The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers published a list of projects that would qualify for “emergency” permits in response to President Trump’s declaration of a national energy emergency. David Bookbinder, the director of law and policy at EIP is quoted in the New York Times saying, “The Trump administration appears to be gearing up to use false claims of an ‘energy...
Albany Law named RFF Director, Lee Wasserman, to its list of alumni who are “making waves in environmental law, policy, protections, and efforts to make a better world for all of us.” Read the full write-up here.
Lee Wasserman spoke with the Capitol Press Room on New York’s groundbreaking law to hold major polluters accountable for their contributions to climate change. Listen to the interview here.
In response to the Wall Street Journal's article “New York Will Now Tax America” (Dec. 28), RFF Director Lee Wasserman submitted a letter to the editor, featured in the Journal's opinion section, defending Governor Hochul's decision to sign the Climate Change Superfund Act into law. In his letter, Mr. Wasserman argues that "the costs of climate...
New York—the state with the Nation's third-largest economy—enacted climate superfund legislation at the end of 2024, becoming the second state after Vermont to do so. This is a major victory for New Yorkers and the team of advocates, led by the New York Public Interest Research Group, that RFF organized to take on this historic legislative campaign. New York’s Climate...
The Department of Energy released a long-waited study on the economic and environmental impacts of gas exports. The study showed that continued rise of gas exports could raise domestic gas prices, increase global GHG emissions, and negatively affect communities who live by the terminals. President Biden initiated the study in January 2024 when a pause was issued for approvals of new gas export...
The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) issued a report showing the shrinking role of the petrochemical industry in Louisiana’s economy. While oil, gas and petrochemicals accounted for a third of the state’s GDP at the turn of the century, it now makes up just 14%.
Last month, California filed a first-of-its-kind lawsuit against ExxonMobil, the world’s largest producer of single-use plastic polymers, for plastic recycling fraud. ExxonMobil orchestrated a 50-year deceptive campaign that falsely promoted recycling as a solution to plastic waste, driving increased consumption of single-use plastics and fueling the global plastic pollution crisis. The...
Rev. Dr. Gregory Edwards, the interim executive director of POWER Interfaith in Pennsylvania, and Marcus Bass, the deputy director of North Carolina Black Alliance, co-wrote an opinion piece featured in Newsweek about the need to understand the varied political views of black men. Read the full piece here.
Prentiss Haney, a member of DPI Fund's advisory committee and former Executive Director of Ohio Organizing Collective, was interviewed by Astead Herndon of the New York Times for "The Run Up." The conversation walked through DPI's national Black values research and the implications from that research for the work to engage Black voters in the 2024 election. You can watch the...