Complete list of press releases

(Raleigh, NC – May 21, 2012)  Governor Bev Perdue today issued an Executive Order directing a multi-agency work group to conduct studies and develop recommendations for the regulatory frameworks, protocols and safeguards that North Carolina would need before allowing natural gas development using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.  The following statement may be attributed to Jane Preyer, North Carolina director of Environmental Defense Fund.  Contact Jane at jpreyer@edf.org or 919-740-6727.

“The process outlined by the Governor avoids a rush to drilling and emphasizes a responsible and deliberative approach.  If the state decides down the road to allow natural gas drilling, doing it as safely as possible is much more important than doing it quickly. 

“Gov. Perdue sends a clear signal that she will work actively with legislators who support a responsible approach to natural gas development, provided that the state has safeguards in place that protect the health of citizens and communities.  Safety should be the priority for North Carolina’s landowners, communities and environment.

“Citizens should applaud getting the facts out for everyone to see and to developing strong policies that protect North Carolina.”  

(Raleigh, NC - May 16, 2012) Today the NC Legislative Research Commission gave its approval to a proposal that would legalize hydraulic fracturing and pave the way for natural gas development in North Carolina. The proposal imposes a two-year moratorium on drilling. The following statement may be attributed to Jane Preyer, North Carolina director of Environmental Defense Fund. Contact Jane at jpreyer@edf.org or 919-740-6727.

“The proposal brushes aside laws that have protected drinking water supplies and private property rights for generations. The proposal makes sure that drilling can begin in two years, whether or not adequate safeguards for families, communities and the environment are in place. This is a bad idea.”

“The proposal shifts significant responsibilities away from state environmental and public health experts to a new oil and gas industry board. The proposal is a dangerous precedent for North Carolina and a recipe for conflict.”

Contacts:
Jocelyn Gibbon, (602) 510-4619-c, jgibbon@edf.org
Steve Pawlowski, (602) 254-9330, steve.pawlowski@sierraclub.org
Nikolai Lash, (928) 266-5606, nlash@grandcanyontrust.org
Ian Wilson, (520) 290-0828, x.1106, iwilson@sonoraninstitute.org
Linda Stitzer, (520) 488-2436, linda.stitzer@westernresources.org

(Phoenix, Ariz.—May 4, 2012) Five conservation groups this week celebrated the Salt River as their second “River of the Month” in a year-long series honoring the Arizona Centennial. The series features fact sheets with graphics and photos profiling the geography, ecology, use, and threats to a different river every month to celebrate the Arizona’s precious water resources. Last month, the groups focused on the Colorado River as the “lifeblood of the West.”

“If the Colorado River can be said to the ‘lifeblood of the West,’ the Salt River is the lifeblood of Phoenix and the surrounding communities,” according to the profile by Environmental Defense Fund, Sierra Club, Grand Canyon Trust, Sonoran Institute, and Western Resource Advocates, the groups behind the river series.

The story of the Salt River is symbolic of the many faces of Arizona, from the river’s journey through a rugged and spectacular canyon wilderness to its essential role in cultivating the farms, industries, and development that gave rise to Phoenix, the sixth largest city in the U.S., in the unlikely landscape of the Sonoran Desert.

From its origin, the Salt River flows west through Native American lands and a remote wilderness area, then through a series of dams and reservoirs that provide water and power to the Phoenix metropolitan region. The first and largest dam, Roosevelt, completed in 1911, created Roosevelt Lake and secured a reliable water supply for Phoenix. Below Roosevelt Dam, the Salt flows through three more dams and reservoirs and is then joined by its largest tributary, the Verde River, from the north. Below this confluence, the Granite Reef Diversion Dam distributes water to canals that flow to the Phoenix metropolitan area. Due to these diversions, the Salt now rarely flows below Granite Reef and along its course through Phoenix.

Various efforts to restore degraded stretches of the Salt River are underway. For example, within the City of Phoenix, the Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Project utilizes urban runoff and groundwater to restore a five-mile stretch of riverbed. Completed in 2005, the restoration area provides environmental education and economic development opportunities along a revitalized riverbed. Such projects “point the way to what is possible when people recognize that Arizona’s rivers are an ecological and economic asset to the people of the state,” said EDF’s Jocelyn Gibbon.

The next river featured by the groups will be the Little Colorado River. The University of Arizona’s Water Resources Research Center (WRRC) has provided assistance in preparation of the profiles. The WRRC’s recent “Environmental Water Needs Assessment” is evaluates information about the water needs of environmental resources in Arizona.

