Complete list of press releases

NEWS RELEASE

Contact:
Gus Silva-Chávez, 202-316-0829, gsilva-chavez@edf.org
Annie Petsonk, 202-365-3237, apetsonk@edf.org
Jennifer Andreassen, 202-288-4867, jandreassen@edf.org

(BONN, Germany – June 17, 2011) Amid devastating floods and record heat waves ravaging the United States, the latest United Nations climate negotiations in Bonn made incremental progress on some technical issues, but the large differences that have been part of this process for more than 20 years remain unresolved at the end of the two-week session, said Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).

“There is still a potentially useful role for the U.N. talks regarding common rules for measuring and accounting for emissions necessary to create strong markets – but only if countries find ways to negotiate decisions more efficiently. It looks increasingly likely that the real progress on fighting global warming will take place outside the U.N. process, in national, regional, and state-level carbon markets,” said Annie Petsonk, EDF’s International Counsel.

One of the biggest shake-ups in the negotiations was a proposal by Mexico and Papua New Guinea to amend the 1992 climate treaty, to let the parties make decisions by majority instead of by the current standard of “consensus.” This stemmed from a move in December’s Cancun conference in which Mexico, then the conference chair, showed major decisions cannot and should not be blocked by a single party.

“That proposal has really begun to concentrate the minds of negotiators on improving the way the U.N. climate negotiations are conducted,” said Petsonk.

Among specific policy issues, the meeting launched a consideration of how agriculture, which has a large potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers around the word, should be included in a global climate treaty.

And once again, the most progress was made on policies to reduce emissions from deforestation (REDD+). “Tropical forest nations made good and steady progress on the key technical issues they need to resolve to be able to offer to carbon markets well-verified reductions in emissions from deforestation,” said Petsonk.

However, after looming over the two-week negotiations, some of the biggest questions remain unresolved:

• Will the world’s biggest-emitting countries, including the United States and major emerging economies, join the EU in making significant emission reductions after the current phase of the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012?
• Where will nations get the financing to stimulate investment in low-carbon development and to fund adaptation?
• Can countries find a way to extend and improve the Kyoto Protocol, or will they need to move to a bottom-up world based on national and regional carbon markets?
• With growing concern among countries that Kyoto is not the ideal basis for a global agreement, how much of a new framework can be built in Durban?

“The growing danger signals from a warming planet underscore the importance of mobilizing low-carbon economic development as swiftly as possible - and that means mobilizing large-scale capital,” said Petsonk. “If the U.N. process can’t get decisions made about the future of the Kyoto Protocol, then the smart money will move into low carbon development opportunities in those countries and communities that deliver the incentives to go low-carbon.”

NEWS RELEASE
Contact:
Sean Crowley, 202-550-6524-c, scrowley@edf.org
Sara Hopper, 202-422-1823-c, shopper@edf.org  

(Washington, DC—June 16, 2010) The U.S. House of Representatives’ approval today of nearly $1 billion in cuts to USDA conservation programs in the agriculture appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2012 is bad policy that the Senate needs to fix, according to a leading conservation group.

“We realize that Congress faces tough budget choices, but making draconian cuts to voluntary conservation programs that help farmers and ranchers provide all Americans with cleaner air and water, more productive soils and habitat for wildlife is penny-wise and dollar-foolish,” said Sara Hopper, agricultural policy director for Environmental Defense Fund and a former staff member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. “The Senate needs to restore reasonable funding levels for conservation programs for the benefit of our environment and taxpayers.”

Last month, more than 50 agriculture and conservation groups sent a letter to House members urging them to “ensure that reasonable funding levels are continued” for USDA conservation programs. “These conservation programs are crucial to the health and viability of agriculture and rural America,” said the letter signed by the 50+ agriculture and conservation groups, including Environmental Defense Fund and the National Young Farmers’ Coalition.

“The demand for enrollment in these programs routinely exceeds the funds available, even without any cuts,” the groups’ letter concluded. “Failure to support our farmers, ranchers, foresters, and natural resource base today will jeopardize our agricultural industry, drive up long term costs for environmental mitigation, and threaten our nation’s food security.”

The House-passed bill today includes large cuts to two extremely popular working lands programs that have improved soil, air, and water quality on farms and ranches across the country: the Conservation Stewardship Program ($210 million cut) and Environmental Quality Incentives Program ($350 million cut). There often are more applications for the Conservation Stewardship Program and Environmental Quality Incentives Program than funds available for either program.

The bill also targets programs that protect and restore critical habitat for wildlife, promote wildlife-based recreational opportunities, and protect farmland from development. These programs include the Grassland Reserve Program, Wetlands Reserve Program, Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program, Voluntary Public Access Program, and Farm and Ranchland Protection Program. Farmers are waiting to enroll more than one million acres in the Wetlands Reserve Program and Grasslands Reserve Program.

Finally, the bill would cut the Natural Resources Conservation Service by nearly $100 million, depriving our farmers and ranchers of the technical assistance they need for effective conservation to identify and address natural resource concerns on their land.

These proposed cuts would be in addition to the $500 million already cut from USDA conservation programs in the FY2011 spending bill.

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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. Visit us on Twitter @EveryDayFactoid and facebook.com/EnvDefenseFund.

