Blog
Safe Kids campaign gets boost in California Senate
Last year, the Consumer Product Safety Commission warned against the use of fire retardant chemicals in baby products and furniture. This is because scientists around the world have linked these chemicals to hormone disruption, neurological and developmental impairments, cancer, birth defects, learning disabilities, such as attention deficit disorder, hyperactivity, and a host of other health disorders. Read More
Hugh Grant, CEO, Monsanto Voted Biggest Biofool!
With thousands of votes cast, this year's Biggest Biofool is Hugh Grant, CEO of Monsanto. Grant has been a long-time supporter of biofuels, insisting, despite evidence to the contrary, that biofuels are good for the environment. In fact, biofuels production contributes to deforestation, biodiversity loss, water and air pollution, and increased greenhouse gas emissions. Read More
Citizens Rally for Clean Energy, Against Duke Energys Massive New Coal Plant
On April 20 in downtown Charlotte, North Carolina, about 350 people gathered for a highly visible and inspiring march to the headquarters of Duke Energy to protest the company’s plans for a massive new coal-fired plant called Cliffside. Friends of the Earth was a cosponsor of the event, along with organizers such as the Carolinas Clean Air Coalition, NC Waste Awareness and Reduction Network, The Canary Coalition and Greenpeace. Read More
Trade and Investment
The Friends of the Earth trade campaign draws attention to the trade and investment rules which threaten environmental protection, and works to advance policies which instead promote sustainable development, worker and human rights, and corporate accountability. Current international trade and investment rules embodied in the World Trade Organization and in regional and bilateral trade agreements create a global economic system biased in favor of multinational corporations at the expense of citizens' rights to regulate and set limits on the exploitation and consumption of the world&r Read More
Tax Day Protest Against Nukes
While it may not have exactly been what organizers of the April 15 tax day protests had in mind, Friends of the Earth supporters took a no-taxes-for-nukes message to the “tea party” rally at the South Carolina capitol in Columbia. Dressed as characters from the tea party in Alice in… Read More
Plug-In Electric Vehicles Finally Receive Substantial Funding
Friends of the Earth has long promoted plug-in electric vehicles as a way to dramatically reduce pollution from transportation, especially in states like California where the electric grid contains a significant percentage of renewable power. Plug-in electric vehicles received a major boost—over $10 billion in funds—through the recent federal Stimulus Package. Read More
Happy Biofools Day!
Congratulations to Secretary Tom Vilsack With 2,424 votes — more than the total number cast last year — the 2011 Biofool of the Year is Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack! There’s no doubt he deserves it; with Secretary Vilsack at the helm, the USDA has doubled down on its support… Read More
Threats to Forest Protections in RFS Continue
Rep. Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin (D-SD) is at it again, advocating for the removal of critical forest protections in the Renewable Fuels Standard. She has re-introduced her bill that would change the defintion of "Renewable Biomass" and thereby sweeping aside protections for forests and other native habitats from biofuels production. Read More
Ship Shape: Oil Spill Prevention Victory
We recently passed the the 20th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. And what is there to remember from such an awful environmental disaster? Maybe the thousands of gallons of crude oil still polluting Alaska, the almost assured extinction of an orca pod, the collapse of the Prince William Sound herring stock, or the paltry amount Alaskan fishermen were finally paid by Exxon, which will never make up for ruined lives and ruined livelihoods. Read More
Subprime Carbon Testimony
Friends of the Earth's Michelle Chan testified before the Ways and Means Committee on March 26, 2009 about the financial aspects of reducing carbon emissions. She emphasized that existing financial regulations, as well as those in major cap-and-trade bills, are inadequate to govern carbon trading, creating a potentially huge regulatory gap. Read her testimony below. Read More