(Washington – May 2, 2012)  South Korea has become the first Asian country to pass climate change legislation capping its carbon emissions, joining the vanguard group of nations leading the charge against climate change.

The bill, approved today by Korea’s National Assembly on a near-unanimous vote, establishes a cap-and-trade system for limiting the country’s growing carbon emissions.

South Korea’s move comes only weeks after Mexico passed domestic climate legislation that aims to increase renewable energy use, set ambitious goals to curb domestic emissions and establish a high-level climate commission authorized to create a domestic carbon market.

“South Korea’s bold move is evidence that fast growing economies can put a limit on dangerous carbon emissions with broad support from elected leaders, and of the mounting desire and momentum to curb climate change across both the developed and developing world,” said Richie Ahuja, EDF’s Regional Director for Asia.

“Such visionary actions by countries is how the global climate race will be won,” Ahuja said.

The South Korean bill will limit emissions from top polluters across the economy through a cap-and-trade system slated to start in 2015.  About 60 percent of South Korea’s greenhouse gas emissions will be covered, which puts the government on track to fulfill its international pledge to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 30 percent from projected levels by 2020. The legislation will also allow Korea’s system eventually to link internationally with other emissions trading systems, and the government and Australia have already announced plans to initiate such talks later this year. 

Final details of the law will be worked out in the coming months and issued as part of a Presidential Decree, which the Presidential Commission on Green Growth and related ministries are preparing.

Cap-and-trade systems, like the one in Korea’s law, have been successful in curbing carbon emissions; the world’s first and largest multinational cap and trade program to reduce climate-warming pollution, Europe’s Emissions Trading System, has played a significant and successful role in reducing the EU’s global warming pollution.

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Environmental Defense Fund (edf.org), a leading national nonprofit organization, creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. EDF links science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships. See twitter.com/EnvDefenseFund; facebook.com/EnvDefenseFund; edf.org/ClimateTalks

Contacts:
Sara Hopper, EDF agricultural policy director 202-422-1823 shopper@edf.org
Jennifer Witherspoon, EDF communications director 415.293.6067 jwitherspoon@edf.org

(Washington, D.C.) The Senate agricultural committee marked up the 900-page farm bill today, the same day that Sara Hopper, director of agricultural policy for the Environmental Defense Fund, testified before a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture regarding the need to engage farmers and other conservation partners in land, water and wildlife conservation through the 2012 farm bill, which appears to be gaining momentum on both sides of the aisle, and in both houses of Congress.

“It’s important for Congress to get a farm bill done this year, and the action today by the Senate Agriculture Committee to report a bill represents an important step in the process,” said Sara Hopper. “More importantly, the work that leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee have done over the past few months demonstrates a continuing, strong commitment to conservation – even in the face of significant budget pressures.”

At a time when increasing global demand for food is intensifying pressure on America’s land and water resources, it is more critical now than ever to maintain and strengthen conservation programs, which help farmers, ranchers and private forest landowners produce cleaner water and air and improve habitat for wildlife. Budget constraints mean, however, that these and other programs authorized under the massive five-year bill face significant cuts as the process moves forward. 

The bill reported by the Senate Agriculture Committee today cuts overall farm bill spending by $23 billion, with $6 billion of the cuts coming from conservation programs. “Although any cuts will be painful given the increasing demands on natural resources, members on both sides of the aisle worked to minimize the impact of the cuts by also including policy improvements designed to increase the effectiveness of conservation programs,” said Hopper. 

The Senate bill consolidates conservation programs and creates a robust new partnership program designed to leverage the resources of state agencies, local governments, and farm and conservation organizations in cooperative efforts to engage agricultural producers in improving water quality and achieving other conservation goals at the state and local levels.

In her testimony before the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Conservation, Energy and Forestry, Hopper warned against deeper cuts to conservation programs. “The case for conservation in the farm bill is as valid as ever,” said Hopper. “Soil erosion and degradation of other important natural resources threatens not only environmental quality but also farm profitability and productivity over the long term. We need to maintain and strengthen our commitment to conservation in this farm bill, even if funding is reduced.”

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Environmental Defense Fund (edf.org), a leading national nonprofit organization, creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. EDF links science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships. For more information, visit: http://www.edf.org/.

