Complete list of press releases

NEWS RELEASE 

Contact:
Molly Moore, +52-998-108-3364, +1-240-475-0590, molly@sandersonstrategies.com
Jennifer Haverkamp, +52-998-108-3372, +1-202-316-4914, jhaverkamp@edf.org

(CANCUN, Mexico — Dec. 11, 2010)  The United Nations climate conference today approved a modest package of climate initiatives that includes preserving forests and creating an international green fund, according to Environmental Defense Fund, a leading U.S. environmental group.

“The conference pushed forward a modest, but important package of climate initiatives,” said Jennifer Haverkamp, managing director of EDF’s international climate program. “The U.N. has now put its seal of approval on compensating countries for protecting their forests. And Mexico’s skillful leadership here has helped to rebuild confidence in the U.N. process.”

In order to reach the agreements the conference postponed some of the toughest decisions, pledging to advance the issues before next year’s climate summit in Durban, South Africa.

“The overall outcome represents only a fraction of what’s needed,” said Haverkamp. “Despite the best efforts by many countries, glaciers are still melting faster than this process is moving.”

Key components of the Cancun Agreements include:

• Implementing key elements needed to compensate countries for protecting their forests under Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+). The initiative includes environmental safeguards for preserving threatened forests and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples. The conference agreed to allow state REDD+ programs for a limited time, with a clear goal of establishing nationwide programs.
• Creating a Green Climate Fund to help developing countries find ways to reduce their emissions and adapt to the adverse effects of climate change.
• Transparency and accountability. The conference agreed to obligations and the development of guidelines for accurately accounting for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and for countries’ financing commitments.

News Release

CONTACTS:
Sean Crowley, Environmental Defense Fund, 202.572.3331, scrowley@edf.org  
David J. Ringer, National Audubon Society, 601.642.7058, dringer@audubon.org  
Emily Guidry Schatzel, National Wildlife Federation, 225.253.9781, guidrye@nwf.org  
I Ling Matthews, The Nature Conservancy, 512.623.7245, imatthews@tnc.org  
Dave Willett, Ocean Conservancy, 202.351.0465, dwillett@oceanconservancy.org  
Jeffrey Buchanan, Oxfam America, 202.471.3055, jbuchanan@oxfamamerica.org  

(Washington, DC–December 7) The U.S. Senate should heed the recommendation by the staff of the bipartisan National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling that “Congress should direct 80 percent of civil and criminal Clean Water Act penalties” to Gulf Coast restoration, according to eight non-profit groups. While the full commission report is expected in January, the groups urged the Senate to act on this staff recommendation before the lame duck congressional session ends later this month.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed oil response legislation (H.R. 3534) that would create a new civil penalty for any oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, including the Gulf oil disaster. However, the Senate has yet to act on this provision or on dedicating penalties from existing Clean Water Act provisions. U.S. Senators Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and David Vitter (R-La.) and U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) have introduced legislation that would require at least 80 percent of the civil and criminal penalties charged to BP under the Clean Water Act should be returned to the Gulf Coast for long-term economic and environmental recovery.

“The oil spill commission staff recognizes that we cannot compound one tragedy with another,” said a joint statement by the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, Environmental Defense Fund, Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, National Audubon Society, National Wildlife Federation, Ocean Conservancy, Oxfam America, and The Nature Conservancy. “Absent Senate action, Clean Water Act fines automatically will be deposited into the federal treasury. The Senate should use this money to create thousands of new jobs by restoring the backbone of the Gulf Coast’s fishing and tourism industries—its ecosystem—which was severely degraded even before the Gulf oil spill disaster.”

A study by Oxford Economics estimated that the oil spill could affect tourism for three years at a cost of $22.7 billion in lost revenues. According to “A Study of the Economic Impact of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill”, completed by Greater New Orleans, Inc., in Louisiana alone, between 2011 and 2013, gross losses to the economy from lost fishing revenues may be between $285 million and $428 million, resulting in the loss of between 2,700 and 4,000 full time equivalent jobs and lost employee earnings of between $68 million and $103 million.

The Commission staff’s recommendation echoes a recent government report by Navy Secretary and former Mississippi Governor Ray Mabus detailing a long-term environmental restoration plan for the Gulf Coast. The report recommended “the President urge Congress to dedicate a significant amount of any civil penalties recovered under the Clean Water Act from the Deepwater Horizon spill be deposited into a Gulf Coast Recovery Fund managed by a Gulf Coast Recovery Council.”

The fines for violations of the Clean Water Act alone will range from a maximum of between $1,100 and $4,300 for each of the 4.9 million barrels spilled, depending upon whether the responsible parties are found to have been grossly negligent for the Macondo well blowout. Thus far, estimates are that the total fines will be between $5 billion and $21 billion.

