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LIVE COVERAGE of Capitol Hill event supporting the American Clean Energy and Security Act

2009-06-24T20:00:00Z

As the U.S. House nears a vote on the American Clean Energy and Security Act, reportedly on Friday, former Vice President Al Gore is calling it "the most important environmental vote of this generation."

President Obama said this week that the bill, which would cap global warming pollution and result in clean energy investments that create new jobs, would "open the door to a better future for this nation."

At 2 p.m. EDT today, the bill's sponsors and supporters will speak in favor of the bill at an event on Capitol Hill. Follow live coverage below, contribute your comments and join the fight by telling your representative to strengthen and support ACES.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;task=viewaltcast&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;altcast_code=eaefa5d9bf" mce_href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;task=viewaltcast&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;altcast_code=eaefa5d9bf" &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Live coverage of ACES climate bill event on Capitol Hill&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Explaining Cap & Trade vs Cap & Tax, and Ditching Bottled Water

2009-05-08T17:32:43Z

The Week of May 8th, 2009

Frances Beinecke is the first of eight environmental experts featured on the website of Yale Environment 360 discussing the merits of a cap-and-trade system versus a carbon tax... On NPR's Marketplace David Doniger explains that the success of cap-and-trade will depend partially on properly pricing cap-and-trade CO2 permits... Peter Lehner praises the New York Governor's office for pledging to ditch bottled water in the Albany Times Union; Peter was also mentioned in a New York Times article on the subject... Julia Bovey has the opening and closing quotes in a USA Today article exploring the role celebrities play in popularizing environmental issues...Nathanael Greene emphasized the importance of considering land use when evaluating ethanol's environmental impact on NPR's Marketplace and spoke on the same topic on CNet.com, in the Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, and in the Guardian (UK) among others... Reuters profiles NRDC's first annual growing green awards in detail... Louisa Willcox warns that premature delisting of the grey wolves may reverse what could have been a conservation success story in the Christian Science Monitor's Light Green Blog...

Daily Green Awards and Robert Redford, Need We Say More?

2009-04-24T22:20:21Z

The Week of April 24th, 2009--

Frances Beinecke is The Daily Green's 2009 Heart of Green Lifetime Achievement Award winner; she was honored at an event Thursday night and an article on Frances was featured on The Daily Green and Yahoo! Green Friday... In celebration of Earth Day, Life.com featured a photo compilation of Robert Redford's favorite western landscapes, crediting NRDC for its preservation work throughout, and providing a touching portrait of the West, and its fragile nature... Meanwhile, last Friday, David Doniger discussed EPA officially recognizing greenhouse gases as a threat to human health in two CNN Situation Room pieces ... And Deron Lovaas discussed the state of plug-in hybrid technology and how close American showrooms are to selling truly "green" cars on CNN Sunday Morning ...

Roland Hwang addressed the importance of calculating land use when evaluating fuels for California's low carbon fuel standard in the LA Times as well as in The Miami Herald, The New York Times' Green Inc blog, and several other outlets...In a front page San Francisco Chronicle story Gina Solomon talked about toxic pet products and NRDC's California lawsuit charging 16 retail stores with illegally selling pet products containing carcinogens without warning labels.... And on Univision Adrianna Quintero celebrated Earth Day by giving advice on how to protect the earth while you cook and clean...

EPA, Global Warming, and Google Earth

2009-04-17T20:20:05Z

The Week of April 17th, 2009--

In the New York Times David Doniger commends Lisa Jackson and the Obama administration for EPA's proposal to regulate greenhouse gasses, crediting them with going "a long way to restore respect for both science and law" (as well as Washington Post, MSNBC, Reuters, Newsday and others)... In a front page Washington Post article discussing the challenge of balancing renewable energy development with concerns for sensitive lands both Johanna Wald and Ned Farquhar (former NRDC employee and recent BLM appointee) are quoted about the need to work for a win-win outcome; NRDC's Google Earth mapping project, which indicates which lands should be off-limits for development, was also mentioned in the article...