NEWS RELEASE

Contacts:

Lori Sinsley, (415) 293-6097, lsinsley@edf.org

Derek Walker, (415) 293-6065, dwalker@edf.org

EDF Applauds Brown Administration’s Effort to Accelerate Electric Vehicle Charging Network throughout California

(San Francisco, CA – April 27, 2012) Today, California took one step closer to achieving the state’s clean air agenda and protecting public health by transmitting for final federal approval a settlement between the Public Utilities Commission and NRG Energy that will fund construction of a statewide network of charging stations for zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs).

“EDF applauds Governor Brown and NRG as they work toward a future of cleaner air and less reliance on imported oil,” said Derek Walker, EDF’s director of strategic climate initiatives. “By creating a backbone of fast chargers throughout the state, this program will accelerate the use of electric vehicles, cut carbon emissions and strengthen our economy at the same time.”

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About EDF

Environmental Defense Fund (edf.org) is a leading national nonprofit organization that creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. EDF links science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships. Visit us on Twitter at @EnvDefenseFund and @EDF_CA, at our California blog, California Dream 2.0, and on Facebook at Facebook.com/EnvDefenseFund.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:        

Elizabeth Skree, Environmental Defense Fund, 202.553.2543, eskree@edf.org

Emily Guidry Schatzel, National Wildlife Federation, 225.253.9781, guidrye@nwf.org

Kevin Chandler, National Audubon Society, 202.596.0960, kchandler@audubon.org

(Washington, D.C.—April 26, 2011) Today, five national and local conservation groups praised the Senate Appropriations Committee for approving funding for critical restoration projects in Louisiana, including an effort to use sediment dredged from navigation waterways to recreate critical wetlands. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would receive $16.8 million for the Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA) program to begin construction on LCA ecosystem restoration projects and $9.3 million to study future projects. This funding was part of President Obama’s budget request and was strongly supported by Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.).

“This funding is an important step forward in helping restore critical wetlands around the Mississippi River Delta, as well as helping create new jobs in Louisiana. This is a win-win for the environment and the economy,” said the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, Environmental Defense Fund, Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, National Audubon Society and National Wildlife Federation in a joint statement. “Thanks to the Appropriations Committee and Sen. Landrieu, these restoration projects will put sediment from the Mississippi River back to use creating wetlands that act as a speed bump for hurricanes and a natural storm buffer for communities.”

“We hope Congress will include this funding in the final version of the Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill,” the groups continued. “Taking these preventative actions now will make these areas less vulnerable to future disasters.”

Since the 1930s, Louisiana has lost more than 1,900 square miles of wetlands, an area roughly equivalent to the state of Delaware. The decline of the Mississippi River Delta’s wetlands has dramatically impaired protection from hurricanes and wiped out much of the buffer against future storms and disasters. The loss of wetlands also threatens:

• One of our nation’s most important fisheries
• One of our nation’s most significant port complexes and navigation systems
• Wildlife, including tens of millions of migratory birds and waterfowl
• Domestic energy production and processing
• Communities all along the central Gulf Coast

The federal funding was provided in the Senate Appropriations Committee Report on the FY13 Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill. 

More restoration projects like the ones funded through this budget request would be possible with passage of the RESTORE Act. The legislation would dedicate 80 percent of oil spill penalties paid by BP and others responsible for the 2010 oil spill towards gulf restoration. The RESTORE Act has received strong bipartisan support in both the House and Senate.

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NEWS RELEASE 

Media Contact:
Ashley Katz, Communications Manager, USGBC, 202.742.3738, akatz@usgbc.org
Mica Odom, Energy Media Director, EDF, 512.691.3451, modom@edf.org

(Washington, DC – April 24, 2012) The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) announced yesterday that Southern California Edison (SCE) has joined the Demand Response Partnership Program (DRPP) as the first utility host sponsor.  The Demand Response Partnership Program engages the commercial building and energy industries to educate, promote and drive participation in existing demand response programs, while undertaking a robust research agenda focused on market adoption, grid reliability and environmental impact through improved energy efficiency.

“This ground-breaking program has great potential to help us learn more about our commercial customers’ needs and will drive participation in demand response programs to help independently verify the associated grid and environmental benefits” said Lawrence Oliva, Director, Tariff Programs and Services, SCE.

Demand response programs at SCE encourage changes in electric usage by customers from their normal consumption patterns in response to changes in the price of electricity, or to incentive payments designed to lower electricity use at times of high wholesale market prices or when system reliability is jeopardized.

“The commercial building market is responsible for roughly one third of the power grid load,” said Brendan Owens, Vice President, LEED, USGBC. “By bringing together the commercial building and energy communities, this program will explore demand response as a viable energy management strategy.”

