This article, by Friends of the Earth President Erich Pica, was originally posted here on The Hill's Congress Blog.
During Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state, the State Department’s review of whether to permit construction of the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline -- which would carry the world’s dirtiest oil from northern Alberta to Gulf Coast refineries -- was tainted by flagrant conflicts of interest and insider influence. Hopes were high that…
Finding a new home for old waste
Tuesday, Aiken, S.C., became the first community to reject a new nuclear waste dump.
Back in 2010 President Obama found himself stuck between a rock and a hard place. Sen. Reid had stopped plans for a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev., dead in its tracks and the backlog of U.S. spent nuclear fuel was only growing. In classic diplomatic style, President Obama delegated the decision about…
Australian coal projects in the Great Barrier Reef may be in violation of a Chinese banking policy that obligates Chinese banks to assess environmental risks and to also suspend, or even terminate, loans to clients when major hazards are identified. The coal projects receive major financing from eight Chinese banks, and our friends at Market Forces and BankTrack have already denounced them as a potential environmental disaster in part because of the…
Eleven years ago, a rescued orphaned killer whale calf, Springer, was reunited with her family off Vancouver Island’s northern coast. Springer has been seen with her pod every year since, coinciding with the arrival of Chinook salmon returning to the region to spawn.
This week, researchers spotted Springer who is now 13, with her first calf, swimming near Bella Bella, B.C. While the calf’s exact age and gender are unknown, it…
When we left off, a local corporate public relations representative, unbeknownst to himself, was being devoured by a bloodthirsty mosquito in the heat of a palm oil plantation in the heart of Indonesian Borneo, all while failing to notice the larger tragedy of a razed forest and a rural community falling deeper into poverty.… See previous post, here
We had arrived at the plantation unannounced, so when Andy called the public relations man…
Originally posted on Reuters The board of the fledgling U.N. Green Climate Fund (GCF), which met in South Korea last month, continues to gloss over the foundational issues of the purpose of the Fund and who it is supposed to serve - even though these questions underlie most of the ongoing debate and dialogue. Should the GCF focus on meeting the adaptation and mitigation needs of ordinary people in developing countries - especially the…
Today, Friends of the Earth launched a social media day of action for its Campaign for GE Free Seafood. We are asking Kroger to join Whole Foods, Aldi, and Trader Joe’s, Target, and others in not knowingly purchasing or selling genetically engineered salmon, or other genetically engineered seafood, should it come to market. We currently have 59 retailers, representing 4,823 stores across the country committed to this cause, and hope that with your…
When we left off, our narrator was speaking to a corporate public relations man about the environmental and public health problems arising from a dubious palm oil plantation…. See previous post, here
At the second plantation we visited, we were asking the public relations man about landgrabbing, the sordid means of acquiring land that has made palm oil companies like Wilmar notorious. He smiled and nodded as he discussed his company’s commitment to…
Last week brought fresh revelations of lying and deceit in the State Department’s environmental review of the Keystone XL pipeline. Research conducted by Friends of the Earth revealed that Environmental Resources Management -- the London-based consulting firm hired by the State Department to do the supplemental environmental impact statement for Keystone XL -- lied on its conflict of interest disclosure forms when it claimed it had no business relationships with pipeline builder TransCanada or…
For 2 weeks, I’ve been contemplating whether there is something new and exciting to say about the June board meeting of the Green Climate Fund in Korea. In short, the answer is -- not really. The GCF board continues to gloss over the foundational questions at hand: “What is the purpose of the Fund, and who it is supposed to serve?” -- even though these questions underlie most GCF debate and dialogue. Is the GCF…