environmental law and advocacy nonprofit
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Industry Environment
A major environmental law, science, and policy nonprofit using litigation, research, advocacy, and public campaigns to protect climate, health, wildlife, and communities. Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) scores well because the model leaves more value with stakeholders and the institution is less hostile to people with weak bargaining power, and no current penalty outweighs that structure.
Why this matters: NRDC is a high-capacity professional environmental institution: strong public-interest output with less direct democratic control than grassroots or cooperative models.
Letter grade A Good High confidence (AI) Rubric gcd-rubric-v1
* Tentative scaffolding score. Not human-checked or final.
Request verification to have the evidence record checked against primary materials and organization-supplied documents. Verification does not buy a higher score; scores change only when review finds factual errors, omissions, or miscalibration.
Evaluation Overview
A - Good
The score turns mainly on Extraction; no penalty currently dominates the evaluation.
Strengths
- Extraction8/10
- Solidarity with the Unemployed6/7
- Loss-Bearing Fidelity6/7
Penalties
- No penalties applied in this version.
Evidence state
- ConfidenceHigh confidence (AI)
- ThoroughnessExhaustive (AI)
- Linked claims14
- Direct axis claims13
- Coverage13/13
Scoring Axes
| Axis | Score | Why this score |
|---|---|---|
Ownership
?
Control rights: shareholder-dominated at 0, worker cooperative control
at 10.
|
5 / 10 |
NRDC is a nonprofit environmental organization rather than a shareholder-owned company. Linked evidence
|
Governance
?
Binding decision authority: centralized control at 0, democratic
stakeholder control at 10.
|
5 / 10 |
NRDC publishes board, accountability, and financial materials for a professionally governed nonprofit structure. Linked evidence
|
Extraction
?
Surplus allocation, wage share, CEO pay ratio, margins, and structured
extraction judgment.
|
8 / 10 |
NRDC directs resources toward environmental litigation, science, policy, and advocacy rather than investor extraction. Linked evidence
|
Labor Sovereignty
?
Worker power: coercive conditions at 0, co-determination or ownership at
7. Employee dissatisfaction matters only when source-backed evidence
shows concrete limits on worker agency, such as coercive scheduling,
retaliation, wage theft, harassment, unsafe conditions, suppression of
worker voice, or extreme turnover.
|
5 / 7 |
NRDC is a professional nonprofit workplace; the evidence supports ordinary mission-staff agency but not worker control. Linked evidence
|
Solidarity with the
Unemployed
?
Treatment of exits and nonworkers, including severance, redeployment,
and non-competes.
|
6 / 7 |
NRDC advocacy addresses public health, climate, water, wildlife, and community harms that affect people regardless of labor-market position. Linked evidence
|
Loss-Bearing Fidelity
?
Willingness to absorb costs to preserve values, workers, users, and
public obligations.
|
6 / 7 |
NRDC uses litigation and policy capacity to bear costs that individuals and communities often cannot carry alone. Linked evidence
|
Market Conduct
?
Pricing fairness, switching costs, lock-in, and rent extraction.
|
5 / 5 |
NRDC is not primarily a market seller and does not depend on consumer lock-in. Linked evidence
|
Product Integrity
?
Preservation of quality rather than degradation for monetization.
|
5 / 5 |
NRDC provides law, science, policy, and advocacy work whose ordinary use is aligned with its stated environmental mission. Linked evidence
|
Scale Integrity
?
Whether growth improves or degrades fairness and accountability.
|
5 / 5 |
NRDC scale increases legal and policy capacity while remaining limited by professional nonprofit governance rather than direct constituent control. Linked evidence
|
Penalties
No penalties applied in this version.
Bonus Credits
| Bonus | Credit | Why this credit |
|---|---|---|
Openness to Dissent
?
Credit for tolerating internal, user, customer, worker, and public
dissent without retaliation, capture, or viewpoint laundering.
|
1 / 3 |
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) the organization creates or protects dissent against concentrated institutional or industrial power. Linked evidence
|
Constitutional Spirit
?
Credit for respecting constitutional rights and civil-liberties norms
even where private law does not strictly require it.
|
3 / 3 |
NRDC uses litigation and public-interest law to enforce environmental statutes and public rights. Linked evidence
|
Good Deal
?
Credit for unusually fair value: durable quality, fair pricing, low
lock-in, and clear customer surplus.
|
3 / 3 |
Ordinary users receive unusually fair value, durability, access, or surplus. Full credit is reserved for unusually clear, profile-specific evidence rather than ordinary compliance language. Linked evidence
|
Cost Transparency
?
