Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund This post was authored by Corinne Bell, Water Policy Analyst from NRDC’s Santa Monica office. Once the flames have been extinguished, forest fires have a second opportunity to devastate landscapes through flooding and water pollution. This week, large areas of Southern California were again subject to evacuation orders. […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund The House’s $81 billion hurricane disaster aid package includes some poison pills that would harm disaster mitigation programs and endangered species. Photo courtesy of NOAA, www.nnvl.noaa.gov The U.S. Senate must act on a supplemental disaster aid package for areas affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria and the […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund A new governor takes the helm in New Jersey next week, and the state is looking ahead to a fresh start on environmental protection. High on the list is clean water. It’s a basic necessity of life. And it’s an issue consistently identified as a top environmental concern […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund Local residents and environmentalists in Chile are enjoying a prolonged New Year’s celebration, thanks to two major legal decisions that will protect the country’s free-flowing rivers. Chile’s justice system put a final stop to two controversial large hydroelectric dam developments in Chilean Patagonia: (1) Mediterráneo S.A.’s run-of-the-river project […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has rejected U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Rick Perry’s transparent attempt to needlessly funnel billions of electricity customer dollars to the owners of old and expensive coal and nuclear plants. In a major victory for consumers, the environment, and facts, the five […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund In the latest chapter on neurotoxic manganese threatening a Chicago residential community, recently revealed inspection reports show that the City of Chicago and EPA inspectors uncovered alarming problems with industrial dust pollution this past fall, at yet another facility handling manganese next to a densely populated residential neighborhood […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund Approximately one in five California households lives at or below the federal poverty level–$32,000 for a family of two —but new energy efficiency and clean energy programs, regulatory protections, and initiatives are poised to provide safer, healthier, and more affordable homes for hundreds of thousands of residents. Low-income […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund Wendy Bredhold walked up to the microphone in the auditorium at Ivy Tech Community College in Evansville, Indiana. At the town hall meeting on that mid-November evening were roughly 100 people who came to hear her—and a number of other presenters—discuss the perils of coal pollution in her […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund What is the value of hurricane and wildfire survivors’ health? The Senate will grapple with that question this month as the federal government barrels toward another shutdown deadline and Americans slowly recover from recent disasters. Congressional action will affect how well immediate needs are met and how well […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund Co-authored by Nikita Koraddi, California Legislative Advocate While the Trump administration tries to hide the facts of climate change, and pursues an outdated, dirty energy strategy for the United States, California continues to assure the rest of the world that “We Are Still In” the Paris agreement, and […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund Despite the Damage, Positive Trends Endure Calling 2017 crazy is an understatement of epic proportions. We saw attempts by a marginalized President and congressional Republicans to unravel decades of environmental protections and clean energy progress as fast as they could. If a policy has his predecessor’s imprint on […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund Oil burn-off from the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill, June 2010 Petty Officer First Class John Masson/Coast Guard While much of the country was preoccupied with the freakish weather on the East Coast Thursday afternoon, U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke held a call with reporters to […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund The Trump administration’s New Year gift to polluters: opening up nearly all of America’s coasts to oil and gas drilling, plus more ongoing attacks on our health and planet. iStock We’re closing in on a year since Donald J. Trump’s inauguration with little hope he’ll grow into the […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund Welcome to our weekly Trump v. Earth column, in which onEarth reviews the environment-related shenanigans of President Trump and his allies. President Trump laying out a national security strategy that includes reversing Obama-era warnings on climate change, December 2017 Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP/REX/Shutterstock Ice-Cold Nonsense Donald Trump ended a year of […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund In December, I reported that the Trump administration was creating a new Five Year Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing Program plan—ignoring the huge amount of public input and time that went into the current plan which should have extended through 2022. It wasn’t a surprise that the administration […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund The administration’s new five-year offshore drilling plan puts polluter profits over the public good—and risks another BP oil spill–style disaster. iStock President Trump has launched the most sweeping industrial assault in history on our oceans, marine life, coasts and all they support, proposing to expose nearly all U.S. […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund The federal program that sets minimum energy efficiency standards for the appliances, electronics, and equipment we use every day has been an unequivocal success story. Yet, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is toying with some changes that could compromise the effectiveness of the longtime program saving the […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund Energy efficiency in our homes helps improve health and comfort and saves money on monthly bills. For low-income apartment residents, who spend more than three times the average in energy costs, these savings can have a significant impact in being able to stay in their homes and live […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund Much of the country is in the grip of frigid weather, which is increasing demand for electricity (but still less than during hot summer months). Predictably, coal interests contend that because coal plants are running more to help meet higher demand, it proves America needs the ill-conceived Trump-Perry […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund The Interior Secretary plans to release a new five-year plan for offshore oil and gas drilling today. In late April, President Trump issued an executive order promoting oil and gas drilling off America’s coasts—and today, in response, U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke plans to unveil a […]