“As one of the largest electric utilities in the state, Southern California Edison brings expertise in implementing successful demand response programs in the commercial and residential markets,” continued Owens. “We’re eager to tap this experience and further explore the viability of demand response as a solution for maintaining grid stability in the commercial buildings sector.”

“California is a bellwether state for demand response, smart grid and progressive environmental efforts,” said Elgie Holstein, Senior Director for Strategic Planning, EDF. “The ability to work hand-in-hand with SCE, solution providers and the LEED-certified building community is critical to accelerating the transition to a clean, low-carbon energy future.”

Throughout the year, the Demand Response Partnership Program will work with owners and managers of LEED-certified buildings within SCE’s territory, and utilize solution sponsors to work with the buildings to install and implement demand response systems into buildings.

USGBC and EDF are in the process of selecting sponsors at various levels to participate in the year-long program. Parties interested in participating in the Demand Response Partnership Program should contact Brendan Owens at bowens@usgbc.org or Ross Malme at rmalme@skippingstone.com to learn more.

About U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is committed to a prosperous and sustainable future through cost-efficient and energy-saving green buildings. USGBC works toward its mission of market transformation through its LEED green building certification program, robust educational offerings, a nationwide network of chapters and affiliates, the annual Greenbuild International Conference & Expo, and advocacy in support of public policy that encourages and enables green buildings and communities. For more information, visit usgbc.org, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

About Environmental Defense Fund
Environmental Defense Fund (edf.org), a leading national nonprofit organization, creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. EDF links science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships. See twitter.com/EDFEnergyEX; facebook.com/EnvDefenseFund; and http://blogs.edf.org/energyexchange/.

About Southern California Edison
An Edison International (NYSE:EIX) company, Southern California Edison is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, serving a population of nearly 14 million via 4.9 million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within Central, Coastal and Southern California.

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California Wins Low Carbon Fuels Appellate Court Ruling

State can now enforce important clean fuels program; ruling is positive signal that standard has a strong legal foundation

(San Francisco, CA – April 23, 2012) Today, the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals granted an important stay motion in favor of California and its Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), allowing the state to move forward with vital protections for human health and the environment that will also strengthen California’s clean energy economy.

By granting the state’s motion, the Court of Appeals lifted a lower court’s injunction provisionally banning enforcement of the standard on the grounds that the regulation violates the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. 

“This is good news for the people of California who are working together to strengthen our clean energy economy and power our transportation sector with cleaner, less harmful fuels,” said Tim O’Connor. “Today’s decision is an important step forward in California’s efforts to reduce carbon pollution and drive innovation in cleaner sources of energy.” 

California’s LCFS is a scientifically-based standard that was carefully designed to cut climate change pollution, protect and improve public health and drive innovation that delivers economic benefits. These are among the reasons why EDF joined California and three other environmental organizations to appeal the lower court’s decision. Though the Court of Appeals has yet to hear the case on the merits, today’s ruling is a positive signal that the state’s clean fuels program has a strong legal foundation. 

Without a federal policy in place to regulate the carbon pollution in fuels, it is critically important that California and other states have the ability to carry out smart, science-based policies such as the LCFS to cut pollution, reward innovation, and build a stronger, more efficient economy. 

About EDF

Environmental Defense Fund (edf.org) is a leading national nonprofit organization that creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. EDF links science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships. Visit us on Twitter at @EnvDefenseFund and @EDF_CA, at our California blog, California Dream 2.0, and on Facebook at Facebook.com/EnvDefenseFund.

NEWS RELEASE

Contact:

Jennifer Andreassen, 202-288-4867, jandreassen@edf.org

(Washington – April 20, 2012) Mexico’s Senate has further propelled the country toward a low-carbon economy, approving last night a comprehensive climate change bill that aims to increase renewable energy use, set ambitious goals to curb domestic emissions and establish a high-level climate commission that is authorized to create a domestic carbon market.

Mexico’s General Law on Climate Change was passed unanimously by the Senate shortly before Earth Day and now awaits President Felipe Calderón’s final approval. Calderón, who has worked to establish Mexico as a global climate leader, is expected to sign the bill. The bill moved quickly this Spring through both chambers of Congress, whose sessions, along with Calderon’s term, end this year.

“Mexico’s Congress has given its people a special reason to celebrate Earth Day – a new law declaring that climate change is a national priority and will be addressed for decades beyond the sunset of this administration,” said Jennifer Haverkamp, International Climate Program Director at Environmental Defense Fund.

