Media Center

Community Groups Challenge Permit for Washington’s First Industrial Wood Pellet Fuel Plant

June 13, 2024 Press ReleaseWashington

A coalition of Northwest and national conservation groups today filed an appeal to revoke a faulty air permit that would allow construction and operation of an industrial-scale wood pellet fuel plant in Hoquiam, Washington.

NRDC, Los Jardines Institute File Title VI Civil Rights Complaint Against Albuquerque Officials

June 3, 2024 Press ReleaseUnited States

Los Jardines Institute and NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) have filed a Title VI civil rights complaint urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to require the City of Albuquerque and Albuquerque Environmental Health Department to start accounting for the cumulative…

Court Orders Port of Los Angeles to Clean Up Pollution

May 29, 2024 Press ReleaseLos Angeles

The San Diego County Superior Court ruled in favor of Los Angeles harbor-area residents with a decision that will require the lease between the Port of Los Angeles and its largest shipping customer, China Shipping, to include enforceable measures to…

EPA Boosts Toxic Air Pollution Safeguards at Coal Plants

April 25, 2024 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON – The Biden administration today announced important new technology updates to the Environmental Protection Agency's Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) for power plants that burn coal and oil, strengthening the limit on toxic particulate matter for all plants and mercury standards…

EPA Issues Truck Pollution Standards

March 29, 2024 Press ReleaseUnited States

The Environmental Protection Agency released standards to reduce tailpipe emissions from new heavy-duty trucks. These final standards follow a recent federal strategy to build out a national zero emission freight corridor network, which will put the nation on the road…

New Rule Targets Methane Waste on Federal Lands

March 27, 2024 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON — In an effort to curb dirty methane pollution, the Bureau of Land Management released a new rule that charges industry operators for unnecessarily wasting publicly owned methane on federal and tribal lands. Right now, more than 150 billion…

Clean Freight Means Cleaner Air

March 12, 2024 Press ReleaseUnited States

WASHINGTON – The Biden administration released a plan to establish Zero-Emission Freight Corridors along some of the most-traveled and polluted freight routes in the country. With the federal government directing funding to these routes, these corridors will help speed up…

EPA’s New Approach on Power Plant Pollution

February 29, 2024 Press ReleaseUnited States

WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency said today that it will be taking a new approach to tackling pollution from existing gas power plants, while holding firm on its timeline to finalize standards for carbon pollution from existing coal and…

EPA’s Carbon Standards Are a Powerful Tool

February 15, 2024 Press ReleaseUnited States

The EPA’s standards to curb carbon emissions from power plants are crucial to addressing climate change. Strong and comprehensive rules are needed to address this major source of carbon pollution.

Biden Administration Strengthens Health Standard for Soot Pollution

February 7, 2024 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule today to tighten one national limit for soot pollution in the United States. It set the annual health standard for soot, otherwise known as fine particulate matter air pollution, or PM2.5…

NRDC Report: Extensive Oil & Gas Subsidies in Permian Basin Cost Billions, Drive Climate Damage and Boost Air Pollution

January 24, 2024 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON — Amid record industry profits and rising climate damages, a new NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) report documents 57 federal and state subsidies that the fossil fuel industry receives in the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico that…

NRDC President on the Hottest Year on Record: “We Must Speed the Shift from Fossil Fuels”

January 12, 2024 Press ReleaseUnited States

WASHINGTON - Last year was the hottest on record, 1.2 degrees Celsius, or 2.1 degrees Fahrenheit, above the 20th-Century average, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported today.

Appellate Court Rules Port of LA Must Obey Environmental Law or Risk Closure of Largest Terminal

January 3, 2024 Press ReleaseLos Angeles

After decades of violating state environmental law to benefit its largest shipping customer, the Port of Los Angeles must take long-overdue measures to protect the health and well-being of residents and workers from diesel exhaust and other air pollutants, the…

Issue Brief: Building Decarbonization Policy Must Center Housing and Health Equity  

December 22, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new issue brief released today from NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) highlights how racist practices create inadequate housing quality for at-risk communities and what can be done to address this within building decarbonization policy. The brief was created…

US Announces Over $1 Billion for Global Methane Reduction

December 2, 2023 Press ReleaseInternational

U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry announced today that the United States, the European Union, and other entities have mobilized over $1 billion in new grant funding for methane action. The grants are focused on lower income countries…

DOT is Putting Transportation on the Right Track 

November 27, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON – The Department of Transportation released a key rule last week that will require states to measure greenhouse gas pollution from highway systems and set targets to lower those emissions.

Governor Newsom Stands Up to Big Oil, Protecting California Communities and Taxpayers

October 7, 2023 Press ReleaseSacramento

In a strong move to hold oil companies responsible for the economic and public health dangers of oil wells left idle and unplugged, Governor Gavin Newsom has signed AB 1167, the “Orphan Well Prevention Act,” into law. This bill, authored…

NRDC Digital Tool Tracks Political Opposition to Offshore Drilling

September 21, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON – NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is launching an updated digital tool today to help people track where their Members of Congress stand on offshore oil and gas drilling. The Biden administration is expected to release a final five-year plan for federal…

House Majority Fiddles While Climate Crisis Burns

September 14, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON – After months of climate-fueled disasters around the nation and facing a deadline in just a few weeks to pass a budget, the House Majority instead wasted time today voting on a measure to try and prevent states from…

Biden Administration Won’t Update Health Limits for Ozone by 2024

August 21, 2023 Press ReleaseWashington, D.C.

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency will not finish by 2024 its reconsideration of an unsafe ozone health standard left in place by the Trump administration, the agency announced today. Instead, EPA will start its review over, significantly delaying the process…