NRDC

Reversal Signals Renewed Focus on Science at the Heart of Federal Actions

CHICAGO (April 28, 2008) – The Obama administration announced today that they would be dumping eleventh-hour Bush Administration changes to the Endangered Species Act that would have dramatically weakened the landmark wildlife protection law.

The decision will once again require federal agencies to consult with experts at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration before taking action that could impact threatened or endangered species. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and other groups had sued to roll back the Bush Administration changes that have now been repealed.    » read more »

Follows Through on 2007 Supreme Court Ruling to Protect Health, Air and Climate

Washington (April 17, 2009) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under Administrator Lisa Jackson made an historic announcement today to move forward with the ruling that the carbon pollution that causes global warming is a danger to public health and welfare. This action will finally enable the EPA to begin implementing the 2007 Supreme Court ruling that carbon pollution can be curbed under the Clean Air Act.

Following is a statement by David Doniger, Policy Director of the Climate Center at the Natural Resources Defense Council, and its attorney in the Supreme Court's landmark global warming case, Massachusetts v. EPA:    » read more »

Quirky fish is key to protecting coast's most fragile ecosystems

LOS ANGELES (April 15, 2009) – In an attempt to save a unique and endangered fish found only in the most fragile of California coastal habitats, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) will file a suit today against the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service after habitat protections were needlessly limited. NRDC fought to keep the fish on the Endangered Species List in 2000, and now a removal of habitat that the Service had previously labeled as essential to the species’ survival have forced a return to the courts.    » read more »

How the Supreme Court Has Broken the Clean Water Act and Why Congress Must Fix It

Washington (April 14, 2009) -- For decades, the Clean Water Act has broadly protected America’s lakes, rivers, streams, and drinking water sources from unregulated pollution and destruction, rescuing them from the dire straits they were in during the late 1960s and early 1970s. But because of a concerted effort by polluters and developers, and muddied rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court, up to 60 percent (at least 15,000 important waters) have lost these vital protections and countless other waters (including more than 50 percent of our streams and 20 million acres of wetlands) are at risk of losing protections.    » read more »

WASHINGTON (April 8, 2009) -- The Nuclear Weapons Complex Consolidation Policy (NWCC) Network, a collaboration of six national and regional groups, released a study today that provides the roadmap for a large and swift reduction in the nation’s nuclear weapons and the sprawling government complex that develops and produces them. The study outlines the case for a tenfold reduction in the nation’s active nuclear weapons stockpile, to 500 deployed nuclear warheads by 2015, supported by a weapons complex reduced from the current eight sites in seven states to just three sites in two states, Texas and New Mexico.    » read more »

FAS and NRDC Chart Minimal Deterrent Nuclear Mission

WASHINGTON, DC (April 8, 2009) -- In Prague, President Barack Obama called for a world without nuclear weapons. Today, the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) released a report calling for fundamental changes to U.S. nuclear war planning, a vital prerequisite if smaller nuclear arsenals are to be achieved.    » read more »

Congress Passes Package That Will Protect America's Land, Water and Rivers

WASHINGTON (March 25, 2009) – The U.S. House of Representatives today passed an omnibus public lands package, which includes a landmark settlement to restore water and salmon populations to California’s San Joaquin River. This vote will send a bill to the president’s desk that provides the additional authority and funding needed to restore runs of thousands of salmon each year. It will also launch projects to improve flood protection and water supply in the Central Valley.    » read more »

Oil Spills are a Real, Costly Risk We Face in Light of the Recently Lifted Moratorium

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 24, 2009) – Twenty years after the massive Exxon Valdez oil disaster in Alaska, oil spills still occur and the risk of them happening up and down the East and West Coast has increased after the more than three-decade moratorium on offshore drilling was lifted in the waning months of the Bush Administration.    » read more »

Raises Concerns About Mountaintop Removal Impact on Waterways

WASHINGTON (March 24, 2009) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency expressed serious concern today about the potential harmful impacts on waterways from mountaintop removal mining. The EPA sent two letters to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers focused on two surface coal mining operations in West Virginia and Kentucky. EPA also intends to review other requests for mining permits.

Following is statement by Jon Devine, Senior Attorney for the Water Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council:    » read more »

Legislation Would Fund Nation’s Water and Sanitation Needs

Washington, DC (March 12, 2009) – A bill that will help close the multi-billion dollar annual gap that exists between wastewater infrastructure needs and current funding was passed today by the U.S. House of Representatives.    » read more »

New Analysis Ranks "Filthy 15" States by Coal Ash Produced by Proposed Plants

Washington, D.C. (March 12, 2009) -- Proposed coal plants across the United States would produce nearly 18 million tons of dangerous waste, including toxic metals, each year. Nearly 130 million tons of coal waste from existing plants is being produced annually, most of which is disposed of in largely unregulated landfills, ponds and other locations, posing serious public health and environmental risks.

According to a new analysis by the Natural Resources Defense Council, the 15 states that would be the biggest polluters -- the “Filthy 15” -- have proposals for 54 coal plants and would create nearly 14 million tons of dangerous waste.    » read more »

Creates Task Force to Advance a Renewable Energy Agenda

Washington (March 11, 2009) – Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar today announced that the agency will increasingly focus on advancing clean, renewable energy and addressing global warming. Secretary Salazar announced the formation of an energy and climate change task force to advance the Interior Department’s renewable energy agenda.

Following is a statement by Bobby McEnaney, a lands advocate for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC):    » read more »

Washington (March 10, 2009) – EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson today issued proposed emissions reporting that will provide the framework for federal regulation of global warming pollution. Congress ordered EPA to establish monitoring and inventory rules for greenhouse gas emissions in 2007, but action was blocked by the Bush administration.

With this announcement, Administrator Jackson is demonstrating that the EPA will move forward with a system for reporting the emissions of heat-trapping pollution by all major polluters in the United States. EPA estimates that the new reporting requirements will cover 85 to 90 percent of U.S. global warming pollution from major industries and transportation.    » read more »

Move Would Weaken New York’s Participation in Landmark, Cost-Effective Energy Plan for Northeast

ALBANY (March 6, 2009) – Caving to pressure from the energy industry, Governor Paterson has decided to reconsider the rules that New York adopted in order to participate in a landmark initiative with nine other Northeastern states to build a clean energy economy and cap global warming pollution from power plants.    » read more »

Bush Administration Rule Leads to Wolves Removal from Endangered Species List

CHICAGO (March 6, 2009) – The Secretary of the Interior announced today that he will remove the gray wolf from the federal Endangered Species List in Montana and Idaho, as well as the western Great Lakes region. Wolves in the state of Wyoming will remain under Endangered Species Act protection due to federal concern over the inadequacy of the state’s management plan.

The State of Idaho recently proposed killing 200 wolves within their borders.

Following are comments from Andrew Wetzler, Director of NRDC’s Endangered Species Project:    » read more »