It’s campaigning vigorously against new vessel speed rules, even as a full one-third of all strike risk for Gulf of Mexico whales comes from vessels serving the oil and gas industry. The industry is also lobbying hard for the Fisheries Service to green-light another two and a half years of seismic exploration for oil deposits in the gulf. The agency appears poised to do so, despite the fact the government’s own scientists have concluded that seismic surveys are likely to “eliminate or seriously degrade” the entire species of Gulf of Mexico whales. Such surveys rely on large arrays of high-energy seismic air guns towed behind ships that release dynamite-like sound every 10 to 12 seconds, day and night, for weeks and months on end. For animals that depend on their hearing to find food, locate mates, communicate with their young, and more, this sonic assault isn’t just an annoyance; it’s a matter of life and death. “We sued when the Fisheries Service under Trump tried to rubber-stamp more seismic exploration in the gulf,” says Jasny. “And we’re prepared to go to court again if that’s what it takes to spare these critically endangered whales more suffering at the hands of the oil and gas industry.”
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Your Membership Support of NRDC Made a World of Difference in 2023 Thanks to your generous donations, here are some of the landmark environmental victories we won over the past year:
NO DRILLING IN ARCTIC REFUGE
EIGHT STATES GO ALL-IN ON EVS
EXPLOSIVE TAP WATER WIN
EPA VETOES PEBBLE MINE
OUTCRY SPURS USPS U-TURN
POLLUTER PAYS UP IN MAINE
BIG SURGE FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY
ATTACK ON WILDLIFE AXED
NYC ORGANICS GO CURBSIDE
The Biden administration canceled leases in the nation’s largest wildlife refuge, sparing polar bears, musk oxen, and other Arctic wildlife an onslaught of new drilling.
A colossal open-pit copper and gold mine that threatened the world’s most productive wild salmon runs in Bristol Bay, Alaska, was blocked by the EPA.
GRAND NEW MONUMENT NAMED
More than 900,000 acres of iconic western landscape are now protected as Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni–Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument.
Updated federal energy efficiency standards for 20 categories of products are poised to save consumers $650 billion in utility bills while cutting carbon pollution.
California plus seven more states have committed to phase out the sale of new, fully gas-powered cars and trucks by 2035, turbocharging the clean-car revolution.
Massive public backlash pushed the Postal Service to drop plans to invest in more polluting trucks and pledge to purchase thousands of clean electric vehicles instead.
The Biden administration is on track to restore many critical protections for struggling wildlife under the Endangered Species Act that the previous administration gutted.
A federal appeals court ruled that the EPA must regulate perchlorate in drinking water, a widespread and toxic contaminant used in rocket fuel and explosives.
A hard-won court settlement means a corporate polluter will pay a minimum $187 million to clean up its toxic legacy of dumping mercury into the Penobscot River.
The Big Apple is taking a big bite out of climate-busting methane emissions by requiring curbside collection and composting of food scraps and yard waste.
Please help us win even more victories in 2024—both in and out of court—by making a special tax-deductible contribution at: NRDC.ORG/VICTORIES
PHOTOS: KATRINA LIEBICH/USFWS; EVGO NETWORK VIA FLICKR, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0; BRIAN PINEDA; FELICIA JIMENEZ/NPS; GETTY IMAGES (2): DYAN BONE/USFS SOUTHWESTERN REGION, KAIBAB NATIONAL FOREST; DREAMSTIME; GETTY IMAGES (2).
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