NRDC

NRDC Greening Advisor Enables Businesses to Reduce Environmental Impact; Strengthen Bottom Line

Mon, 12 May 2008 05:00:00 GMT

New York, NY (May 12th, 2008) – Small and mid-sized businesses can now “green” their operations at no cost with the award-winning “Greening Advisor,” an easy web-based tool developed by Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), one of the nation’s largest and most influential environmental organizations.

NRDC Statement on Tejon Ranch Conservation and Land Use Agreement

Thu, 08 May 2008 05:00:00 GMT

LOS ANGELES (May 8, 2008) – An historic agreement announced today will permanently protect the largest contiguous, private landholding in California, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). NRDC and other leading environmental groups reached the agreement with the Tejon Ranch Co., providing for the conservation of 240,000 acres of the 270,000-acre Ranch property. Through the agreement, 178,000 acres will immediately receive permanent protection, and an additional 62,000 acres will be made available for public acquisition.

NRDC, Conservation Groups Develop Business-Supported Sustainable Seafood Plan

Thu, 08 May 2008 05:00:00 GMT

NEW YORK (May 8, 2008) – The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), in partnership with more than a dozen conservation organizations, today released clear, realistic steps companies can take to develop and implement a comprehensive corporate policy on sustainable, wild-caught and farmed seafood.

Environmental Groups Fight Attempt to Repeal Crucial Climate Provision from 2007 U.S. Energy Bill

Wed, 07 May 2008 05:00:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (May 8, 2008) – Today, the Natural Resources Defense Council and 26 other U.S. and Canadian environmental groups sent a letter to the Senate and House urging preservation of Section 526 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA). Section 526 prohibits the Federal purchase of dirty fuels (such as liquid coal, tar sands and oil shale) whose lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions are higher than conventional fuels. The letter urges Members to oppose amendments to the 2008 National Defense Authorization Bill that would repeal Section 526.

San Joaquin River Restoration Bill Moves Closer to Passage

Wed, 07 May 2008 05:00:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (May 7, 2008) – One of California’s largest salmon runs is one step closer to being restored to the San Joaquin River after the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted (15-7) today to pass The San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Act (S.27). The legislation would authorize and fund a landmark settlement to resurrect the once mighty river.

California State Water Agency Disguises Massive New Diversions in Peripheral Canal Analysis, Says NRDC

Tue, 06 May 2008 05:00:00 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (May 6, 2008) – The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) has released a preliminary analysis of a possible aqueduct to divert water from the Sacramento River to farms and cities in the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California. It is the first time in decades that state water officials have taken a serious look at sending Sacramento River water around, instead of through, the San Francisco Bay-Delta.

Depleted Longfin Smelt Moves Toward Federal Endangered Species Status

Tue, 06 May 2008 05:00:00 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO -- The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service today made a positive initial finding on a petition to list the San Francisco Bay population of the longfin smelt (Spirinchus thaleichthys), a native fish species related to the Delta smelt, under the federal Endangered Species Act. This is the first step toward a formal listing for the longfin, which has dropped to record low numbers in the San Francisco Bay-Delta and is nearing extinction in other northern California estuaries.

Environmental Groups to Duke Energy: Stop Illegal Construction of Cliffside or Face Lawsuit

Tue, 06 May 2008 05:00:00 GMT

Chapel Hill, NC (May 6, 2008) – On behalf of four environmental groups, the Southern Environmental Law Center put Duke Energy Carolinas on notice today that the company is violating the law by constructing a new unit at its Cliffside power plant without complying with Clean Air Act standards for mercury and other hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) and that continuing to do so could result in a lawsuit. SELC sent the 60-day notice letter to Duke on behalf of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, National Parks Conservation Association, and the Sierra Club.

Planned Oil Operations in Beaufort and Chukchi Seas Challenged

Mon, 05 May 2008 05:00:00 GMT

Juneau, AK (May 5, 2008) - Alaska Natives and conservation groups are joining forces to stop oil and gas related seismic activity planned for this summer in the Arctic’s Chukchi and Beaufort Seas that could be detrimental to scores of marine mammals – including endangered and threatened species. The groups filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Anchorage today on the premature issuance of federal permits for seismic surveys by Shell Oil and British Petroleum. The Chukchi and Beaufort Seas off Alaska’s north coast are collectively known as the Polar Bear Seas.

EPA's Proposed Lead Standard Still Would Expose Public to Unsafe Lead Levels

Thu, 01 May 2008 05:00:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (May 1, 2008) – In a move to strengthen the outdated, 30-year old limits on airborne lead, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced it will revise the standards for lead, a toxic air pollutant that causes serious illness, according to public health experts at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The EPA proposed standards would revise the existing standard of 1.5 micrograms per cubic meter of air to a level within the range of 0.10 to 0.30 micrograms per cubic meter, significantly reducing the acceptable level of lead air pollution nationally, but exceeding the highest acceptable range of 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter recommended by its scientific advisers.

New Report Lays Out Potential Implications of Global Warming Carbon Allowance Proposals on Consumers and Power Companies

Thu, 01 May 2008 05:00:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (May 1, 2008) -- A new report released today shows that carbon allocation scenarios under Congressional legislative proposals to limit global warming pollution will have dramatically different financial impacts – with billions of dollars at stake – on power companies and consumers.