(LOS ANGELES—June 16, 2011) Angelenos soon could enjoy clearer roads, easier access to jobs, clearer skies and an improved quality of life through the deployment and implementation of strategies set forth in a transportation plan released today by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).

“Vision Los Angeles: Accessing Los Angeles” is a consensus action plan designed to improve transportation access and mobility, and make housing and transportation more affordable, while improving air quality and reducing green house gas pollution. Nearly all of the 15 strategies in the plan are being used successfully somewhere in the world and build upon existing regional plans, including L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa’s America Fast Forward initiative (formerly known as 30/10) whose goal is to complete 30 years of transit projects in 10 years.

By deploying the Vision Los Angeles strategies, the region can create tens of thousands of jobs in the construction sector. In addition, an analysis of the plan by Fehr & Peers, an internationally recognized transportation consulting firm, found that improving transit as proposed in the document would lead to greater access to tens of thousands of jobs throughout the County. The difficulty of getting to and from job centers is a key barrier to employment for many inner-city residents.

“With an unemployment rate of more than 12 percent, our region will see a tremendous benefit from thousands of potential jobs created by the implementation of Vision Los Angeles’ strategies,” said Bill Allen, CEO of the LAEDC. “The plan not only addresses our job creation needs, it will also help create a climate that attracts the best and brightest people to our communities by cleaning the air and improving mobility.”

“This plan will pay dividends for both the region’s environment and economy. It can help transform the region’s transportation system from one of the least efficient to one that supports a vibrant, world-leading economy, helps clear the air and provides abundant travel choices for all Angelenos,” said Kathryn Phillips, director of EDF’s California Transportation and Air Initiative.

Currently, Los Angeles ranks as one of the world’s largest metropolitan areas and is one of the most diverse and creative regions. Unfortunately, it also is one of the most polluted. Transportation accounts for more than two-thirds of smog-forming pollution and more than 40 percent of the greenhouse gas pollution (GHG) in the Los Angeles air basin. Traffic congestion costs $22 billion annually in lost time and increased health costs, while placing an unnecessary strain on the environment.

Vision Los Angeles actions would:

• Improve air quality by reducing the time people spend commuting by car and offering alternatives to auto dependence; and,
• Grow the region’s economy and save Los Angeles County residents billions of dollars on transportation-related costs.

Vision Los Angeles features 15 strategies to reduce traffic congestion and related air pollution, as well as improve transportation options for residents and workers. The solutions fall into three “access” categories: 1) operating system; 2) hardware system; and 3) land use:

1. Access Operating System solutions include developing a dynamic database that Angelenos can use from their cell phones to make informed decisions about where they’re going and the most efficient way to get there
2. Access Hardware solutions include expanding Metro Rapid service up to 15 percent and increasing Bus Rapid Transit region-wide. One of the strategies to achieve this goal is deploying public and private shuttles to and from business, educational and activity centers.
3. Accessible Land Use solutions include developing Access Efficient Mortgage (AEM) pilot programs in which employees of certain industries have access to an employer-funded revolving loan fund to subsidize housing costs in areas proximate to employment, enabling a closer live-work relationship and significantly reduced transportation congestion and costs.

“The next step in realizing our vision is to implement the initial short-term actions, which will include starting key pilot projects to test their feasibility. These include implementing Transportation Management Associations in the healthcare, educational and entertainment industries and starting a program on Networked WorCenters and housing programs,” said David Grannis, president and CEO of Point C, LLC, an experienced transportation-land use consulting firm that led the Vision Los Angeles work effort.

The Vision Los Angeles report includes input and consensus from a broad coalition of regional leaders from the public, private and non-profit sectors. The Bank of America Foundation, the William and Flora Hewett Foundation and the Dipaola Foundation provided financial support to produce the report. The plan and supporting documents are available on the Vision Los Angeles website: www.visionlosangeles.org.

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Vision Los Angeles Advisory Group
Members include leaders of the business and labor world (BizFed, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AECOM, Economic Alliance of San Fernando Valley, L.A. Chamber of Commerce, NBC Universal, Mattel, Inc.), non-profit/non-governmental sector (Natural Resources Defense Council, Union of Concerned Scientists, Green L.A., East Yard Communities For Environmental Justice, Coalition for Clean Air, L.A. Housing Fund, Los Angeles Community College District) and government (City of Los Angeles, County of Los Angeles, City of Pasadena, City of Alhambra, City of Glendale, City of West Hollywood).

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. Check out the latest post on EDF’s transportation blog, Way2Go. Follow EDF Transportation on Twitter @EDFtransport.

About the LAEDC
The LAEDC, the region’s premier economic development organization is a private, non-profit organization established in 1981 under section 501(C) (3). Its mission is to attract, retain, and grow businesses and jobs for the regions of Los Angeles County. Since 1996, the LAEDC has helped retain or attract more than 171,300 jobs, providing $8.4 billion in direct economic impact from salaries and $144 million in annual tax revenue benefit to local governments and education in Los Angeles County. For more information, visit www.laedc.org and follow us on Twitter @LAEDC.

