December 14th, 2011

Environmental groups make it easy this time of year to send someone on your list a gift that benefits wildlife.

WORLD WILDLIFE FUND

People who donate $250 to help the world's 3,200 wild tigers receive a big plush thank you from WWF.

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November 30th, 2010

‘Tis the season for giving, but what how does the environmentally-conscious shopper weave a bit of good stewardship into all that holiday generosity?

Before making a list of energy-efficient gadgets or rushing out to buy your spouse a brand new electric car, consider a little more expanded approach to gifting “green.”

For several years now, my wife has given our eco-friendly offspring (and a few friends) a donation to Heifer International. You’ve probably heard of Heifer: They’re the folks who literally provide heifers (young cows), goats, sheep, llamas, rabbits, chickens and geese – among other good chain-friendly creatures — to impoverished families, hoping to help lift them up and enable them to be more self-sufficient.

So how, you may ask, is this green?

These animals help turn dependent people into ones who can provide their own food, which is about as “sustainable” as it gets. In Heifer International’s case, that heifer is a source of milk for children and the potential to sell excess milk to pay for food, clothing and other necessities. With proper planning, the heifer can produce offspring that can help the gift keep on giving over multiple generations.

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November 19th, 2010

Dominique Browning

Yes! Prop 23—a proposal in California, underwritten by Texas oil companies, to repeal the strongest clean energy law in the nation—was resoundingly defeated on Election Day. But apart from that victory, media pundits seem to believe that around the country, environmentalists and their concerns were soundly trounced. I think they are reading the wrong tea leaves.

The Tea Party may be full of science Luddites, but there’s another important activist group in the U.S. and it is growing fast. It isn’t run by anyone, and has no political candidates—yet. I’m calling it the Green Tea Party, and it is made up of millions of women I think of as Eco Moms. It is going to be–it is already–a game changer.

I count myself among these women. EcoFocus Worldwide, a marketing research consultant, estimates that “the EcoAware Moms market includes more than 50 million women, 69% of [all] moms, and has more than $1.45 trillion in buying power.” Best of all, consumer power can translate to political clout.

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September 17th, 2010

A startling decline in the Gulf of Mexico’s shark population may create strange bedfellows, as a team of U.S. scientists and environmentalists have held meetings with Cuban officials to discuss an alliance (which would include Mexico) to look into the problem.

Some shark species are estimated to have lost up to 50 percent of their number. Those figures helped spur U.S. and Cuban interests to take advantage of improved relations between the two countries to seek a solution. Along with Mexico, the three nations who share the Gulf could be uniquely positioned to protect the sharks.

“The Gulf of Mexico is one ecosystem, it’s not just the U.S. Gulf. The shark is a highly migratory fish that moves between the countries and it is troubled,” said Pamela Baker, Gulf policy advisor for the New York-based Environmental Defense Fund.

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July 6th, 2010

With time running short to act on climate change this year, a group of environmental organizations have sent President Obama a letter, asking him to encourage movement on the gridlocked Senate negotiations on climate and energy legislation.

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April 1st, 2010

President Obama's decision to open up off-shore drilling drew mixed reaction.

From Green Right Now Reports

Environmental groups were taken aback by President Obama’s announcement this week that the U.S. would open vast areas along the Eastern Seaboard, in the Gulf of Mexico and selected areas of the Alaskan Arctic to off-shore oil and gas leasing. Reaction ranged from pure outrage to a more measured response from big groups that clearly want to maintain good relations with a White House that has pitched some wins their way.

The World Wildlife Fund and the Natural Resources Defense Council, for instance, issued straightforward statements saying they were not happy with the new drilling, but pleased with restrictions in some areas and glad that the administration is pursuing oil conservation measures like new higher mileage and stricter emissions standards for cars.

The best line:

“Short of sending Sarah Palin back to Alaska to personally club polar bear cubs to death, the Obama administration could not have come up with a more efficient extinction plan for the polar bear,” said Brendan Cummings, senior counsel at the Center for Biological Diversity.

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March 30th, 2010

(The article, posted March 29, 2010 on the Environmental Defense Fund website, is the reaction of EDF senior scientist, Ramon Alvarez, to a briefing in Austin put on by the Barnett Shale natural gas producers. Drilling in the Barnett Shale in Central and North Texas — as with gas drilling in New York , Pennsylvania [...]

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February 11th, 2010

By Ashley Phillips
Green Right Now

The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) and the Environmental Defense Fund, with the support of The Meadows Foundation have developed the Texas Green Jobs Guidebook.

The project highlights that in an emerging green energy economy, green means dollars. There are more than 200 green jobs listed in guidebook, as well as specific training and education opportunities across Texas, and the list is expected to grow. Green is not a short term trend, but a fundamental shift in political, corporate, and personal decision making, according to those advocating for green jobs.

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January 26th, 2010

By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

Green news is just streaming out these days, like a ticker tape parade, but without the paper waste.

Carleton College, in Northfield, Minn.

First on my notes, the College Sustainability Report Card people have issued their 2010 list of schools making As for green initiatives. Actually, no campus has earned an A yet, but 27 are getting A-’s for a range of innovative efforts. My native Minnesota has propelled Carleton College, Macalester College and the University of Minnesota into the top ranks. Uffda, that’s exciting.

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January 12th, 2010

(Sometimes a few words on a list can explain a lot. Here, reprinted with permission from the Environmental Defense Fund, is a list that captures the profound and reverberating effects of climate change .)

Here are 10 startling facts we learned in 2009 that underscore the climate threat:

1. A study published in the journal Science reports that the current level of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere – about 390 parts per million – is higher today than at any time in measurable history — at least the last 2.1 million years. Previous peaks of CO2 were never more than 300 ppm over the past 800,000 years, and the concentration is rising by around 2 ppm each year.

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December 18th, 2009

The Flatiron Building was identified as one of NYC's top polluters.

From Green Right Now Reports

About 9,000 large buildings in New York City are spewing out about 1,000 tons of toxic soot pollution every year because they burn the dirtiest heating oils available, according to a new report released today by Environmental Defense Fund.

Eighty-seven percent of NYC’s heating oil soot pollution is created by only one percent of all buildings in New York City, the report said. Soot pollution has been shown to aggravate asthma, increase the risk of cancer, exacerbate respiratory illnesses and cause premature death.

EDF’s study, “The Bottom of the Barrel: How the Dirtiest Heating Oil Pollutes Our Air and Harms Our Health,” shows that the city’s levels of nickel — a heavy metal that increases the risk of cardiovascular disease by thickening the walls of arteries — are nine times higher than other U.S. cities.

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August 24th, 2009

From Green Right Now Reports

EcoDriving, a national initiative to promote green driving habits, has won the support of 10 more governors. The Southern Governors Association announced yesterday the latest states to join the EcoDriving movement that was launched a year ago by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA), Gov. Bill Ritter (D-CO), the Environmental Defense Fund and the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.

“EcoDriving was introduced to empower consumers to take green driving into their own hands by adjusting their driving and vehicle maintenance habits,” Dave McCurdy, president and CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said in a statement. “The educational program offers Americans a simple way to be more fuel efficient, and save at the pump.

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