Blog • Climate Action & Environmental Protection

Blog

International Day of Climate Action

Despite the gloomy weather last weekend in the nation’s capital, a diverse group of local activists filled Malcom X Park on October 24 to show solidarity with people across the globe and call for action to stop pollution and poverty. The event was part of the International Day of Climate Action. Read More

Congress starts pushing to get cruise industry to clean up its act

Earlier today Congressman Sam Farr (D-CA) and Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced the Clean Cruise Ship Act of 2009 with 28 other members of Congress signed on in support. Cruise ships are currently allowed to dump raw sewage and other pollutants just three nautical miles from our coasts. The Clean Cruise Ship Act will put a stop to the lax pollution disposal practices of the cruise industry and protect our coastal waters and oceans. Read More

Controversial nomination advances out of committee

On Thursday, October 8, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee passed the nomination of controversial nominee Joseph Pizarchik to be the head of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement by a voice vote. Senator's Bernard Sanders (I-VT) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) were not at the vote, but they both submitted requests that they be recorded as no votes on the nominee. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) also submitted a statement voicing his concern with the nomination. Read More

Air pollution protections under threat

Great Lakes exemption could derail limits for ship pollution For several years, Friends of the Earth and various other environmental groups, air regulators, and public health organizations have worked with the EPA to create an “Emission Control Area” that would dramatically reduce air pollution from large ships – pollution that is responsible for serious health impacts including premature death, lung cancer, heart attacks, and respiratory illness. Read More

Video: How an energy bill REALLY becomes a law

Click "START" to watch the story of how polluter lobbyists turned the House's Waxman-Markey clean energy bill into a toothless law. Read More

The congressional energy bill needs to be fixed

How the clean energy bill was hijacked by lobbyists When the House of Representatives started working on a clean energy bill last winter, we were optimistic. After all, our country had just come off an election in which a large majority voted for bold change and the candidate who most strongly supported clean energy. Congressional leaders were promising to pass a bill to keep the climate stable, provide us with a secure energy future, and create millions of new jobs that could revitalize our economy. Read More

From Bangkok to Copenhagen

Join Kate and Karen in demanding climate justice now! Read More

Verizon Wireless is hearing us now

Verizon Wireless has responded to pressure from current and potential customers who expressed outrage at its sponsorship of a pro-coal, anti-environment rally on Labor Day. In a letter to the Center for Biological Diversity, Verizon Wireless's CEO, Lowell McAdam, asserted that his company's sponsorship of the rally "was not a statement of our position on any public policy issue, and it certainly was not an expression of support for mountaintop removal coal mining or in opposition to climate legislation." Read More

Friends of the Earth staff report from international climate negotiations in Bangkok, Thailand

International climate change negotiations are underway in Bangkok, Thailand, and two intrepid members of our international team at Friends of the Earth, Karen Orenstein and Kate Horner, are there to participate in and monitor the talks. Read More

Secretive Energy Department Plan for Nuclear Parks Stumbles

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) ill-conceived plan for a nuclear park at a key site in the DOE complex has hit a wall after a persistent challenge by Friends of the Earth. Although never developed as a departmental policy, the DOE’s Office of Environmental Management began its own secretive initiative and quietly negotiated with contractors to pursue a subsidized “energy park” at the sprawling Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina. Read More