This past month, our China Sustainable Finance campaigner, Rey Edward, traveled to Borneo, Indonesia, to view first hand the environmental disaster caused by palm oil plantations. Edward interviewed several community members who described the ongoing pollution, health, and labor problems triggered by palm oil. According to the findings of the trip, the problems are only going to get worse. Today we post the first in a three-part series of Edward’s first-person account of why palm oil…
Today President Obama gave a much-anticipated climate change speech at Georgetown University. In true Obama fashion, the speech was pretty inspiring and sounded great; but dig a little deeper into the actual plan and you’ll start uncovering some warts. As Friends of the Earth’s climate and energy director, Damon Moglen, stated earlier today, the plan has some welcome components, such as regulation of carbon dioxide from power plants. But it also is…
The decades-long fight to protect the lower Hudson River in New York City from habitat destruction and overdevelopment has heated up with several recent developments: (1) Amendments that enormously weaken the state law governing the area passed the NY State legislature in the dead of night on the last day of the session, June 22. Gov. Cuomo should veto this outrage; call him at 518-474-8390. The new amendments allow more development in and on the…
Chemicals are the sinister and little-recognized partners of radiation in changing the very nature of the world–the very nature of life. – Rachel Carson. On July 8, in Washington, D.C., trade negotiators from the United States and the European Union are expected to open the first round of talks for a Trans Atlantic free trade agreement (TAFTA) or as it is formally known, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The United States…
On Thursday morning, a 68-foot long fin whale was found dead in the sand at a beach located in Ocean Shores, Washington on the outer coast near Grays Harbor. Biologists from Cascadia Research and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife concluded that the fin whale was likely killed by a ship, judging by signs of blunt force trauma near the whale’s head. This is the 11th documented whale death in Washington…
In Sofala province, Mozambique, a group of initiatives collectively known as the N’hambita Pilot Project have been promoted as a flagship program for the protection of forests and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The United Nations cites it as a model example; well-known retailers in Europe have purchased credits that claim to offset their carbon footprint through the scheme; the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA) -- the group that certifies many Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) projects -- says…
Today many women’s rights groups, cancer patients, scientists, and concerned citizens celebrated an enormous victory in the Supreme Court: human genes can no longer be patented by big business!
As of this morning, over 20% of the human genome had been patented. In the case before the Supreme Court, Myriad Genetics owned patents on two genes (BRCA1 and BRCA2) that correlated with an increased risk for breast and ovarian cancer. These patents prevented…
On June 13 in Southampton, England, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, will christen the new Royal Princess, marking the beginning of a week-long inaugural celebration for Princess Cruises. This 4,950-passenger and crew cruise ship spans 330 meters in length (about 3 football fields), weighs over 140,000 gross tons, and is the first new Princess cruise ship to be launched since 2008. The Royal Princess is also the largest ship in the Princess fleet and is…
Industrial agriculture has long been a major cause of forest destruction, but the ceaseless expansion of palm oil plantations for food, fuel and cosmetics is wreaking havoc on an unprecedented scale, and has become the biggest single cause of forest destruction in the tropics today. In response, Friends of the Earth is launching a new phase in our work to protect the world’s forests by targeting the financiers behind palm oil.
Our Landgrabs, Forests…
Today feels like Groundhog Day with the Department of State. More than a year ago, Friends of the Earth, along with members of Congress including Sen. Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Cohen from Tennessee, charged the State Department with gross negligence for failing to properly vet the consulting firm Cardio Entrix for improper conflicts of interest. Now, more than a year later, we are at a similar juncture with the State Department apparently actively trying…