News & Updates

A Courageous Victory: Vermont Climate Superfund Bill Passes the House and Senate

After the Vermont House passed the Climate Superfund Act this week, it is the closest a bill like this has ever been to becoming law. This is a major victory for our grantee, Vermont Public Interest Group, that led a so-far successful legislative campaign. Now the bill goes back to the Senate for a final review before it is delivered to Governor Phil Scott. Governor Scott might veto it, in...

RFF’s Associate Director for Oil and Gas featured in The Hill

Sarah Brennan, RFF’s Associate Director for the Funder Collaborative on Oil and Gas, published an op-ed in The Hill on what the Biden administration needs to do to transition away from fossil fuels. She mentioned two key issues the Funder Collaborative is working on: gas exports and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS).

Latinx values research featured in the Medium

Several RFF grantees with large Latinx constituencies partnered with Equis Lab and other senior researchers to survey Latinx people, measure their sense of influence, and develop values segmentation clusters to improve efforts to communicate with and organize this important group. The study uncovered social and psychological factors that impact voting habits of Latinx people; Equis...

Democracy organizing partners quoted in US News election analysis

RFF’s democracy program supports the work of local organizing groups, believing that the people closest to the work are the best strategists. Two RFF grantees were featured in an article published in U.S. News & World Report: How Democracy Fought Back in 2022: Branden Snyder from Detroit Action and Bishop Dwayne Royster from POWER Pennsylvania.

President Biden Highlights Care Agenda in SOTU

On March 7, the need for care policies took center stage in President Biden’s State of the Union address. Speaking to a joint session of Congress, the president asked us all to envision a future where public policy fully invests in care:

Imagine a future with affordable child care so millions of families can get the care they need and still go to work and help grow the...

Senate Hearing on Big Oil Deception: New Fossil Fuel Industry Documents and a Call for Climate Accountability

The Senate Budget Committee held a hearing to review a trove of new fossil fuel industry documents that blasted Big Oil for their decades of “climate denial, deception, and doublespeak” and revealed its evolving tactics to delay climate action. The documents provided another inside-look into the persistent greenwashing and propaganda that Big Oil continues to deploy to display a...

New Federal Protections for Pregnant Workers

In late 2022, Congress passed the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which advocates have championed for over a decade, as an amendment to the omnibus spending package. The new law requires employers to offer pregnant workers reasonable accommodations like extra bathroom breaks, the ability to sit while performing certain tasks and restrictions on how much weight they are required to...

NYT Draws Attention to Expiration of Federal Funding for Child Care

Five months ago, federal funding for child care expired. A recent front-page story in the New York Times highlights that “running a child care business is more precarious than ever,” with many parents struggling to afford the cost. The article features one of RFF's grantees, the Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy. 

Bakeyah Nelson on Carbon Capture in Inside Philanthropy

Bakeyah Nelson, Senior Advisor for the Funder Collaborative on Oil and Gas, pens an Op-Ed in Inside Philanthropy urging donors to reject funding carbon capture and storage and instead prioritize funding for effective, reparative solutions that bring about a just energy transition. 

Will Lawmakers Sacrifice Our Health and Safety to Get a Debt Ceiling Deal?

Last May, RFF Associate Director Larry Shapiro and Dr. Robert Bullard co-authored an Op-Ed in The New York Times urging lawmakers to include environmental protections for marginalized communities in the debt ceiling deal. 

Dr. Robert D. Bullard, Ph.D. is founding director of the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice and distinguished professor of urban planning and...