I was working away on my computer late last Saturday night, March 31, when suddenly this dramatic report from New Zealand came across on my e-mail: "End to Secrecy and Release of Draft TPP Text Hailed as 'Triumph for Democracy.' The nine parties to the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPPA) negotiations have made a dramatic and unexpected u-turn, agreeing to lift the veil of secrecy on their draft texts and background documents. Critics of the…
Friends of the Earth launched a new television ad campaign today targeting the utility Southern California Edison, the operator of the troubled San Onofre nuclear reactors, which are currently closed due to serious safety problems. The ad parallels the threat from San Onofre’s troubled reactors with the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan -- and notes that eight million Americans live within 50 miles of San Onofre, the distance the U.S. government advised should be evacuated…
With the first board meeting of the Green Climate Fund scheduled for the end of April, now is a good time to provide a bit of a primer and update on the GCF. The lead-up to the Green Climate Fund Since 2008, Friends of the Earth and many others have been calling for the establishment of a global climate fund - like the GCF - under the UN Climate Convention. The world was lacking…
Two days ago, President Barack Obama returned from a state visit to South Korea. The trip coincided with the entry into force this month of the U.S.-Korea free trade agreement, which Obama touted as a “win for both counties” at a Seoul news conference. But the president’s statement is in sharp contrast to the firestorm of opposition to the trade pact that has ignited in Korea, casting a pall over his administration’s plan for a…
Friends of the Earth released today a new analysis by one of the nation’s leading independent nuclear engineers, Arnie Gunderson. The report has revealed serious unresolved safety problems at Southern California Edison’s San Onofre nuclear reactors which could lead to significant radiation releases if the plant is allowed to restart. The paper also documents that Edison misled the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission about changes made to the plant, which have led to unforeseen and undiagnosed…
Last night the Senate voted 92-4 to have 30 hours of debate on S.2204, the Repeal Big Oil Tax Subsidies Act. The bill would eliminate billions of dollars of tax subsidies for the five biggest oil companies, who have cumulatively booked more than $100 billion in profits in the last decade, and use that money to promote renewable energy.
Ending costly handouts to corporate polluters and using the saving to invest…
Friends of the Earth and our activists have been fighting a bill in the Iowa state legislature that would raise customers' electric rates to pay in advance for the construction of new nuclear reactors. This nuclear rate hike bill just passed the Senate Commerce Committee by a slim 8 to 7 vote. Over the past few months, we have worked tirelessly to move senators in the right direction. But we still have a tough fight…
Yesterday, President Obama shamelessly stood in front of piles of Keystone XL pipe near Cushing, Oklahoma, touting his ‘all of the above’ strategy to solving our energy woes and the climate crisis. Scratch that last one—he didn’t mention the word ‘climate’ even once.
But he did issue a memorandum to federal agencies not only to build, but to expedite the approval of the southern leg of the Keystone XL tar sands oil…
I wish every test and every decision we made had the answer “all of the above” as an option. It would definitely make life easier. It would make Friday evening conversations with my wife a breeze:
Hi, honey, should we go see a movie, stay home and play games, eat dinner in or go out to eat? How about all of the above?Instead of teaching my son the differences between right and wrong, good…
On March 15th, the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District hosted a town hall meeting to discuss the proposed release of genetically engineered mosquitoes in Key West. We organized our Friends of the Earth activists in the Keys to help ensure tough questions were asked to the genetically engineered mosquito company, Oxitec, and FKMCD -- and the public came out in full force.
According to Friends of the Earth activist and Florida Keys resident…