The House- and Senate-passed General Law on Climate Change will:

• Develop policies and instruments to increase electricity generation from clean energy sources. The law includes a target of sourcing 35% of electricity generation from clean energy by 2024.
• Aim to cut greenhouse gases 30% below business-as-usual emissions by 2020, and halve emissions below 2000 levels by 2050.
• Formally establish a high-level intergovernmental climate change commission to implement the law.
• Authorize the new commission to create a domestic greenhouse-gas emissions trading system that can include international transactions between Mexico and any countries with which it makes emissions trading agreements.
• Establish a climate fund to collect and channel resources for climate change activities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation) and adapt to the changing climate (adaptation).
• Create a new national emissions registry to which major emitting sectors will report their emissions.

Several analyses, including from the World Bank, indicate that abundant low-cost, or even profitable, opportunities for reducing carbon can already be found throughout Mexico’s economy.

Once signed into law by President Calderon, attention will turn next to the law’s implementation.

“This law’s true significance hinges on the extent to which the government uses its discretionary authority to fully implement and strengthen the law’s provisions. Done right, Mexico can both produce a powerful tool to fight climate change and maximize the law’s economic opportunities for the Mexican people and industry,” Haverkamp said. “For the bill to have passed with broad support from all parties in both chambers of Congress augers well for the future.”

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Environmental Defense Fund (edf.org), a leading national nonprofit organization, creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. EDF links science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships. See twitter.com/EnvDefenseFund;facebook.com/EnvDefenseFund; edf.org/ClimateTalks.

CONTACT (WRA):
Jason Bane                                                 
(720) 763-3721
jason.bane@westernresources.org

CONTACT (EDF):
Sharyn Stein                                                  
(202) 572-3396
sstein@edf.org
 
PHOENIX (April 18, 2012) — The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) authorized a plan today that provides for a sustainable transition towards a cleaner energy supply for one of the largest sources of pollution in the country – the Four Corners Power Plant.

The ACC authorized Arizona Public Service Company (APS), Arizona’s largest investor-owned electric utility, to undertake a transaction that will enable retirement of three aging coal-fired units. Taken together, these units are one of the largest sources of air pollutions in the Southwest. These pollutants are linked to respiratory ailments and a host of other medical problems, and mar some of the most spectacular vistas in the West. The Four Corners Power Plant is currently the largest source of nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution in the country, emitting about 39,000 tons of NOx each year.

“Families shouldn’t have to make a choice between clean air and affordable energy,” said David Berry, Chief of Policy Analysis for Western Resource Advocates. “This is a great example of how we can effectively manage the economic and environmental risks of fossil fuel power generation.”

Under the plan approved today, APS will acquire Southern California Edison’s share of the newer, more efficient units at the Four Corners Power Plant and will retire three older units at the plant by the end of 2013. Southern California Edison is expected to replace its Four Corners generation with renewable energy and natural gas fired power plants, while APS plans to add selective catalytic reduction pollution control equipment on Units 4 and 5 to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides. By retiring the 560 megawatts of old, inefficient coal plants and adding pollution control equipment to Units 4 and 5, the plan will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 19% to 34%, sulfur dioxide by about 24%, nitrogen oxides by about 88%, and mercury by about 61%, relative to 2009 emissions.  These reductions will bring significant environmental and health benefits to those residing in the Four Corners area.  

Today’s order also requires APS to evaluate additional coal plant retirements as part of a systematic review of the economic and environmental risks around its remaining coal fleet, as well as to examine the potential for coal-solar hybrid systems. The ACC decision allows APS to move ahead with an emission reduction plan developed by the company to comply with Clean Air Act requirements to protect visibility at national parks such as Grand Canyon and Mesa Verde.

“This is an important step forward towards improving air quality in the Four Corners area,” said Pamela Campos, attorney with the Environmental Defense Fund. “Today’s plan will reduce pollution, maintain low energy costs, and provide clean, healthy air to families across the Southwest.”

Western Resource Advocates and the Environmental Defense Fund played a significant role in the proceedings, providing testimony on the environmental, public health and economic benefits of the plan approved today.

Download this press release as a PDF file
 
Western Resource Advocates is a regional nonprofit conservation organization dedicated to protecting the West’s land, air, and water. Offices or staff are located in Boulder (CO), Phoenix and Tucson (AZ), Pocatello (ID), Santa Fe (NM), Carson City (NV) and Salt Lake City (UT). Visit www.WesternResourceAdvocates.org.
 
