 13, 2023 Latest NewsAlaskaJeff Turrentine

The oil drilling proposal would be disastrous for Alaska and the planet (not to mention President Biden’s climate legacy). 

Crushing Alaska’s Pebble Mine

February 13, 2023 NRDC in ActionAlaskaNicole Greenfield, Jeff Turrentine

The EPA’s decision to veto the project is fantastic news—but the fight to save Bristol Bay isn’t over yet.

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.

Alaska Natives Lead a Unified Resistance to the Pebble Mine

April 20, 2021 DispatchAlaskaNicole Greenfield

The effort to stop a massive mine project in Bristol Bay, Alaska, has been a decades-long fight for the region’s Indigenous People. Five tribal leaders share their experiences.

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).

That Summer When Climate Change Baked Alaska

August 9, 2019 DispatchAlaskaJeff Turrentine

An Anchorage-based wildlife biologist describes what life is like in our northernmost state—one that’s been dramatically altered by rising temperatures.

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.

A Journey Through the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

March 22, 2019 DispatchArctic, AlaskaClara Chaisson

One of the world’s last pristine wild places is on the front lines of climate change—and threatened by fossil fuel development. These photos speak to why we must fight both.

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.

Army Corps Releases a Slapdash Environmental Review of Alaska’s Pebble Mine

March 1, 2019 Latest NewsAlaskaCourtney Lindwall

But the proposed gold and copper mine’s catastrophic threats to the waterways, salmon, and people of Bristol Bay haven’t changed.

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.