Successful examples for the Green Climate Fund from around the world UN climate watchers are eager to see what projects and programs the Green Climate Fund finances out of the starting gate. The implications of the initial project pipeline are big -- not only because they will set a precedent for future projects, but because they also set the stage for Paris. Ambitious, environmentally sound and socially just projects and programs will send the right…
Earlier this week, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rejected a challenge to the 1974 ban on campaign contributions by federal contractors. Ruling on Wagner v. FEC, the 11-member court collectively upheld the Nixon-era rule designed to prevent quid pro quo corruption via “pay-to-play” political donations by individual contractors. The D.C. courts decision came days after Friends of the Earth’s recent call-in campaign pressing President Obama to issue an executive order requiring federal…
The Obama administration’s plans to normalize relations with Cuba and the introduction of legislation to relax travel restrictions between the U.S. and Cuba have launched a tourism frenzy -- and the cruise industry is first in line.
The oil palm tree is native to West Africa and palm oil, in its rawest form, is a staple of the West African diet. So, while it is new to Western consumers as an ingredient in roughly half of our packaged foods and cosmetics, palm oil is nothing new to Nigerians. But what is new, and having drastic impacts in the Nigerian rain forest province of Cross River State, is the industrial-scale expansion of palm…
Organic and non-GMO food sales are skyrocketing as more and more people are choosing healthier, more sustainable food produced without synthetic pesticides, GMOs or the routine use of antibiotics and added hormones. Rather than respond to changing market demands by shifting the way they do business, many large food and agrochemical companies are using tobacco-style PR tactics to mislead the public and attack the organic food industry to try to win back skeptical consumers.
Our…
The Export-Import Bank is set to expire on June 30, and concerns for its reauthorization have sparked one of the hottest debates in Congress. In a desperate attempt to reauthorize the agency, some Ex-Im Bank proponents are threatening to change the Bank’s policies in a way that would throw the environment and communities under the bus. In particular, Ex-Im Bank reauthorization legislation proposed by Senators Kirk and Heitkamp and Representative Fincher contains provisions that undercut…
There has been a recent, misguided Congressional push to export more natural gas in the form of liquefied natural gas, or LNG. LNG is a form of natural gas that has been turned into a liquid so it can be stored and shipped to foreign markets. LNG poses a potentially greater threat to our climate than even coal, which raises the question as to why President Obama highlighted natural gas in his “all of…
The Arctic is ground zero for climate disruption, and now it's under threat from Shell's plan to drill.
Shell’s drilling rigs are making their way from Seattle, past Fairbanks and Dutch Harbor, Alaska, to the Chukchi Sea -- one of the most pristine natural environments in the world. Shell brings with it a terrible record of neglect, incompetence and indifference. Still, the Obama administration gave Shell the green light to start its drilling operations there…
As the plight of honey bees and other crucial pollinators gains more attention worldwide, a growing number of nurseries, garden retailers and landscaping companies both large and small are starting to listen to the growing body of science, consumer demand and take action to get neonicotinoid pesticides out of their gardening practices and off their shelves while avoiding regrettable substitutions and adopting healthy practices for bees and the environment. In our recently released report, “
This week the Food and Drug Administration bowed to a years-long effort by consumer groups to ban artificial trans fats from the U.S. food supply. The agency ruled that partially hydrogenated oils, the source of trans fats, can no longer be “generally recognized as safe,” and gave the food industry three years to eliminate them. As reported in the New York Times, removing industrial trans fats from the American diet by 2018 could…