Before you dig into our last newsletter of 2025 below, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on the past year. 2025 has been marked by the most significant rollback of environmental protections we've ever witnessed.
The Trump administration capped off the year with schemes to dramatically weaken the Endangered Species Act, gut the Clean Water Act, and allow new oil and gas drilling across nearly 1.3 billion acres of U.S. coastal waters.
You and NRDC’s 3 million other supporters have responded in force — generating hundreds of thousands of public comments pushing back against these anti-environmental assaults.
When you submit a comment, you help shape policy and defend our environment — probably more than you even know. Your comments become part of the official record that federal agencies must consider. And if they ignore serious concerns, that gives NRDC the legal footing we need to challenge them in court.
Protect the Rules That Save Drivers Billions of Dollars
On Wednesday, the Trump administration announced their plan to roll back rules that make cars and trucks go farther on a gallon of gas.
The average car’s gas mileage has nearly tripled in the last 50 years, thanks to these rules. That means fewer trips to the gas station, more money in your pocket, and significantly slashing pollution that dirties the air and hurts the climate.
Weakening these rules would cost drivers more at the pump just to line the pockets of oil and gas executives.
Public comments are a critical tool to ensure government decisions follow the law — and when NRDC members and activists speak up, it helps us build a strong legal case to hold federal agencies accountable.
CAMPAIGN UPDATE
The Issue with Tissue: The Sustainable Buyer’s Guide
Hosting for the holidays? As you stock up on toilet paper, tissue boxes, and paper towels, it’s worth knowing that many popular brands still rely on wood pulp from centuries-old trees chopped down in places like the boreal forest of Canada — harming its wildlife, its vast stores of carbon that help protect against climate change, and the communities and people who depend on the forest.
The good news is that not all tissue products are created equally. NRDC’s latest Issue with Tissue scorecard reveals which brands embrace sustainable alternatives by using recycled materials or responsibly sourced bamboo, and which products (like P&G’s Charmin) use forest fiber and are better to avoid.
NRDC and Groups Sue the Trump Administration to Halt Illegal Offshore Drilling
NRDC and other environmental groups filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the Trump administration’s decision to open 80 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico to the fossil fuel industry, jeopardizing marine and coastal wildlife and their habitat along with communities and the climate. This case takes on an even greater importance following the administration’s devastating proposal last month to open over a billion acres of our ocean off the coasts of California, Alaska, Florida, and the Gulf for drilling.
Read more >
Rachael Ray … David Chang … these are just two celebrity chefs who are unfortunately defending cookware coated with toxic PFAS or “forever chemicals.” But the reasons to get PFAS out of cookware go far beyond the kitchen, extending to our health and utility rates, as we address contamination in our food, soil, and drinking water supply. Read more food for thought >
We are on the frontlines every day waging fierce courtroom battles and hard-hitting campaigns in defense of our climate, health, wildlife, and wild places, and to protect people, vulnerable communities, and the planet. Help us keep up the fight – make a tax-deductible gift today.
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