About the Consultants
The Vision Los Angeles plan was prepared by David Grannis and Jennifer Cohen of Point C, a consultancy that focuses on sustainable transportation. Analysis was also provided by Fehr & Peers, and process consultation was provided by Community Design + Architecture.

NEWS RELEASE

Contact:
Jennifer Witherspoon, Environmental Defense Fund, (415)378-1985, jwitherspoon@edf.org
Megan Davenport, Winrock International (501) 280-3076, mdavenport@winrock.org  

(Sacramento, Calif. – June 9, 2011) Environmental Defense Fund, in partnership with Winrock International, the California Rice Commission and the leading Arkansas rice industry associations and producers, will receive a $1.1 million USDA Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) to demonstrate best practices for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from rice production in Arkansas and California.

Growers in Arkansas, the largest rice producing state, planted nearly 1.8 million acres in 2010 and growers in California, the second largest rice producing state, planted more than 550,000 acres. Working in these two states provides an opportunity to quantify methane emissions reductions as carbon offsets.

“This groundbreaking project is a great economic opportunity for rice farmers who already help feed the world,” said David Festa, vice president of both West Coast operations and the Land, Water and Wildlife programs for Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). “It will enable rice farmers to diversify their portfolio, so they can get paid—as they should be—for helping stabilize the world’s climate.”

EDF, the California Rice Commission, Applied Geosolutions, LLC, and TerraGlobal Capital, LLC, recently developed the first U.S. methodology to quantify greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions from rice production in California without negatively affecting yields. The GHG methodology is a framework for developing offset projects to sell credits on voluntary and compliance GHG markets. Removal of rice straw after harvest provides the largest mitigation opportunity to reduce emissions of methane, which has over 20 times the global warming impact of carbon dioxide. The methodology currently is under review by the American Carbon Registry (ACR) and the Verified Carbon Standard.

“Winrock is excited to partner with EDF and Arkansas rice producers on this important initiative,” said Annett Pagan, Winrock director, U.S. Programs. “Rice producers in Arkansas strive to improve yields, increase competitiveness and enhance habitat, particularly for waterfowl. It’s a win-win if producers can do all those things and also reduce GHG emissions. The CIG project will provide the needed on-the-ground demonstrations to prove this can be done practically and cost-effectively and that the revenue potential is real.”

California’s Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32) creates an emissions trading market in California beginning in 2012 that allows regulated entities to use offsets for up to 8 percent of their compliance obligation, 220 million metric tons (MMT) from 2012-2020. Approval of a rice protocol, either as an additional early action crediting protocol or as a California Air Resources Board (CARB) compliance offset protocol, would enable GHG emission offsets created by rice producers in California, Arkansas, or any other U.S. state to be purchased by regulated entities with a compliance obligation under AB 32.

Current prices for offsets on the purely voluntary market range from $3-7/metric ton (MT) of carbon dioxide emissions (CO2e), while pre-compliance offsets approved by the California Air Resources Board are trading on the voluntary market at $7-10/MT CO2e, and are likely to rise further, tracking expected allowance prices.

“The California Rice Commission looks forward to pilot-testing a set of practices in the field that will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and generate a limited amount of emissions offsets that can be used by other regulated industries in California,” said Paul Buttner, manager of environmental affairs at the California Rice Commission. “In doing so, we hope to collect useful information about how to make such programs as user-friendly as possible for our growers and to other agricultural groups interested in providing carbon offsets.”

One objective of this landmark demonstration project with rice producers in Arkansas and California is to analyze the project’s replication potential in other rice producing states, including Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas.

“This Conservation Innovation Grant allows EDF and our partners to work with growers in Arkansas and California to pilot carbon offset projects using an approved rigorous scientific protocol,” said Belinda Morris, California regional director of EDF’s Center for Conservation Incentives. “It holds great promise for U.S. rice farmers to make money on the California carbon market and to reduce methane gas emissions from rice production both in the United States and around the globe.”

USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) uses CIG to stimulate development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies.

“We want to help farmers and ranchers make important and innovative contributions to reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said during the grant announcement. “These grants are designed to test and verify exciting new approaches to greenhouse gas reduction that other conservation-minded producers will want to put to work on their operations.”

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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. Visit us on Twitter @EnvDefenseFund and @EDF_CA, on our California blog California Dream 2.0, and on Facebook facebook.com/EnvDefenseFund.

Winrock International is a nonprofit organization that works with people in the United States and around the world to empower the disadvantaged, increase economic opportunity, and sustain natural resources. Since the 1990s, Winrock has been a leader in science-based GHG measurement and monitoring in the agriculture, land use change and forestry sectors. Winrock is headquartered in Little Rock, Ark. www.winrock.org.

NEWS RELEASE

Contacts:
Sean Crowley, (202) 550-6524-c, scrowley@edf.org

(Boulder, CO–June 6, 2011) A leading conservation group today praised the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for the first part of a study it released today, which concluded that climate change will reduce water flow in the Colorado River Basin approximately nine percent by 2050. However, the conservation group, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), says future reports on the study about water supply and demand in the basin over the next 50 years need to examine how to sustain healthy river flows and the impacts on the recreation and tourism industries that are so critical to the economy of the region.

