NRDC Policy Basics: An Introduction to Federal Environmental Policy

How are our environment and health being protected today? Are our environmental laws working as they should? What needs to be done to protect air, water, lands and health more effectively?

The answers to those questions and more are provided in these policy sheets. Each will give you a broad overview of a major environmental issue, including a brief description of how the federal government addresses the problem, what's working and what isn't, and what issues are likely to come up this year. They are a designed to be a brief primer on the issues for anyone—from Congressional staff to soccer moms—who wants to understand the state of the environment and the state of play in Washington.

NRDC works on this entire wide variety of issues, using science, law and advocacy to strengthen protection of health and the environment.