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“All of the above” disappoints all around
“All of the above” disappoints all around

The president’s “all of the above” energy strategy is hypocrisy. There, I said it.

President Obama cannot be serious about climate change if his Department of Energy is working to prop up dirty fuels like nuclear and coal. It should be simple to understand why both coal and nuclear have no business in a clean energy future. Burning coal directly emits toxic pollutants including greenhouse gasses and multiple meltdowns have demonstrated the immediate risks from…

Investor Tom Steyer urges Secretary Kerry to investigate Keystone XL environmental review
Investor Tom Steyer urges Secretary Kerry to investigate Keystone XL environmental review

This morning investor Tom Steyer sent a strongly worded letter to Secretary of State John Kerry asking him to conduct an independent and transparent review of the State Department’s handling of the Keystone XL environmental review, including into whether staff shared details of the review with Canadian government officials before members of Congress had a chance to see it. This letter comes as the State Department’s Inspector General is conducting an inquiry into whether the…

Lets prevent palm oil from foreclosing on our climate future
Lets prevent palm oil from foreclosing on our climate future

When we think about the causes of climate change, we tend to focus on energy generation and carbon emissions from fossil fuels; consequently, a lot of activity to curb climate disruption, such as 350.org’s Fossil Fuel Divestment campaign and Friends of the Earth’s own climate and energy work, addresses our urgent need to power down and break our fossil fuel addiction.

This is absolutely right.

But we shouldn’t forget that agriculture and land use…

Don’t fast track a polluters’ bill of rights
Don’t fast track a polluters’ bill of rights

Friends of the Earth opposes the “Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities Act” (HR 3830/S 1900), so-called “Fast Track” legislation sponsored by Representative Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.). The Camp/Baucus bill would undercut the constitutional authority of Congress over trade policy and would be used to rush the environmentally hazardous Trans Pacific and Trans Atlantic trade deals past Congress, without amendment or significant debate. The Camp/Baucus bill would amount to a major power shift from Congress to the executive,…

Guilty as charged: World Bank-funded palm oil company accused of murder in Honduras
Guilty as charged: World Bank-funded palm oil company accused of murder in Honduras

About a year ago, in March 2013, Friends of the Earth and a coalition of allied groups requested that the World Bank cease its support for Grupo Dinant, a Honduran palm oil company implicated in dozens of murders as well as other human rights abuses. Our call to pull World Bank funding was based on years of evidence, some of which we cited in an article posted at the time, when we wrote:…

Thanks for making 2013 a landmark year for our Earth!
Thanks for making 2013 a landmark year for our Earth!

The movement to protect the Earth got a big boost in 2013. Inspired by our campaigns, more than 100,000 people added their names to our activist list, making us more than 350,000 strong.

That means that in 2014 we're ready to ramp up the pressure on Home Depot, Lowe’s, and the EPA to eliminate bee-killing pesticides; on supermarkets across the country to reject GMO seafood; on Carnival Cruise Lines to…

Stop Fast Track: Radio AM950 broadcasts on trade agreements and the environment

On New Years Day, Ian Levitt, the host of The Daily Report on Minnesota radio station KTNF, devoted an hour of his program to the threat to the environment posed by pending Trans Atlantic and Trans Pacific trade agreements. These agreements could be approved on an expedited schedule and without amendment or proper consideration if Congress approves “Fast Track” legislation expected to be introduced this month by Senator Max Baucus and Representative Dave Camp.…

What’s driving the palm oil industry’s human rights abuses and environmental destruction? Just follow the money
What’s driving the palm oil industry’s human rights abuses and environmental destruction? Just follow the money

If you’re an American looking to do your part to protect tropical rainforests, you need look no further than your kitchen pantry. As you’ve likely heard by now from Friends of the Earth and others, the world’s leading killer of tropical forests is palm oil -- and palm oil derivatives are in your cookies, your ice cream, your shampoo, and -- I’m sorry to tell you this -- in your chocolate.

While industry analysts attribute…

Keystone contractor gives us 5 more reasons it has a conflict of interest
Keystone contractor gives us 5 more reasons it has a conflict of interest

Politico just broke a big story. Environmental Resources Management, the firm hired by the State Department to do the environmental review of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, is a member of five oil industry booster groups that have advocated for the approval of the pipeline and spent millions to lobby for its approval.

The groups include the American Petroleum Institute, American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, and the Western Energy Alliance, all of…