“The economic well-being of rural communities and major cities in the basin are inextricably linked to the environmental health of the Colorado River itself,” said EDF’s Rocky Mountain Regional Director Dan Grossman, a former vice chairman of the Agriculture, Natural Resources and Energy Committee in the Colorado Senate. “And just as human health depends on healthy blood flow, the Colorado River’s health depends upon healthy water flows that are being compromised by current management practices and policies, as well as a warming climate.”

The Bureau of Reclamation is collaborating with representatives from the seven Colorado River Basin states (Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and California) to produce the “Colorado River Basin Water Supply & Demand Study.” It includes Interim Report #1 released today, Interim Report #2 due in Fall 2011, Interim Report #3 due in Spring 2012, and the Final Study Report due in July 2012.

EDF is pushing the Bureau of Reclamation and Colorado River Basin states to ensure that the study identifies solutions to the imbalance between supply and demand in the Basin while sustaining healthy river flows.

“Active outdoor recreation in the Colorado River Basin contributes more than $75 billion annually to the region’s economy and supports more than 780,000 jobs,” added Grossman. “That’s why we must capitalize on this study by crafting a path forward that protects the health of the Colorado River–and the ecosystems and economies it supports–or we’ll miss a critical opportunity with potentially tragic consequences for the region. While the Bureau of Reclamation and Colorado River Basin states have made some progress, they have a lot of work left to do.”

According to the Bureau of Reclamation’s web site, the Final Study Report will “characterize current and future water supply and demand imbalances in the Basin and assess the risks to Basin resources. Resources include water allocations and deliveries consistent with the apportionments under the “Law of the River;” hydroelectric power generation; recreation; fish, wildlife, and their habitats (including candidate, threatened, and endangered species); water quality including salinity; flow and water dependent ecological systems; and flood control.”

“Many stakeholders have an interest in management of the Colorado,” said EDF’s Colorado River Project Director Jennifer Pitt, who testified last year at a congressional oversight hearing entitled: “Collaboration on the Colorado River: Lessons Learned to Meet Future Challenges.” “The Basin Study is an opportunity to take the long view, and to examine the full range of values society wants from the river.”

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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. Visit us on Twitter @EveryDayFactoid and facebook.com/EnvDefenseFund.

News Release

Contacts:
Sean Crowley, (202) 572-3331, scrowley@edf.org  
Tim O’Connor, (415) 293-6132, toconnor@edf.org
Miriam Horn, (646) 641-9316, mhorn@edf.org

(Sacramento, CA–June 6, 2011) Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) today released a framework to critically evaluate how effective California public utilities’ plans to upgrade the state’s outdated electricity network into a digital smart grid will be at delivering environmental and consumer benefits. The California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) approved a roadmap last June based on the provisions of state law SB 17. It requires that utility smart grid investments help California meet its climate change, demand-side management and renewable energy goals.

EDF played a key role in shaping the CPUC guidelines, which the state’s three investor-owned utilities (IOUs) are required to use in designing and deploying their smart grids. With 20 million customers among them, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and Southern California Edison (SCE) are the largest utilities in California. Plans are due to the CPUC by July 1st and EDF will score them in mid-to-late July.

In addition to developing this ‘report card,’ EDF worked with SDG&E on its plan—also being released today—to ensure that, among other things, its smart grid:

1. Empowers customers to save energy and money;
2. Enables integration of large- and small-scale renewable energy projects to meet the state’s 33 percent Renewable Portfolio Standard and distributed generation goals; and
3. Incentivizes electric vehicles to charge when electricity is cheaper and cleaner.

EDF also is advising PG&E and will use the framework to score all three utilities’ plans with equal rigor, so that the best elements are adopted and any weaknesses or gaps are remedied.

“Since these public utilities are investing millions of their ratepayers’ dollars in the smart grid and need to get so many things right, EDF developed this framework to help California’s smart grid deliver on its promises. It also identifies concrete steps these utilities can take to reach those goals,” said Miriam Horn, director of EDF’s smart grid initiative.

Energy experts at EDF will use the framework to score how well the public utilities’ plans will enable the integration of clean energy technologies, empower customers, create a platform for innovative technologies and services, enable demand-side resources to be made available for wholesale energy markets and meet environmental targets set forth in federal and state laws. These laws include California’s 2006 Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32), which requires the state to reduce greenhouse gas pollution to 1990 levels by 2020.

EDF’s Evaluation Framework for Smart Grid Deployment Plans, Benefits to Consumers and the Environment focuses on results defined by the U.S. Department of Energy: ‘enhanced grid operations, customer services and environmental benefits.’ EDF staff and an independent consultant developed the framework with input from multiple stakeholders including CPUC staff, the California IOUs, former Austin Energy General Manager Roger Duncan, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), The Brattle Group, Galvin Electricity Initiative and consumer advocacy organizations.

“This is a brand new effort by the utilities with ratepayers footing the bill. We want to make sure plans deliver solid returns on those investments. This tool will make it easy to show which utilities made the grade,” said Tim O’Connor, an attorney and climate change analyst at EDF.

EDF is working on multiple smart grid projects across the country, including the Pecan Street Project, in Austin, Texas, a $25 million demonstration project designed to meet consumer and community needs. EDF is also engaging consumer groups and other public and private entities to help ensure consumers have the information and protections they need, and that ratepayer investments deliver returns in the form of cleaner air, improved public health, reduced energy costs and a stronger economy.

