Blog
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
Global Warming Provisions in Biofuels Policy Threatened
The biofuels lobby is, yet again, urging the EPA to ignore emissions from indirect land use change in EPA's accounting of global warming pollution from biofuels. And corn-state Senators have sent their own plea to EPA in support of the industry, asking EPA to ignore the law and remove these emissions from their calculations. Read More
Cruise Ship Safety Bill
Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA) and Senator John Kerry (D-MA) today introduced the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2009. Nearly 10 million passengers took cruises from the United States in 2007 and that figure is expected to grow to more than 12 million passengers in 2009. Read More
Obama Budget Repeals $30 Billion in Oil and Gas Giveaways
President Obama’s first budget did away with over $30 billion in giveaways to oil and gas companies. Friends of the Earth has been working for years to end these give aways to multi-national companies that are earning record profits. Congress should follow the President's lead and act immediately to return this money to taxpayers. Click here to join us in sending this message to Congress. Read More
Obama’s Budget Makes Commitment to Clean Transportation
President Obama’s budget proposal for the Department of Transportation begins the process of transitioning to a more efficient, lower-carbon transportation system. The President’s budget increases funding for public transit which will give more families and commuters clean, affordable transportation options, improve air and water quality, and reduce greenhouse gas pollution. Read More
George Will Uses Washington Post Column to Lie about Global Warming
Conservative writer George Will provoked a firestorm after he deliberately sowed confusion over climate science in an erroneous February 15, 2009 Washington Post column. The column was riddled with factual inaccuracies but Will and his editors refused to issue a correction. Read More
Changing the Course of Biofuels Policy
Friends of the Earth has been working with a small coalition of fellow environmental organizations to change the direction that biofuels policy is going. Our biofuels policy platform provides specific policy recommendations that would incentivise only biofuels that have a proven environmental benefit. Platform (PDF) | Press Release (PDF) Read More
New Roads = New Pollution
Transportation in the U.S. is responsible for 30 percent of our global warming pollution and 70 percent of our oil consumption. We cannot solve the energy and climate challenge without making our transportation system far cleaner and more efficient. Read More