Environmental Defense Fund (edf.org), a leading national nonprofit organization, creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. EDF links science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships. See twitter.com/EnvDefenseFund; facebook.com/EnvDefenseFund 

Contacts:
Sean Crowley, Environmental Defense Fund, 202.572.3331, scrowley@edf.org 
David J. Ringer, National Audubon Society, 601.642.7058, dringer@audubon.org 
Heather Layman, The Nature Conservancy, 703.475.1733, hlayman@tnc.org
David Willett, Ocean Conservancy, 202.351.0465, dwillett@oceanconservancy.org
Mary Babic, Oxfam America, 617.517.9475, mbabic@oxfamamerica.org

Washington, D.C. – April 18, 2012) Gulf Coast restoration advocacy groups lauded the inclusion of the RESTORE Act in today’s House-passed Surface Transportation Extension Act. Both the House and Senate have now passed versions of the RESTORE Act, which would dedicate 80 percent of the Clean Water Act fines from BP and the other parties responsible for the Gulf oil spill to restoring the Gulf Coast. This Friday, April 20^th, marks the second anniversary of the start of the Gulf oil spill, the worst environmental disaster in American history.

“We thank Representative Steve Scalise and other Members of the Gulf delegation, as well as the leadership of both the House and Senate, for making Gulf restoration such a high priority. The time has come to make good on promises to restore the environments of the Gulf region and the communities and economies that rely on them,” said a joint statement issued by Environmental Defense Fund, National Audubon Society, The Nature Conservancy, Ocean Conservancy and Oxfam America. “Now we look forward to getting the RESTORE Act across the finish line, and the President signing RESTORE into law.”

The amendment, called the RESTORE the Gulf Coast States Act, is similar to historic legislation that the full Senate passed last month with strong bipartisan support from 76 senators.

The Senate’s version of the RESTORE Act will ensure that penalties paid by BP and others responsible for the 2010 Gulf oil disaster are used to rebuild the economies of Gulf Coast communities that were impacted by the spill and to restore the natural resources, ecosystems, fisheries, marine and wildlife habitats, beaches, barrier islands, dunes and coastal wetlands that are the foundation of the Gulf Coast economy. 

A nationwide poll of 1,006 likely general election voters conducted by a Democratic firm, Lake Research Partners, and a GOP firm, Bellwether Research and Consulting, showed that the vast majority of U.S. voters (84 percent) believe the Gulf Coast—including the Mississippi River Delta—impacts the nation’s economy. Nearly two-thirds of those voters (63 percent) believe this region impacts the economy in their part of the country.  

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Media Contact: Erin Geoffroy, 512-691-3407, egeoffroy@edf.org

Expert Contact: Peter Zalzal, 303-447-7214, pzalzal@edf.org  

(Washington, DC – April 18, 2012) Yesterday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized important, new national clean air standards for oil and natural gas that will reduce harmful air pollution, protect public health and the environment, and prevent the waste of a valuable domestic energy source.  Leaks, venting and flaring from oil and natural gas drilling activities contribute to ground-level ozone (“smog”), toxic air pollution such as benzene and destabilize the climate.  The limited federal standards that existed prior to these clean air measures covered only natural gas processing plants, and were most recently updated, in part, 13 years ago; other aspects of the air standards for the oil and gas industry are more than a quarter-century old.

“These standards are a trifecta: they protect human health and the environment, reduce waste of a domestic energy source growing in importance and save industry money through sales of recovered natural gas product.  For too long the industry has operated under insufficient, outdated standards that fail to protect Americans from the dangerous air pollution produced by oil and gas activities,” said Fred Krupp, the president of the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). 

EPA’s new air quality measures – New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) and National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPS) – are an important step in limiting harmful emissions of airborne contaminants discharged during natural gas extraction activities.  EPA estimates that these measures will reduce air pollution from oil and natural gas sources, with significant reductions in smog-forming pollutants and hazardous air pollutants like benzene, a known carcinogen.  As a co-benefit, the standards will also reduce methane, a potent climate forcer.  

In his 2011 State of the Union Address, President Obama committed to developing shale gas resources “without putting the health and safety of our citizens at risk.”  Likewise, the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board’s (SEAB) Shale Gas Subcommittee has recommended “[m]easures should be taken to reduce emissions of air pollutants, ozone precursors, and methane as quickly as practicable. The Subcommittee supports adoption of rigorous standards for new and existing sources of methane, air toxics, ozone precursors and other air pollutants from shale gas operations.”  EPA’s proposed clean air measures are an important first step in fulfilling the President’s commitment and SEAB’s recommendation.  