New Department of Energy Study Shows Limit on Global Warming Pollution Compatible With Robust Economic Growth

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 05:00:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (April 30, 2008) – A new report released today by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Energy Information Agency (EIA) shows that we can cut U.S. global warming pollution to the levels required by legislation due to be voted on by the Senate in early June while continuing robust economic growth and containing energy costs. This legislation would be a strong start on the emission reductions that experts say are needed to avert costly and dangerous environmental damages, according to policy experts at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

Judge Orders Bush Administration to Stop Delaying Polar Bear Protection

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 05:00:00 GMT

OAKLAND, Calif.(April 29, 2008) -- A federal judge has found the Bush administration guilty of violating the Endangered Species Act and ordered the administration to issue a final listing decision for the polar bear by May 15, 2008. The polar bear, suffering as its Arctic sea ice habitat melts far faster than forecast, is one of the world’s most imperiled animals due to global warming.

Statement by Dale Bryk, senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) on President Bush's Press Conference on the Economy

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 05:00:00 GMT

“Today, the president was trying to distract us from the results of his own failed energy policy. The best way to lower gas prices is to apply American ingenuity to making and marketing fuel-efficient and alternative-fuel vehicles. Instead, the president focused on opening pristine wilderness areas to drilling. Spoiling wilderness for future generations would do nothing but enrich oil companies and perpetuate this country’s addiction to oil. It would not lower gas prices.

Conservation Groups Challenge Wolf Delisting in Federal Court

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 05:00:00 GMT

LIVINGSTON, Mont. (April 28, 2008) – Citing the recent rash of wolf killings in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, conservation groups asked a federal court today to reinstate Endangered Species Act protections, while considering arguments that delisting the wolf was unlawful. The request for a court order to stop the killing was filed with a lawsuit challenging the federal government’s wolf delisting decision.

Compromise Proposal for Ocean Protection Urged by Governor Schwarzenegger's Task Force

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 05:00:00 GMT

SAN RAFAEL, CA (April 24, 2008) - New protections for California's northern coast between Santa Cruz and Mendocino County, were recommended today after more than a year of public discussion and debate. Governor Schwarzenegger's Marine Life Protection Act Blue Ribbon Task Force proposed creating 18 marine protected areas (MPAs), fully protecting 80 square miles (11 percent) of North Central Coast ocean waters and leaving almost 90 percent of the coast open to fishing. The Task Force built their compromise around a "middle ground" option that had been created by a coalition of stakeholders.

Critical Oceans Law Passes First Hurdle

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 05:00:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (April 24, 2008) - The legislation known as Oceans-21 (H.R. 21) passed the U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, and Oceans yesterday by a vote of 11 to 3. The following is a statement by Roberta Elias, oceans advocate at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC): “Oceans-21 passing out of subcommittee is a clear sign that Congress is ready to take clear, sensible action to finally protect our oceans and coasts and the resources and economies they support....

Earth Day: Celebrating Successes, Acknowledging Challenges

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 05:00:00 GMT

Statement by Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council: “Today, on the 38th Earth Day, we are looking at a new set of environmental challenges. Fortunately, we are faced with a new set of chances as well. We have had many successes since the first Earth Day in 1970. Our air and our water are cleaner; we produce more energy from clean renewable sources; and the bald eagle is no longer an endangered species. But there is much left to do. Some of the problems we face are harder to see than in the past but they are just as important.

NRDC Launches Free Online B-Roll Service for TV and Web Journalists Covering Environmental Stories

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 05:00:00 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (April 22, 2008) – A new video service will make it easier for broadcast and Internet journalists covering environmental stories to acquire high quality video in time to meet their deadlines. The Natural Resources Defense Council’s (NRDC) new digital newsroom is designed to help journalists better illustrate their stories. The digital newsroom is a website offering broadcast quality b-roll, illustrating current environmental topics making headlines. It is on the Web at http://nrdc.mediaseed.tv/.

Millions of Americans Will Be Safer in the Water; House Approves Beach Water Safety Bill

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 05:00:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (April 17, 2008) – The U.S. House of Representatives last night passed the Beach Protection Act (H.R. 2537), which provides federal funds to beachwater managers to protect the public from getting sick from swimming in polluted waters. This bill requires the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to approve a rapid testing method for beachwater monitoring that promptly notifies the public of unsafe water. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) advocated for both of these improvements to public health protections for beachgoers.

Judge Tosses Biological Opinion for Salmon and Steelhead in California

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 05:00:00 GMT

FRESNO, Calif. – A federal judge has invalidated a water plan that would have allowed more pumping from the San Francisco Bay Delta at the expense of five species of protected salmon and steelhead trout. Fishing and conservation groups and a California tribe called the ruling a victory for the millions of Californians who depend on the delta for drinking water, fishing jobs and agriculture. The ruling comes in the wake of federal fisheries managers’ unprecedented April 10 decision to cancel this year’s salmon fishing season because of a record decline in spawning fish.

President puts forward global warming plan weaker than Presidential Candidates, Companies, Congress

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 05:00:00 GMT

Statement by Frances Beinecke, President, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC): "In his eighth year, the president has just proposed a path on global warming weaker than the campaign pledge he made in September of 2000 and broke three months into office. Not content with blocking action over the last eight years, this president is trying to lock in pollution growth for the next 15."

NRDC Statement on EPA's Proposal to Weaken Drinking Water Health Protections for Small Communities

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 05:00:00 GMT

Statement of Mae Wu, Staff Attorney in the Health and Environment program at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), on EPA’s Proposal to Weaken Drinking Water Health Protections for Small Communities: “The Administrator of the EPA, Stephen Johnson, has proposed weakening protections for America’s drinking water. In the past seven years, this administration has cut funding for water infrastructure, opposed strong health standards for rocket fuel and other chemicals in our water supply, and ignored the growing evidence of pharmaceuticals and chemicals from other personal care products in our drinking water."