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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. Visit us on Twitter at @EnvDefenseFund and @EDF_CA, at our California blog, California Dream 2.0, and on Facebook atfacebook.com/EnvDefenseFund.

NEWS RELEASE

Contacts:
Sean Crowley, (202) 550-6524-c, scrowley@edf.org
Jennifer Witherspoon, (415)293-6067, jwitherspoon@edf.org

(Washington, DC, CA–June 2, 2011) In response to the legislative hearing today by the House Subcommittee on Water and Power on Rep. Nunes’ “San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act” (H.R. 1837), eight conservation groups have sent a letter to subcommittee members, warning its passage would lead to disastrous results. The groups on the letter include: Environmental Defense Fund, American Rivers, California League of Conservation Voters, Defenders of Wildlife, Earthjustice, League of Conservation Voters, Natural Resources Defense Council, and The Nature Conservancy.

“The only reliable thing about this deeply flawed bill is that it threatens the health of the water pumped out of the Bay Delta estuary, thousands of West Coast fishing jobs, and our economy,” said Cynthia Koehler, EDF California water legislative director. “It also undermines the co-equal goals of environmental and water supply reliability established in California’s 2009 water reform legislation. Congress should reject this extreme measure in all its forms.”

EDF and the other eight conservation organizations that signed the letter oppose H.R. 1837 because it:

1. Drastically undermines environmental protections for the Bay Delta estuary, commercially valuable salmon and other wildlife;
2. Preempts state law and interferes with state water rights;
3. Guts the 1992 Central Valley Project Improvement Act; and
4. It overturns the broadly supported and court approved settlement to restore the San Joaquin River.

“This dangerous legislation threatens senior water rights holders throughout the state,” concluded Koehler. “It also would disrupt collaborative, comprehensive programs, like the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, designed to protect endangered species, restore the Delta ecosystem, and improve the reliability of California’s water supply.”

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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. Visit us on Twitter @EnvDefenseFund and @EDF_CA, on our California blogs On the Water Front and California Dream 2.0, and on Facebook facebook.com/EnvDefenseFund.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Sean Crowley, 202-572-3331-w, scrowley@edf.org
Sara Hopper, 202-422-1823-c, shopper@edf.org
Mékell Mikell, 202-525-0964-c, mikell@nwf.org
Aviva Glaser, 202-797-6616, glasera@nwf.org  

(Washington, DC—May 31, 2011) A coalition of more than 50 agriculture and conservation groups representing millions of Americans today are urging lawmakers to reject nearly $1 billion in proposed cuts to farm bill conservation programs. The organizations are asking the House Appropriations Committee to “ensure that reasonable funding levels are continued” when the committee meets today at 5 p.m. to vote on these huge cuts in the FY2012 agriculture appropriations bill; $500 million already has been slashed from farm bill conservation programs in the FY2011 spending bill.

“These conservation programs are crucial to the health and viability of agriculture and rural America,” said a letter sent to committee members from the agriculture and conservation groups, including National Wildlife Federation, Environmental Defense Fund and National Young Farmers’ Coalition.”The demand for enrollment in these programs routinely exceeds the funds available, even without any cuts. Failure to support our farmers, ranchers, foresters, and natural resource base today will jeopardize our agricultural industry, drive up long term costs for environmental mitigation, and threaten our nation’s food security.”

The proposed FY2012 appropriations bill includes large cuts to two extremely popular working lands programs, the Conservation Stewardship Program ($210 million cut) and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program ($350 million cut). These programs have improved soil, air, and water quality on farms and ranches across the country. There often are more applications for the Conservation Stewardship Program and Environmental Quality Incentives Program than funds available for the program.

The appropriations bill also targets programs that protect and restore critical habitat for wildlife, promote wildlife-based recreational opportunities, and protect farmland from development, including the Grassland Reserve Program, Wetlands Reserve Program, Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program, Voluntary Public Access Program, and Farm and Ranchland Protection Program. Farmers are waiting to enroll more than one million acres in the Wetlands Reserve Program and Grasslands Reserve Program.

“They [conservation programs] deliver demonstrated environmental benefits including clean air, clean water, and abundant habitat for wildlife,” the groups added. “They protect soil and farmland to provide lasting food security. And they bring important money and jobs to rural areas, including increased revenues from hunting, fishing, and other recreational activities.”

Additionally, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, which assists farmers and ranchers in identifying and addressing natural resource concerns on their land, is facing cuts of nearly $100 million in the bill, depriving our farmers and ranchers of the technical assistance they need for effective conservation.

“With increased pressures on working lands to produce food, fuel, and fiber for our nation and the world, both farm bill conservation programs and discretionary funding for technical assistance are needed now more than ever,” concluded the groups. “They help farmers, ranchers and foresters to voluntarily address their key resource concerns and assist them in complying with local, state, and federal regulations. We ask the House Appropriations Committee to recognize the importance of agricultural conservation programs and ensure that reasonable funding levels are continued.”