In addition, nearly nine out of 10 voters (87%) in the five Gulf states of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas agree that the environmental health of the Gulf Coast region affects their state’s economy very much or somewhat, according to a recent bipartisan poll. The poll also showed that nearly eight out of 10 voters (78%) favor creation of a separate fund for the Gulf region and the Mississippi River Delta that includes fines for violating both the Clean Water Act and the Oil Pollution Act.

“Now President Obama should work with the Senate to fulfill his promise to create a long-term plan to restore the Gulf Coast and make it better than it was before the Gulf oil disaster,” the groups concluded. “Gulf Coast voters recognize that their economic future is tied to the President and the Senate working together to ensure that Gulf oil spill fines are dedicated to restoring the Gulf’s ecosystem.”

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MEDIA ADVISORY

What: Presentation by the Government of the State of Acre (Brazil) with special guest Senator Marina Silva on Acre’s State System of Incentives for Environmental Services. Cocktails to follow.

When: Tuesday 7 December, 2010 19h–21h

Where: Now Sapphire Riviera Cancun. SM. 11 MZ. 9 lote 10. Puerto Morelos, Q. Roo, Cancun, Mexico. (map at www.edf.org/acre)

Contact: Mrs. Patricia Pazetto, patricia.pazetto@ac.gov.br, 55 68 32238500 or Stephan Schwartzman, sschwartzman@edf.org

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The State of Acre is one of the poorest and most isolated states in the Brazilian Amazon, but has a long tradition of environmental protection and sustainable development. In October 2010, Acre’s state legislature passed the System of Incentives for Environmental Services (SISA), which establishes a system of incentives for a range of environmental services, including forest carbon, water resources, scenic beauty, climate regulation, and others. (From Environmental Defense Fund’s summary of Acre’s System of Incentives for Environmental Services)

The presentation will include the governance mechanisms of SISA and its methodologies for the measurement of the reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide from deforestation and forest degradation, and for the verification and reporting of such emissions, for the generation of the credits to be traded.

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PRESENTATION: Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation

Introduction: Government Secretary Fábio Vaz and Stephan Schwartzman, Director for Tropical Forest Policy, Environmental Defense Fund

1. Opening (19h): Message from Governor Arnóblo Marques and Governor Elected Tiào Viana

2. Presentation I: Evolution of Public Policies for Sustainable Development: State System of Incentives for Environmental Services (19:20h)
Speaker: Eufran Amaral

3. Presentation II: REDD and Acre, Brazil: baseline, leakage and monitoring in a nested approach (19:50h)
Speaker: Luiz Gyivan Meira Filho
Registry, Trading and Clearing in a Multilateral System (20:20h)
Speaker: Virgilio Gibbon

Break (20:30h)

4. Presentation III: Business and financial models for reforestation projects (20:40h)
Speaker: Virgilio Gibbon

5. Special Guest: Senator Marina Silva (20:50h)

Cocktails (21h): cocktails and souvenir

VIEW MAP AND INVITATION ONLINE: www.edf.org/acre

With support from Environmental Defense Fund

Contact:
Molly Moore, +52-998-108-3364 or +1-240-475-0590, Molly@SandersonStrategies.com
Jennifer Haverkamp, +52-998-108-3372 or +1-202-316-4914, JHaverkamp@edf.org

(CANCUN, Mexico – Dec. 3, 2010) Mexico City’s legislature overwhelmingly approved Thursday a bill to address climate change through regulation of greenhouse gas emissions and establishing a carbon market, an action Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) hailed as an historic achievement for the city.

Mexico City’s move comes while Mexico hosts the sluggish U.N. climate negotiations currently underway in Cancun. While the bill’s regulations apply only to Mexico City, the greater metropolitan area’s 20 million people, roughly 20% of Mexico’s population, will likely benefit from the legislation. 

“While nearly 200 nations are struggling to move forward within the U.N. process, Mexico City is showing that state and local governments aren’t waiting on the U.N. to take real, concrete actions to reduce global warming pollution and protect their citizens from climate change,” said Jennifer Haverkamp, managing director of EDF’s International Climate team.

“This landmark legislation shows real leadership in curbing global climate change,” said Haverkamp. Let’s hope it inspires those gathered here on the Yucatan coast to follow their example.”

According to a brief summary from the legislative assembly, the new law establishes an inter-agency climate change commission for Mexico City; creates a climate change fund that will be used for mitigation and adaptation efforts; regulates greenhouse gas emissions; and authorizes the city government to impose “green taxes” and create financial incentives for environmental benefits.

The law also creates a domestic carbon market in Mexico City, which will support the climate change fund, the city’s Program for Climate Action, and other activities included in the law.

The Law for Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change was approved by 50 of the assembly’s 66 representatives. The bill was fast-tracked through the legislature for a vote in time for the U.N. climate conference.