Credit for clear posted prices, all-in fees, unit costs, public rate
cards, margin/cost visibility, or surplus-allocation transparency,
especially in markets where opaque quotes, hidden fees, or
individualized pricing are normal.
|
2 / 3 |
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) the organization publishes meaningful financial, annual-report, or accountability materials. Linked evidence
|
Confidence Basis
Confidence Basis
Confidence is computed from the evidence trail and review state, not typed into the profile by hand.
High 80/100
14 verified linked claims 13 direct axis claims 0 disputed claims 13/13 components covered
This confidence label measures the source-backed evidence trail. AI-scaffolded scores remain tentative until human review.
Claim confidence 15/20
14 verified linked claims
Source quality 12/18
Best source per verified claim, weighted by institutional reliability
Direct axis-specific claims 14/18
13 direct claims across 13 active components
Dispute load 12/12
0 disputed claims on this entity
Recency 10/10
Newest accepted timestamp: May 13, 2026
Reviewer status 7/12
Human-reviewed components score higher than AI scaffolding
Component coverage 10/10
13/13 evidence-bearing components have direct support
Evidence State
Evidence State
Claims and Sources
Claims are the evidence record. Each claim needs a source link, axis category, status, confidence level, and timestamp before it can support a score.
* Tentative scaffolding score. Not human-checked or final.1NRDC is a nonprofit environmental organization rather than a shareholder-owned company.
- NRDC aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- NRDC accountability and financialsGeneral web source · 58%
- NRDC litigationGeneral web source · 58%
2NRDC publishes board, accountability, and financial materials for a professionally governed nonprofit structure.
- NRDC aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- NRDC accountability and financialsGeneral web source · 58%
- NRDC litigationGeneral web source · 58%
3NRDC directs resources toward environmental litigation, science, policy, and advocacy rather than investor extraction.
- NRDC aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- NRDC accountability and financialsGeneral web source · 58%
- NRDC litigationGeneral web source · 58%
4NRDC is a professional nonprofit workplace; the evidence supports ordinary mission-staff agency but not worker control.
- NRDC aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- NRDC accountability and financialsGeneral web source · 58%
- NRDC litigationGeneral web source · 58%
5NRDC advocacy addresses public health, climate, water, wildlife, and community harms that affect people regardless of labor-market position.
- NRDC aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- NRDC accountability and financialsGeneral web source · 58%
- NRDC litigationGeneral web source · 58%
6NRDC uses litigation and policy capacity to bear costs that individuals and communities often cannot carry alone.
- NRDC aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- NRDC accountability and financialsGeneral web source · 58%
- NRDC litigationGeneral web source · 58%
7NRDC is not primarily a market seller and does not depend on consumer lock-in.
- NRDC aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- NRDC accountability and financialsGeneral web source · 58%
- NRDC litigationGeneral web source · 58%
8NRDC provides law, science, policy, and advocacy work whose ordinary use is aligned with its stated environmental mission.
- NRDC aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- NRDC accountability and financialsGeneral web source · 58%
- NRDC litigationGeneral web source · 58%
9NRDC scale increases legal and policy capacity while remaining limited by professional nonprofit governance rather than direct constituent control.
- NRDC aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- NRDC accountability and financialsGeneral web source · 58%
- NRDC litigationGeneral web source · 58%
10Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) the organization creates or protects dissent against concentrated institutional or industrial power.
- NRDC aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- NRDC accountability and financialsGeneral web source · 58%
- NRDC litigationGeneral web source · 58%
11NRDC uses litigation and public-interest law to enforce environmental statutes and public rights.
- NRDC aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- NRDC accountability and financialsGeneral web source · 58%
- NRDC litigationGeneral web source · 58%
12Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) the public receives durable environmental, legal, land, or stewardship value without ordinary customer lock-in.
- NRDC aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- NRDC accountability and financialsGeneral web source · 58%
- NRDC litigationGeneral web source · 58%
13Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) the organization publishes meaningful financial, annual-report, or accountability materials.
- NRDC aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- NRDC accountability and financialsGeneral web source · 58%
- NRDC litigationGeneral web source · 58%
14Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)'s public materials state a mission, values, ownership model, advocacy role, or institutional standpoint plainly enough that this record does not identify penalty-level neutrality theater.
- Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) official siteGeneral web source · 58%
- NRDC aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- NRDC accountability and financialsGeneral web source · 58%
Help Improve This Profile
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How This Page Is Maintained
Evidence comes in through contributors, is checked by verifiers, and is synthesized by reviewers. Founder authority remains narrow and visible; scores recalculate when verified claims or the rubric change.
Civic Note
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Audit Log
Recent public changes for this company or group. The full audit log is part of the Transparency record.
Added tentative claim-backed evaluation during environmental advocacy, land-stewardship, and anti-environment comparison expansion pass.