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NEWS RELEASE

Contact:
Matt Smelser, msmelser@edf.org,(202) 572-3272

(Austin, Texas – May 31, 2011) Last week Travis County Court Judge Lora Livingston remanded White Stallion Energy Center, L.L.C’s application for a permit to build a 1,320 megawatt coal-fired power plant in Matagorda County, Texas back to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for more evidence. 

EDF’s motion to remand was based on White Stallion’s use of two different site plans in applying for permits with the TCEQ and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The plans differ vastly in the locations of emissions sources. Changing emissions sources can affect the permits compliance with Clean Air Act standards and TCEQ rules.

Statement from Jim Marston, Texas Regional Director for Environmental Defense Fund:

“What does White Stallion have to hide? Why tell TCEQ you are doing one thing and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers you are doing another? If White Stallion is expecting build a power plant than they should be upfront with regulators about their intentions. We are not talking about insignificant changes to these plans and those living near the proposed plant as well as the State of Texas have a right to know exactly how much pollution White Stallion will impose on them.”

NEWS RELEASE

Contact:
Matt Smelser, msmelser@edf.org, (202) 572-3272 

(Austin, Texas – May 31, 2011) “Despite negative changes to House Bill 3328, it remains meaningful legislation for two reasons. First, industry and Republican office holders both agreed that disclosure must be mandatory. Second, industry and elected officials agreed that all frac chemicals that may be harmful to public health and the environment must be addressed — not just those known by OSHA to be hazardous in the workplace.

These are important steps forward that will make Texas better off than it would be otherwise. Unfortunately, however, Environmental Defense Fund must oppose adoption of the Texas legislation by other states or by the federal government because the measure has serious limitations. It does not even provide a simple, statewide list of what chemicals are used by who and in what quantities. The Railroad Commission can enforce the bill only if it can prove a chemical was used intentionally for a particular purpose. And it may be the middle of 2013 before the bill takes full effect — an absurdly long time for implementation.

Most oil and gas companies want the bill implemented more quickly and opposed the provision, reportedly supported by Devon Energy, Halliburton and Occidental Petroleum, that allows rules to be delayed until 2013. Bill sponsor Jim Keffer publicly accused Devon of “not negotiating in good faith.” It is unfortunate that a few companies largely spoiled what could have been an opportunity for the whole industry to begin to restore public trust in its operations.”

- Scott Anderson, Senior Policy Advisor

NEWS RELEASE

Contact:
Matt Smelser, msmelser@edf.org, (202) 572-3272

(Austin, Texas – May 26, 2011) Last night the Texas Senate passed its version of House Bill 3328, a bill that will require the mandatory disclosure of all chemicals used in the process of hydraulic fracturing. Because of changes to the bill, it will likely require a conference committee to reconcile the differences. 

Statement from Scott Anderson, Senior Policy Adviser at Environmental Defense Fund:

“This bill represents a positive step. Industry needs to reassure the public regarding its actions and this will help. While it isn’t the model we had hoped for, it will help move disclosure efforts forward across the country and globe; and will hopefully put the industry closer to full, mandatory disclosure.”

NEWS RELEASE

Contact:
Jennifer Andreassen, 202-572-3387, jandreassen@edf.org

(Washington – May 25, 2011) The Brazilian House of Representatives’ passage of new forestry legislation could legalize deforestation in hundreds of thousands of acres of currently protected forest, and provide amnesty for past illegal deforestation in the country.

Although opposed by Brazil’s major scientific bodies — the National Academy of Sciences and the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Sciences — as well as by a group of ten former Environment Ministers, the new forestry law passed by a substantial margin.

“Brazil has been a leader in international efforts to protect rainforests and slow climate change, but its vote to throw open hundreds of thousands of currently protected acres to deforestation threatens to undermine its position on the world stage,” said Environmental Defense Fund Vice President for Climate and Air Steve Cochran.

Between 2006 and 2010, Brazil slowed Amazon deforestation about 2/3 below the annual average from 1996–2005, reducing about 1 billion tons of greenhouse gas pollution. But preliminary reports from Brazil’s National Space Research Agency (INPE) suggest that deforestation has increased about 30% over last year, and Brazil’s Environment Ministry and many researchers hold that the increase was connected to expectations that the Congress would weaken forest protection requirements in the Forestry Code.

The forestry legislation now goes to the Senate, which may deliberate for several months before a vote, and will ultimately be sent to President Dilma Rousseff.

Brazil is hosting the Rio +20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development next year.

NEWS RELEASE

Contact:
Kathryn Phillips, 916-893-8494, kphillips@edf.org
Tony Kreindler, 202-572-3378, tkreindler@edf.org

(Washington, D.C. – May 25, 2011) New auto labels will give American consumers the critical information they need to save money on gas and help fight pollution, said Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).

EDF praised the consumer-friendly design of the new labels, which were unveiled this morning by the leaders of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Transportation.

“The new label design will empower American car-buyers like never before,” said EDF transportation expert Kathryn Phillips. “The number rankings give consumers an easy way to compare the performance of different vehicles just by looking at the label. This is a tool that will make buying a new car an easier, more pleasant experience. It will help families save money at the gas pump for years to come, and it will help them reduce their carbon footprint and the pollution that’s in our air.”

