environmental defense fund

New Yorkers are all too familiar with the devastation that followed, and the disruption that spread far beyond the water’s reach. As the immediate crises are resolved, our attention is now on the complex challenge of long-term resilience.[read more]

At Politico today, there is an important article focusing on the inability of the environmental movement -- for the most part -- to move beyond a primarily white, liberal base and to engage minority communities.  As Politico's Talia Buford reports, many greens blame the failure of the cap and trade campaign to engage minority...[read more]

Maybe it’s time to stop talking about climate change. And to stop pushing for comprehensive “climate policy.” That’s what New York’s mayor, Michael Bloomberg, did last week when he gave $50 million to the Sierra Club to fight coal plants. Coal plants should be shuttered, he said, because they endanger public health, pollute the air,...[read more]

Cutting emissions is about creating opportunities for new, clean energy sources, not about crashing economies. The Great Recession saw a crash with the most severe consequences for employment and other measures of economic output since the Great Depression. Emissions responded in kind. Pierre Friedlingstein and a slew of co-authors...[read more]

The Environmental Defense Fund’s Scott Anderson and Southwestern Energy EVP Mark Boling have been working together on proposed environmental rules to govern the use of hydraulic fracturing, a key technique in the development of shale gas resources. The Houston Chronicle reports: Energy companies and environmental groups have more often...[read more]

With Tea Party-backed Republicans now controlling the U.S. House the already slim chance of getting cap-and-trade legislation over the next two years is now razor thin, but the outcome in California — with Democrat Jerry Brown winning as governor and Dem. Barbara Boxer keeping her senate seat, as well as Proposition 23 being...[read more]

Guest blogger Dominique Browning’s interview with Peter Goldmark is reposted from her EDF blog.  I served as Goldmark’s special assistant when he was President of the Rockefeller Foundation two decades ago.  He is one of the best thinkers and speakers on climate I know. “What we need more than anything else is a mass movement...[read more]

Featuring: Fred Krupp, President Steve Cochran, Director, National Climate Campaign Will the oil disaster in the Gulf help or hinder the passage of an historic climate and energy bill? What are the prospects for winning bipartisan support? What can we expect to hear from the bill’s opponents? Listen to this discussion: Download mp3 |...[read more]

Let me get this news from Walmart last week before it becomes stale. Everybody knows in the supply chain community that what Walmart and other big box retailers do vibrates all the way even up to chemical feedstock producers. This year, Walmart decided to further put their nose in their supply chain's businesses by asking them (very...[read more]

What do you think of the sustainability efforts of the retail giant? Our guest blogger is Sarah Collins, intern with CAP’s Energy Opportunity team at the Center for American Progress. In 2009, Wal-Mart received the Aspen Institute Energy and Environment award for Corporate Energy Efficiency.  To build on this success, Wal-Mart just...[read more]

Until now, Walmart’s bold sustainability efforts were marred by a glaring omission. The $405-billion a year retailer has worked hard since 2005 to save energy, reduce waste and sell more sustainable products. But it resisted pressures to reduce or hold steady its own greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, its carbon emissions have grown,...[read more]

Environmental Defense Fund has been working on fleet efficiency because: Fleet vehicles are driven hard, averaging nearly double the mileage, fuel consumption and emissions of personal vehicles. As a result, fleets are not only expensive to operate but are also a major source of global warming pollution. Interested companies...[read more]

Geoengineering, says scientist David Keith, “is like chemotherapy. It’s something nobody should like.” But if you can’t avoid cancer, chemotherapy may be your best option. And, if it becomes evident that the earth can’t avoid the catastrophic impacts of climate change, it is not merely possible that governments will turn to...[read more]

When Chris McKenna, who manages a fleet of trucks for Poland Spring, learned that the company’s drivers were racking up as much as 1,400 hours a month of idle time, he saw an opportunity to make a difference. Running truck engines in winter kept the cabs warm — the company is based in Maine — but it cost Poland Spring money and polluted...[read more]

Earlier this month, Environmental Defense Fund's Director of Economic Policy and Analysis, Dr. Nat Keohane, released a clear, helpful video on the facts of cap-and-trade on behalf of the Clean Energy Works coalition.  I've re-posted the video and EDF's summary of the facts below.  (HT: Professor Nan Keohane) The Facts of Cap...[read more]