On the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle Leila Monroe discusses some positive benefits of offshore wind developments: fish are protected from fishermen there and populations at certain sites are flourishing... On WNYC's Leonard Lopate Nancy Marks speaks in detail about an NRDC lawsuit fighting to get a full and complete cleanup of a residential area contaminated with toxic carcinogens... The LA Times takes note of NRDC's upcoming star studded 20th anniversary event for our LA office, quoting both Robert Redford and Leonardo DiCaprio on NRDC's excellence...

NRDC in the News-- Week of April 10th, 2009

2009-04-10T20:01:47Z

The Week of April 10th, 2009-- A select cross-section of this week's NRDC news

The Sunday Style section of the New York Times ran photos of Paul McCartney, Frances Beinecke, Peter Lehner, Daniel Tishman, and several other NRDC trustees at NRDC's 11th annual Forces for Nature benefit... Jake Schmidt talks about what the Obama administration needs to do in Copenhagen to indicate their commitment to addressing climate change in TIME magazine... In a front page Business Section piece in the New York Times, Nathanael Greene criticizes oil companies for failing to make big investments in renewable energy and for supporting the status quo rather than innovation... Frances Beinecke is quoted in a Scientific American 60-Second Science Blog entry talking about the Google Earth map released last week by NRDC that helps alternative energy developers identify environmentally sensitive sites they should avoid... Scientific American ran a feature article online looking at NRDC's work greening the NBA, interviewing both Allen Hershkowitz and NRDC Trustee Michel Gelobter...

House Draft Climate Bill = An Exciting New Era

2009-04-01T21:47:37Z

David Doniger gives some background to The Washington Post and The Christian Science Monitor about the Waxman-Markey draft climate bill... Frances Beinecke puts forward NRDC's support of the Waxman-Markey draft climate bill to The LA Times Blog.

Noah Horowitz explains the hidden electrical drain from typical TVs and gadgets in Bloomberg... In The Associated Press Jon Devine helps break down how mountain top removal mining will become more difficult in West Virginia following a U.S. District Judge ruling making permitting more difficult... In another article from The Associated Press Doug Obegi states there is enough water for people and wildlife in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta... Chris Paine helps shed light on the true possibility and cost of fusion from the new National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory for the Contra Costa Times.

Forces for Nature: Efficient Cars, Clean Ports, & Green Leaders

2009-03-31T21:28:16Z

Rich Kassel supports EPA's proposal to limit pollution at U.S. ports in an Associated Press article picked up by the Washington Post and numerous other outlets... New York's local Fox affiliate and Vanity Fair.com profile the star-studded New York Forces for Nature benefit, where NRDC honored Stella McCartney's cruelty-free fashion design and David Zaslav's green leadership at Discovery Communications... In the Chicago Tribune's politics blog, David Doniger says the American auto industry must move in a more sustainable direction... In the Albuquerque Journal, Ned Farquhar calls for state regulation of global warming pollution in the absence of federal climate protections.

Three Mile Island, Coal to Liquid Plants? We're There!

2009-03-30T22:22:50Z

Jake Schmidt talks with The Associated Press about the need to show a long-term commitment to cutting emissions... In U.S. News & World Report Tom Cochran explains some of the implications of climate change legislation for the Nuclear Industry... In an article on the thirtieth anniversary of Three Mile Island Chris Paine discusses why nuclear power is still not the answer to climate change with the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Shannon Fisk and Thom Cmar address why NRDC opposes the Baard coal to Liquid plant in Ohio and the need further environmental review with Dow Jones Newswires and Climate Wire.

The Miami Herald cites a joint study from NRDC and EPRI as the "the most comprehensive plug-in hybrid electric vehicle study to date" and uses it to explain why plug-in hybrids are the better choice over gasoline powered vehicles.

Energy, Wildlife and Pollution Policy-- What Now?

2009-03-19T17:13:41Z

In a New York Times piece evaluating the direction of Obama's energy policy, Wesley Warren stresses the importance of taking a much more balanced approach to America's energy system, and chides the oil industry for continuing to parrot the same antiquated ideas over and over...On KPAX, Montana's News Station, Louisa Willcox disputes plans to remove endangered species protections from grey wolves in Montana and Idaho while leaving protections in Wyoming, noting, "wolves don't read maps"... In the Jersey Journal Nancy Marks talks about the shortcomings of a state proposed "plan" to clean up a hexavalent chromium contaminated site in Jersey City, emphasizing that there is no schedule and no standards in the current "plan"...