This is the most significant overhaul of auto labels since mileage stickers were first put on cars. The new design will include:

• A numerical ranking system. This will combine information about fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions into one clear, accessible, “1 to 10” designation.
• A car’s five-year cost savings for the buyer. The average American owns a car for five years; the new labels will show how much money can be saved over that time by buying a more fuel-efficient car.
• More information for consumers online. The labels display a website with extensive information to empower consumers, including information about the pollution associated with producing traditional gasoline-powered cars, and a new tool to determine emissions from power plants in all U.S. zip codes so buyers can examine the electricity-generation emissions associated with powering electric vehicles.
• The labels will keep the familiar numbers for miles-per-gallon and average one-year fuel costs.
• Shoppers can expect to see the new labels on 2013 model cars at their local dealerships.

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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; Way2Go blog posts at http://blogs.edf.org/transportation/

COMUNICADO DE PRENSA

Póngase en contacto con:
Coordinadora de las Organizaciones Indígenas de la Cuenca Amazónica: Jenny Vasalaz, com@coica.org.ec, (593-02) 3226-744
Environmental Defense Fund (EDF): Jennifer Andreassen, jandreassen@edf.org, 202-572-3387
Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC): Elizabeth Braun, ebraun@whrc.org, 508-444-1509

(Washington - 24 de mayo de 2011) Los pueblos indígenas de la selva amazónica desarrollarán planes para ejecutar proyectos piloto para reducir las emisiones de la deforestación para combatir el cambio climático, a través de un innovador acuerdo anunciado hoy en Washington entre la Coordinadora de las Organizaciones Indígenas de la Cuenca Amazónica (COICA) y el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID).

El proyecto “Pueblos Indígenas de la Cuenca Amazónica Frente al Cambio Climático” es un proyecto financiado por el BID, y da un gran impulso a los esfuerzos de los Pueblos Indígenas para combatir el cambio climático. Previamente, proyectos similares que involucraron a Pueblos Indígenas para reducir la deforestación han sido históricamente dirigidos por grupos no gubernamentales, pero este proyecto pone a los grupos indígenas, encabezados por la COICA, en cargo de, la planificación y la ejecución del proyecto.

El proyecto se concentrará en tres áreas que aumentarán la participación de grupos indígenas en la lucha contra el cambio climático:

1. Formación de los pueblos indígenas a través de “talleres” en los métodos de reducción de emisiones de deforestación y degradación forestal (REDD+), y monitoreo de los niveles de carbón y otros indicadores en sus bosques.
2. Garantizar la participación e interacción de los Pueblos Indígenas en los diálogos regionales y nacionales.
3. El desarrollo de dos proyectos pilotos para la protección de los bosques de la deforestación (REDD+).

“Los modelos de consulta, los equipos de las organizaciones indígenas para el monitoreo de carbono forestal, y los proyectos piloto de REDD+ dirigidos por Pueblos Indígenas generados, proporcionarán a los responsables de las políticas nacionales con ejemplos concretos y la información que necesitan para desarrollar con éxito la política de REDD+,” dijo el Director Técnico de la COICA Juan Reátegui. “La expectativa nuestra es generar capacidad técnica y policía de los lideres y dirigentes de COICA para poder tener un dialogo horizontal con enfoque intercultural entre el estado, sociedad civil, y Pueblos Indígenas.”

El proyecto fue lanzado oficialmente hoy en las oficinas del BID en Washington con presentaciones de la COICA y el BID. Dicho Proyecto ha sido aprobado y firmado oficialmente en una ceremonia organizado entre COICA y BID, el 20 de abril en Quito, Ecuador.

“Además en promover en los pueblos recuperación de los saberes ancestrales para la mitigación y adaptación del cambio climático y defender sus derechos colectivos territoriales y el uso sostenible de sus recursos en sus territorios,” dijo Reátegui. “Los talleres de entrenamiento se hará en cinco países, trabajar en modelos de consulta previa, líber e informado para mostrar a la cooperación internacional, estados para programas y proyectos de desarrollo,” según Reátegui.

El grupo no gubernamental Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), con sede en EEUU, ha estado trabajando con la COICA durante el último año y medio para ayudar que este proyecto sea aprobado por el BID, y este grupo trabajará como asesores, juntos con Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC), para ayudar a desarrollar el programa de currículo, aportando sus conocimientos técnicos, y para aumentar el nivel de financiamiento.

“Este proyecto es una gran oportunidad para la COICA y el movimiento indígena de demostrar por ejemplo cómo los Pueblos Indígenas pueden contribuir concretamente al desarrollo de proyectos y la política de REDD+ que sean beneficiosos para los Pueblos Indígenas”, dijo Chris Meyer, Coordinador (EDF) del Proyecto Amazónico.

El proyecto es también digno de reconocimiento, ya que pone de relieve el papel único que los Pueblos Indígenas tienen que desempeñar en el desarrollo de sistemas nacionales de vigilancia forestal de carbono de REDD+.

“Con muchos años de experiencia adquirida a través de su cultura y viviendo en la selva amazónica, los Pueblos Indígenas están en buena posición para asumir el liderazgo en los esfuerzos para medir y monitorear sus bosques - los bosques que ellos mismos han gestionado de manera sostenible durante siglos”, dijo científico (WHRC) Wayne Walker.

