Blog
Stop subsidizing harmful development
Many of us have driven through coastal communities and looked admiringly at houses nestled close to the water. What we don’t often think about is the fact that many of these houses are built on land that often floods during heavy rains, and that this creates a dangerous situation —… Read More
Strange bedfellows oppose Natural Gas Act
In what is becoming a summer ritual high gas prices are again at the forefront of the national consciousness. With the U.S. consuming 20 percent of the world’s oil supply and controlling only 2 percent of the reserves, there simply is no short term solution to reducing… Read More
End corporate welfare for oil companies
President Obama has identified over $4.7 billion that the oil and gas industry should pay under standard tax rules this year but that will remain in company coffers because the industry receives preferential treatment in the code. This special treatment gives oil and gas companies advantages that most other companies,… Read More
Global coalition calls for oversight of synthetic biology
Friends of the Earth is thrilled to release the Principles for the Oversight of Synthetic Biology, the first global declaration from civil society to outline principles that must be adopted to protect public health and our environment from the risks posed by synthetic biology. The report also addresses… Read More
Fukushima: One year later
One year ago I, like many people across the United States and around the world, watched as the horrible images flooded in from Japan and the Fukushima Province after the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami devastated the coastline. News of the natural disaster was grim, and it only became more… Read More
Fire at BP refinery — isolated incident or business as usual?
In an in depth piece in Crosscut, Friends of the Earth’s Northwest consultant, Fred Felleman, wades into the need to fully investigate the safety and environmental record of BP after a fire broke out at BP’s Washington state refinery at Cherry Point last month. In particular,… Read More
On the anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, here are the facts
We have analyzed the Fukushima disaster, seeking to explain the accident, and in particular the current status of the reactors, the human health impacts, the environmental contamination and the effect of the radioactive fallout on agriculture and fisheries, and the implications for the future of nuclear power in Japan and… Read More
Slow ships down to protect whales in the Arctic
As shipping continues to expand in the Arctic, whales in the region are expected to experience increased impacts as a result of underwater noise and ship strikes. A recent study looking at stress levels of right whales in Canada’s Bay of Fundy found that those levels dropped off significantly… Read More
The “Rainforest Chernobyl”: Will U.S. Investment Treaty block justice for Amazonian People?
Who should pay to clean up what has been called the “Rainforest Chernobyl” in the Ecuadorian Amazon? Why are the people of the rainforest who suffered the most not represented directly before the international investment tribunal that may decide the question? Is it U.S. policy to favor the financial… Read More
Meritocracy or plutocracy? Selection of new World Bank president
As expected, the current president of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, recently announced that he’s stepping down. The outstanding question remains — what will the process be to replace him? Will it be run according to codes of conduct of the 21st century — through a merit-based, open and… Read More