Environmentalism and China, the Economy, and the Obama Administration

2009-03-17T17:04:08Z

Alex Wang argues that "a massive investment in energy efficiency and clean energy technologies in China would... improve energy security for China, [and] save firms money mak[ing] China's economy more competitive," in Bloomberg... In a FRONT PAGE Philadelphia Inquirer piece John Walke celebrates a move by the Obama administration to kill Bush's Performance Track program, which rewards participating corporations with regulatory perks...

A CNNMoney.com article weighing the economic consequences of addressing global warming turns to Rick Duke and research from NRDC for information on how many jobs could be gained by addressing global warming now...Barbara Finamore underscores China's ravenous hunger for energy in a Marketplace (NPR) segment on China's growing wind power industry...

Protecting People from Phthalates and Coal Ash

2009-03-13T17:35:38Z

A USA Today article reporting that SC Johnson will remove phthalates from products and label all ingredients in response to consumer concerns borrows heavily from Frances Beinecke's blog post on the topic, quoting Frances several times... NRDC's list of "filthy 15 coal ash states" received coverage in outlets in several key global warming target states, including WV, MO, NV, OH, SC; Peter Lehner was quoted in the vast majority of those articles as well as in The New York Times Green Inc blog and the St.Louis Post-Dispatch...

Moves Toward Diversifying the Environmental Movement and Monitoring Greenhouse Gases

2009-03-11T19:46:43Z

Frances Beinecke talks about NRDC's goals of improving cultural diversity in the environmental movement in a New York Times article crediting NRDC for partnerships starting in the 1980s with smaller environmental groups focused on minority or low-income issues...In less than 24 hours, Associated Press and Reuters articles quoting David Doniger on the proposed EPA rule requiring factories to report their greenhouse gas emissions were picked up by more than120 outlets, while unique coverage ran in USA Today, New York Times and other major outlets.

Illinois, China, and Even the CA Ports Consider Going Green

2009-03-09T22:40:19Z

In TIME magazine David Doniger argues that a green stampede may be coming as even states like Illinois consider a move towards adopting tailpipe emissions regulations like California's... Melissa Lin Perrella talks about NRDC's work cleaning up America's West coast ports in a CNN news segment... In a hopeful China Daily piece on Chinese/ US collaboration on environmental issues, NRDC is credited for its role creating a website for sharing energy efficiency training information between the nations... In US- China Today, a University of Southern California publication, Barbara Finamore details the environmental burdens facing China: acid raid, desertification, water pollution, etc. and points to the growing environmental awareness within China spurring environmental reform...

My TV Uses How Much Energy When Plugged in?!

2009-03-02T20:47:35Z

Noah Horowitz tells the Chicago Tribune and its readers how to make all of their electric devices as efficient as possible. Barry Nelson explains to the San Diego Tribune how alternatives to dams can help with water conservation in California... Dale Bryk talks with Mother Jones about what we need to do to make cap and trade successful.

An editorial in The Daily Breeze cites an NRDC study that shows the hard work to remove old diesel trucks from the ports of LA is working... In the Utica Observer-Dispatch, Samir Succar discusses the impacts that the stimulus package will have on green energy, in particular the wind sector.

A President that Talks About Climate Legislation? Hard to Believe but True.

2009-02-25T20:09:00Z

Frances Beinecke offers extensive comments to Environment News Service on President Obama's first address to a joint session of Congress and what this means for legislation limiting carbon pollution, clean energy, and breaking our dependence on oil.

On the New York Times' new energy and environment webpage, which will pick up some online content from Climate Wire, Jake Schmidt talks about the importance of China and the United States coming together on global warming... David Doniger explains to USA Today why repurposing carbon dioxide from the environment would be better than burning fossil fuels, but is still not a final solution... Sheryl Carter supports PG&E's plans to have distributed solar power production on already disturbed land in an interview with CNET.

Fortune Magazine cites the work NRDC did in convincing Wal-Mart to include a automatic power-down switch in digital converter boxes, a move that not only helps the environment but will also save $900 million over the life of the boxes.