Friends of the Earth knows regulation, legislation, taxes, and banking have a big impact on our environment. We hold our elected officials accountable and work to expose unnecessary funding for environmentally destructive projects—saving taxpayers’ money and the planet.
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Read the latest news and updates from our Government and Industry campaigns:
Coal ash is a toxic solid waste generated by coal-burning power plants. It's shockingly unregulated, and it's piling up at more than 600 dump sites across the country.
The EPA is considering the first-ever federal safeguards for coal ash disposal and Friends of the Earth activists are speaking out to make sure the rules put in place will keep our drinking water, our rivers and our communities safe from coal ash contamination.
A recent article from the BBC has shown that genetically engineered (GE) plants have become established in the wild. Researchers from the University of Arkansas studied wild canola plants in the countryside of North Dakota and found that 80% of the wild plants were contaminated with transgenes. This study confirms what environmentalists and public health advocates have been concerned about for years – that GE plants will cross-breed with their natural counterparts and forever contaminate our wildlife with patented transgenes.
The wave is shifting for the ethanol tax credit VEETC, as it is up for expiration in December 2010. Scientists, legislators, and even advocates of the ethanol industry are coming out and saying that it is unnecessary... Seriously, everyone from the Congressional Budget Office, to ethanol-supporter Bruce Babcock, to Valero oil, to Growth Energy, to congressmen across the political spectrum. So why is congress still thinking of extending this wasteful subsidy? Goo d question. Time to say no to wasteful subsidies for dirty energy.
The EPA is finally trying to get it right as they finalized the Tailoring Rule on May 13, 2010. It outlines which industrial facilities will be required to obtain pollution permits for greenhouse gas emissions. Friends of the Earth, along with 90 scientists from the scientific community, have written to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to ask her to regulate the bioenergy industry under the Tailoring Rule.
Senator Amy Klobuchar has released a fine piece of legislation promoted by the corn ethanol community. Among other things, it categorizes corn ethanol as an "advanced" biofuel, meaning it will be considered as one of the "cleaner" biofuels. It also removes critical components of the global warming lifecycle account, such as indirect land use change. Why would Klobuchar put together a bill like this? Maybe she just wants to impose her corn country interests upon the rest of the U.S.
The financial crisis has pushed millions around the world deeper into poverty and forced already strapped countries to further cut budgets for environmental and health programs. Yet Wall Street continues to reap massive profits and pay its executives exorbitant bonuses. It’s past time to tax Wall Street greed to pay for global needs! Smart new legislation now exists to do just that, and it needs our support.
By Erich Pica
Three months into the BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, BP has finally capped the well and is now testing to see if it can withstand the pressure building underground until the well is permanently plugged. While the oil blow-out has been a largely unmitigated disaster for the Gulf Coast and its communities, the response is an important test for the future of the planet. Will April 22, 2010 become our declaration of independence from dirty and dangerous fossil fuels, or will we succumb to political inertia?
Hunger, religious, farmer, and development groups came together on July 21, 2010 to oppose the renewal of the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC), which is set to expire at the end of this year. In a letter to the Senate Finance Committee and the House Committee on Ways and Means, the groups asked Congress to refuse to introduce new legislation to extend this tax credit, which costs taxpayers $5 billion a year.
By Kate Horner
For over a decade, Friends of the Earth has been fighting against little known provisions in our trade agreements that grant broad privileges to multinational corporations and put profits ahead of the public interest. These trade policies allow companies to sue governments for adopting health or environmental laws that may reduce their current or future profits.
Unfortunately, our worst nightmares have just come true for our friends and allies in El Salvador, which is facing a lawsuit under the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).
By Kelly Trout
Catastrophes like the drilling disaster in the Gulf of Mexico don’t have to happen. We have a surplus of existing solutions that can propel us toward an oil-free and climate-secure future.
Because the federal government has a vital role to play in catalyzing this transformation, Friends of the Earth continues to push Congress to pass comprehensive climate and clean energy legislation. Unfortunately, the latest proposal, the American Power Act, more closely resembles a polluter wish list.