The standards achieve these important air quality improvements by utilizing proven, cost-effective control technologies that are similar to clean air measures that the states of Colorado and Wyoming have successfully deployed.  In these states, EDF analysis demonstrates that the oil and gas industry has experienced swift growth while deploying similar, cost-effective pollution control technologies.

One such technology, “green completion,” allows producers to capture emissions that would otherwise occur after a well is hydraulically fractured, and to capture and profit from the sale of gas that would otherwise be lost.  EPA estimates that deploying green completion technologies, along with other measures in the rule that would plug leaks throughout the system, will save billions of cubic feet of domestic natural gas each year.  EPA estimates that application of these proven, cost-effective technologies will yield a cost savings of $11 to $19 million in 2015, because the value of natural gas and condensate that will be recovered and sold will offset costs.

“These updated standards will reduce harmful air pollution through highly cost-effective controls and avoid the needless waste of a valuable domestic energy source: natural gas,” said EDF senior scientist Ramon Alvarez. “They will also standardize many common sense practices and technologies that natural gas companies already use successfully and benefit from financially.”

Plugging leaks of greenhouse gases, such as methane, is important because they undermine the climate benefits of natural gas over other fossil fuels such as coal and oil.  Methane is the main ingredient in natural gas and a greenhouse gas (GHG) pollutant many times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2), the principal contributor to man-made climate change.  A recent EDF paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) concludes that new natural gas combined cycle power plants reduce climate impacts compared to new coal plants as long as methane leakage remains under 3.2%. 

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Environmental Defense Fund (edf.org), a leading national nonprofit organization, creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. EDF links science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships. See twitter.com/EDFEnergyEX; facebook.com/EnvDefenseFund; and http://blogs.edf.org/energyexchange/.

For more information or to request interviews, contact:
Kevin Connor, Media Manager, Conservation International 
Office +1 (703) 341-2405 / email kconnor@conservation.org 

Jennifer Witherspoon, Communications Director, Environmental Defense Fund
Office +1 (415) 378-1985 / email jwitherspoon@edf.org

Arlington, VA / San Francisco, CA / Stellenbosch, South Africa (April, 16, 2012) – Climate change will make conservation of biodiversity, and all the associated human benefits such as clean water and clean air, more challenging and expensive, with costs increasing by more than 100 percent in some cases, according to three new studies by a group of international researchers convened by Conservation International. Researchers called the studies a “wake-up call” for cost-efficient biodiversity conservation and climate stabilization.

The researchers focused on species and ecosystems in South Africa, Madagascar and California. The results were presented in three papers published together in the journal Conservation Biology today under the title Conservation Focus: Costs of Adapting Conservation to Climate Change. The studies are among the first to estimate the costs of conserving biodiversity under the effects of climate change.  

“The specific effects of climate change on species in South Africa, Madagascar and California are very different, but the costs of conserving them will certainly increase considerably in all three regions under climate change,” said lead author Lee Hannah, senior scientist for climate change biology at Conservation International. “We can have a healthy planet and keep extra costs to a minimum by acting quickly to cut emissions and incorporate climate change into conservation plans.”

“This set of studies from around the world is a wake-up call,” said Rebecca Shaw, a climate scientist and associate vice president for Environmental Defense Fund. “The truth is that we have been struggling to conserve the nature we depend on for clean air and clean water without climate change. These studies show it is going to get harder and more costly to conserve nature in the future.  It is time to get much more creative about inspiring innovative and cost-effective private incentives for conservation to more efficiently sustain our planet’s life-support system for our benefit and the benefit of our children.”

“Conservation is expensive,” said Belinda Reyers, Chief Scientist of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in South Africa, “and will probably become more so as climates change – but considering the existing investments already made in conservation, and the costs of inaction – the sooner we get going the better. Our messages are however, not all doom and gloom, in fact the South African case study highlighted the important role that new approaches to conservation and new partnerships can play in helping reduce these costs.”  

In Madagascar, one of the most biologically-rich countries in the world, where the vast majority of native forests have been lost, researchers predicted the ranges of where 74 endemic plant species could survive from 2000 to 2080.  They found that as climate changes over time, species protected in today’s forests will be pushed out into areas where forests are unprotected or gone – as could be the case with the Scott-Elliot capuron (Rhopalocarpus coriaceus), a native tree of Madagascar. Restoring forests to avoid extinction of species like this one, they concluded, is harder and more expensive than maintaining existing forest wherever possible. Maintaining existing forests in community-managed areas costs about $160-576 per hectare, while restoring forests in the same areas would cost six times as much.

