Extracting and burning coal, oil, and gas can contribute to serious health hazards and even death.

NRDC works to clean up dirty energy operations. We expose the health risks associated with tar sands strip mines and fracking sites. Using the Clean Air Act, we push government agencies and Congress to strengthen standards for polluting power plants. And to quickly reduce our dependency on fossil fuels, we advocate for clean, renewable energy policies.

What We're Doing

Policy Solution

As polluters are far more likely to target low-income communities, we empower residents to create the healthier neighborhoods they deserve.

Policy Solution

With the tar sands invasion comes serious health risks. We bring these issues to the forefront and fight to protect communities from this dirty oil.

Policy Solution

We help slash the toxic, cancer-causing pollution from America’s busy ports, rail yards, and truck routes.

Policy Solution

As a leading authority on the Clean Air Act for more than four decades, we take polluters to court and use this law to limit dangerous air pollution.

Policy Solution

Air pollution at fracking sites can cause childhood leukemia, cardiac problems, and birth defects. We fight to protect people from the potential health risks of unchecked fracking.

Policy Solution

Not everyone realizes that the events fueled by climate change are causing health problems, so we connect the dots and encourage governments to take action.

Policy Primer

Industrial polluters have gone to great lengths to stifle environmental advocacy, but their expansion of censorship laws has finally crossed a line for some federal judges.

Related Priorities

What You Can Do

How to Unite the Fight for Racial Equity and Environmental Action

To truly achieve an equitable, fair, and greener future, we must defend Black lives and our climate future, together.

Unsafe Water More Common in Communities of Color

How to Find Relief During Summer Heat Waves in the City

What Is Climate Gentrification?

How to Protect Yourself from Lead-Contaminated Water

Environmental Justice in Chicago: It’s Been One Battle After Another

This Is What a Just Transition Looks Like

What Can We Do to Fix the Drinking Water Problem in America?

How to Block Big Polluters

How to Protest Safely

What Is Environmental Justice?

Chicagoans Battle Manganese Dust Pollution

Climate Change Is Sinking the National Flood Insurance Program

The Public Health Cost of Climate Change Is Already in the Billions

How to Tackle Fracking in Your Community

Protecting Your Community From Crude Oil "Bomb Trains"

Protecting Your Community From Crude Oil "Bomb Trains"

Ways to Make Change Globally by Acting Locally

Experts & Resources