Clean water protections nationwide are under threat. Earlier this week, RRI joined clean water, environmental justice, public health, and conservation organizations from across California in urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to withdraw its newly proposed rule redefining “Waters of the United States.”

Like seeds planted in the soil, many of RRI’s long-term efforts—to restore damaged ecosystems, support farmers through transition, reform public policy, and build new models for climate resilience—have required persistence, care, and enduring partnerships. We’re excited to report that 2025 saw many of our programs take root and bear fruit.

Last week, our Director of Advocacy, Scott Webb, joined over 100 advocates at the State Capitol for a full day of legislative action with the Green California Network. We met policymakers, amplified environmental priorities, and advocated for our ocean, communities, and climate.

We joined 77 leading environmental organizations to submit strong comments to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), urging the Department of the Interior to halt the development of a new offshore oil and gas leasing program. The current program does not expire until 2029, and we believe resources would be better spent advancing renewable energy solutions and improving safety and environmental protections for existing fossil fuel operations.

This month, we joined dozens of environmental, agricultural, public health, and tribal organizations across the state in calling on Governor Newsom and the California Legislature to prioritize nature-based solutions in the state’s climate investment strategy. In a letter addressed to state leaders, we urged a significant and sustained allocation of Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) revenues to California’s natural, working, and urban lands—landscapes that are among the state’s most powerful yet underfunded tools in the fight against climate change.

RRI joins a coalition of 132 organizations calling on Congress to pass emergency funding for communities devastated by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. The November 2024 letter requests over $44 billion in disaster relief and infrastructure resilience funding while advocating for policy changes to strengthen federal disaster response capabilities.

On May 6th, 2024, the Resource Renewal Institute (RRI) and over 400 organizations signed an open letter urging President Biden to declare a national climate emergency and take swift, transformative action to address the climate crisis.

The Resource Renewal Institute joins over 600 organizations in endorsing the March to End Fossil Fuels, which is taking place ahead of the UN Climate Ambition Summit.

Resource Renewal Institute (RRI) is thrilled to announce that our President, Deborah Moskowitz, and Director of Programs, Chance Cutrano, are recipients of a prestigious environmental award from Acterra, the respected Peninsula environmental organization that “brings people together to create local solutions for a healthy planet.”

With this week’s introduction of thousands of fish into the fallow flooded rice fields owned by fourth-generation rice farmer, Charles Mathews, Fish in the Fields continues to expand its project of establishing a profitable – and methane-reducing – rotation crop for California’s half-million acres of rice cultivation.