Blog • Climate Action & Environmental Protection

Blog

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

Petitioning EPA to Regulate Global Warming Pollution from Factory Farms

The Humane Society of the United States, with Friends of the Earth and others, petitioned EPA to regulate global warming pollution and other air pollution from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), or factor farms. The petition outlines the Read More

Comments to Draft EPA Regulations on Biofuels Mandate (RFS2)

The Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), as passed in the 2007 Energy Bill, is one more step closer to being finalized. Comments to EPA's draft regulation, released in the Spring 2009, were due September the 25th of 2009. Read More

Close Call for Biofuel Climate Safeguards in Senate Appropriations

Senator Harkin, along with Senators Grassley and Nelson, attempted to scrape funding for EPA to finish their lifecycle analysis of global warming pollution in the 2010 Senate Appropriations Bill. The target of their fury was the inclusion of emissions from deforestation and other forms of land use change that occurs indirectly from increased biofuels production in the lifecycle assessment of biofuels for the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS). The RFS is a policy that was passed in 2007 which mandates the blendi Read More

Global Civil Society Calls for Greater U.S. Leadership in Solving the Climate Crisis

As world leaders gather today at the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, more than 125 groups representing constituents in over 100 countries delivered an urgent letter to President Obama requesting bold action to fight climate change. The letter asks President Obama to set ‘a vastly higher level of ambition for the United States’ contribution to both greenhouse gas emission cuts and a package of finance and technology for developing countries.' Read More

A Call for World Wide Solidarity Against the Repression in Honduras

Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) applauds the return to Honduras of its legitimate president, Manuel Zelaya, who has taken refuge in the Embassy of Brazil in Tegucigalpa. At the same time we note with grave concern the siege on the Brazilian Embassy and the increase in repression following the return of President Zelaya. Read More