“By protecting the plants and animals of its forests, Madagascar is protecting the sources of life-saving medicines, clean water for agriculture, and jobs for people in tourism,” said Jonah Busch, climate and forest economist at Conservation International and lead author of Climate Change and the Cost of Conserving Species in Madagascar. “The top conservation priority is to stop ongoing deforestation of the island’s last remaining forests to protect its many unique species from climate change.”  

In California, researchers picked 11 species that occur within a conservation area in the Central Coast of California and projected the costs of conserving those species through 2050 and 2100 under realistic climate change scenarios. The results show that the boundaries of the conservation area would have to be dramatically expanded and that many species will need interventions such as captive breeding and relocation to achieve today’s conservation goals in the future under climate change. The costs of achieving these goals were estimated at close to 150 percent of the cost of reaching the same goals with no climate change by 2050, and up to 220 percent by 2100 – at a cost of $2.63 billion. Even so, some species will not be able to survive the change. “Diverse conservation strategies that keep working lands open for wildlife to move are important today and will be critical in the future for cost-effective conservation,” said Kirk Klausmeyer, a conservation planner for The Nature Conservancy of California.

In South Africa, researchers explored costs associated with options to expand protected areas in the Cape Floristic biodiversity hotspot to safeguard the survival of 316 species of the unique Proteaceae family of flowering plants. A treasure trove of biodiversity of plants, mammals, birds, and other vertebrates and invertebrates found nowhere else in the world, this region has a long and proud history of conservation now under threat from climate and other environmental changes. The study found that protecting sufficient habitat for this family of the Cape Floristic region to be more resilient to climate change could cost over $1 billion, however by forging contracts with landowners and exploring more cost-efficient avenues to manage habitat, these costs could be reduced significantly.  

“Urgent choices need to be made regarding the balance between development and nature that future generations will inherit,” said Russell Wise, climate and sustainability economist at CSIRO’s Ecosystem Sciences (formerly at the CSIR in South Africa) and lead author of Costs of Expanding the Network of Protected Areas as a Response to Climate Change in the Cape Floristic Region. “Improving the likelihood of species survival in the Cape Floristic Region over the next few decades will require cost-effective, innovative public-private partnerships and community-based mechanisms that will ensure not only the conservation of this region’s amazing wealth of biodiversity,  but also the delivery of ecosystem goods and services underpinned by the biodiversity in protected areas.” 

The three studies were conducted by authors in the following institutions (in alphabetical order): Conservation International, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research South Africa, Environmental Defense Fund, Missouri Botanical Garden, Queen’s University Belfast, South African National Biodiversity Institute, The Nature Conservancy, University of California Berkeley and University of California Santa Barbara. Financial support was provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation. The studies were published in advance of two major United Nations conferences this year — Rio+20 taking place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from June 20-22, 2012, to secure political commitment to poverty alleviation and sustainable development, and the Convention on Biological Diversity in Hyderabad, India from October 8 – 19, 2012, where discussions are to be centered on targets to stop the current species extinction crisis. 

“If world leaders want to be effective in both slowing the rate of environmental degradation and helping the poor to prosper now and in the future, they should place biodiversity conservation at the top of their agendas,” Hannah said.

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Journal Abstract: downloadable at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2012.01824.x/abstract

About Conservation International (CI) - Building upon a strong foundation of science, partnership and field demonstration, CI empowers societies to responsibly and sustainably care for nature, our global biodiversity, for the long term well-being of people. Founded in 1987 and marking its 25th anniversary in 2012, CI has headquarters in the Washington DC area, and 900 employees working in nearly 30 countries on four continents, plus 1,000+ partners around the world.  For more information, please visit: www.conservation.org, or on Facebook or Twitter. Conservation South Africa, based in Cape Town, is the South African affiliate of Conservation International.

About CSIR - The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa is one of the leading scientific and technology research, development and implementation organisations in Africa. Constituted by an Act of Parliament in 1945 as a science council, it undertakes directed research and development  to improve the quality of life of the country’s people.. To learn more visit: www.csir.co.za

About Environment Defense Fund - Environmental Defense Fund (edf.org), a leading national nonprofit organization, creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. EDF links science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships. For more information, visit: http://www.edf.org/.