Obtenga más información sobre el proyecto en:
www.iadb.org/es/noticias
www.coica.org.ec/sp/noticias
www.edf.org/climatetalks
www.whrc.org/education/capacitybldg.html

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COICA (www.coica.org.ec) representa y coordina a más de 390 grupos indígenas el control de 10,268,471 km2 de tierra en la cuenca del Amazonas. Organiza actividades y grupos de presión política para sus organizaciones miembro en Ecuador, Perú, Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia, Surinam, Guyana, Guayana Francesa y Brasil.

Environmental Defense Fund (www.edf.org), una importante organización no gubernamental crea soluciones para proteger el medio ambiente. EDF usa la ciencia, economía, derecho y asociaciones innovadoras con el sector privado para proteger el planeta. Ver twitter.com/EnvDefenseFund; facebook.com/EnvDefenseFund; blogs.edf.org/ClimateTalks

Woods Hole Research Center (www.whrc.org), se enfoca en los grandes temas de la salud del planeta a través de la ciencia, la educación y la política.  Personal del Centro de combinar la teledetección con la investigación de campo para el estudio, el modelo, localizar y controlar a la tierra la superficie terrestre, y avanzar en los conocimientos adquiridos para definir soluciones sostenibles para el bienestar.

NEWS RELEASE

Contact:
Coordinator of the Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin: Jenny Vasalaz, com@coica.org.ec, (593-02) 3226-744
Environmental Defense Fund: Jennifer Andreassen, jandreassen@edf.org, 202-572-3387
Woods Hole Research Center: Elizabeth Braun, ebraun@whrc.org, 508-444-1509

(Washington – May 24, 2011) Indigenous groups in the Amazon Rainforest will develop plans to execute pilot projects to reduce emissions from deforestation to combat climate change, through an innovative agreement announced in Washington today between the Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

The project, “Pueblos Indígenas de la Cuenca Amazónica frente al Cambio Climático” (Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon Basin to Combat Climate Change) is funded by the IDB, and gives a major boost to indigenous-led efforts to combat climate change. Similar projects that involve indigenous peoples and reducing deforestation have historically been directed by outside non-governmental groups, but this puts indigenous groups, led by COICA, at the helm of the project’s planning and execution.

The project will focus on three areas that will increase Indigenous groups’ participation in combating climate change:

1. Training Indigenous Peoples through “workshops” in methods of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+), and monitoring carbon levels and other indicators in their forests
2. Increasing and ensuring Indigenous groups’ participation, interaction and consultation in national and regional dialogues
3. Developing plans to execute two REDD+ pilot projects

“These consultation models, Indigenous teams for forest carbon monitoring, and Indigenous-led REDD+ pilot projects will provide national policy makers with the concrete examples and information they need to develop successful REDD+ policy,” said COICA Technical Manager Juan Reátegui. “We anticipate this project will create technical and political capabilities in our leaders and chiefs in the member organizations of COICA, which will allow them to enter into constructive dialogues in an intercultural manner between governments, civil society, and Indigenous Peoples.”

The project was officially launched today at the IDB offices in Washington with presentations by COICA and the IDB. It was finalized in a signing ceremony in Quito, Ecuador, on April 20th.

“Perhaps most importantly, this project will promote the recovery of our traditional knowledge, which can then be put to use for climate change mitigation and adaptation, defend our territorial collective rights, and the sustainable use of natural resources in our territories,” said Reátegui. “The workshops will develop new models of free, prior, and informed consent to be used as examples for other international organizations, governments, programs, and development projects.”

U.S.-based environmental non-profit Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) has been working with COICA for the past year and a half to help the project through the IDB approval process, and will be working as advisers with Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC) in helping develop the program’s curriculum, providing technical expertise, and identifying financing.

“This project is a great opportunity for COICA and the Indigenous movement to show by example how Indigenous Peoples can contribute significantly to the development of REDD+ projects and REDD+ policy that are beneficial to Indigenous groups,” said Chris Meyer, EDF’s Amazon Basin Project Coordinator.

The project is also noteworthy in that it highlights the unique role that Indigenous Peoples have to play in the development of national systems for REDD+ forest carbon monitoring.
“With lifetimes of hands-on experience drawn from across vast tracts of Amazon rainforest, Indigenous groups are well-placed to provide leadership in efforts to measure and monitor their forests – forests which they, themselves, have sustainably managed for centuries,” said WHRC Assistant Scientist Wayne Walker.

Learn more about the project at:
www.iadb.org/en/news/
www.coica.org.ec/ingles/news/
www.edf.org/climatetalks
www.whrc.org/education/capacitybldg.html
 
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COICA (www.coica.org.ec) represents and coordinates more than 390 indigenous groups that control 10,268,471 km2 of land in the Amazon basin. COICA organizes activities and political lobbying for its member organizations in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia, Suriname, Guyana, French Guiana and Brazil.

Environmental Defense Fund (www.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; blogs.edf.org/ClimateTalks

Woods Hole Research Center (www.whrc.org), addresses the great issues for a healthy planet through science, education, and policy. Center staff combine remote sensing with field research to study, model, map and monitor Earth’s land surface, and advance the knowledge gained to define solutions for sustainable well being.