Contact: Mica Odom, EDF, 512-691-3451, modom@edf.org

(Austin, TX – December 3, 2010) For the second time in as many tries, the State Office of Administrative Hearings Judges announced their recommendation to Commissioners to deny the Las Brisas Energy Center’s (LBEC) air pollution permit application. Not only did LBEC fail to prove that pollution levels would remain within federal limits for particulate matter — tiny dust particles linked to asthma, respiratory diseases, and heart disease – but the Judges also found that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s (TCEQ) Executive Director violated the law by assisting LBEC in its attempts to show that its plant would comply with applicable Clean Air Act standards.

This action is part of a pattern of bias by TCEQ in favor of LBEC. The Commission hauled the Judges before them in October, pressuring the Judges to act quickly so that LBEC could evade new pending health-based regulations. TCEQ Chairman Bryan Shaw said that he and his staff would “commit” to “expedite [the permit process] on our end” to “beat the January” EPA-proposed federal carbon rule to cap carbon emissions from large polluters like refineries and coal-fired power plants.

The issue is whether TCEQ will again show bias in favor of the applicant. LBEC is now requesting that TCEQ shorten the deadline for filing legal briefs in response to the Judges’ Proposal for Decision (PFD), a decision in a complex case with more than 250 findings of fact, from the normal 30 days to 8 days (or by 74%) to enable LBEC to avoid new EPA regulations that become effective in January 2011. “If TCEQ decides to shorten the air permitting process, it would be nothing but an illegal attempt to deny the people of Texas their constitutional rights to a fair hearing,” said Jim Marston, Environmental Defense Fund’s Director of the Texas Regional Office. “Our TCEQ Commissioners must stop cheerleading for polluters and make Corpus Christi citizens’ health a priority following the recommendation of the Judges who heard the facts and, yet again, advised the Commissioners to deny LBEC’s air pollution permit.”

Contact: Jennifer Witherspoon, EDF communications: 415-293-6067, jwitherspoon@edf.org

(San Francisco – November 29) Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp issued the following statement today on the death of philanthropist Richard Goldman:

“Richard Goldman was a true champion of the environment and friend to the Environmental Defense Fund. His legacy will live on through his environmental leadership. Grants from The Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund supported EDF’s corporate partnership program with FedEx to introduce the next generation of low-emission hybrid trucks and EDF’s California climate program to implement the groundbreaking California Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32). EDF sends our condolences to Richard Goldman’s family and friends.”

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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 and facebook.com/EnvDefenseFund.

(CANCUN, Mexico – Nov. 28, 2010) The United Nations climate conference which begins here Monday, needs to restore momentum toward a global climate agreement, even as many nations are embarking on their own domestic and regional efforts to curb climate change rather than awaiting a global deal, according to Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), a leading U.S. environmental group.

Environmental groups — and the Parties themselves — have tempered expectations for the Cancún climate summit after last year’s hyped meeting in Copenhagen concluded with countries making only non-binding commitments in the conference’s final hours.

“Despite the lowered expectations this year, it’s critical to remember that Cancún is an opportunity for countries to move forward on critical climate change issues,” said Jennifer Haverkamp, managing director of EDF’s international climate policy. “There is still positive progress to be made on curbing deforestation, increasing transparency, and financing climate change mitigation activities.”

However, as negotiators continue to work toward an overall agreement in the UNFCCC forum, nations are not waiting on an outcome from the U.N. before starting to take their own domestic and regional actions.

“While the U.N. will continue to be the preferred forum for reaching a global deal, the good news for a planet that can’t wait is that a parallel process is emerging at national and state levels, with countries and regions developing their own paths forward through domestic actions and bilateral and multilateral deals to curb climate change,” Haverkamp said.

Since last year’s Copenhagen conference, there are clear signs that parties still are interested in reaching an agreement within the U.N. process. Cancún is their opportunity to show they can devise a way forward despite continuing disagreements over some of the fundamental issues.

EDF cited three critical issues the conference needs to address to move forward:

1. Implementation of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+).

“REDD+ policies have the best chances of advancing at Cancún of any of the climate effort,” said Haverkamp. “But a major consideration in developing REDD+ must be indigenous peoples, who are the best-suited to monitor and protect their land from deforestation. The REDD+ language needs to strengthen protections for indigenous peoples, increase the role of stakeholders in the negotiating process and provide greater clarity on technical issues in establishing baselines for emissions and plans for implementing REDD.”

2. Launch comprehensive and transparent monitoring, reporting and verification and reporting (MRV) systems that may be used in bilateral and regional agreements.

“Experience shows that nations often are willing agree to more comprehensive inspection and verification systems on a bilateral basis than in a broader multilateral context,” said Haverkamp. “We encourage negotiators to launch a process in Cancún to develop an international framework for monitoring, verification and reporting that can simultaneously be used by countries pursuing bilateral and regional approaches.”

3. Establish transparency and accountability for climate financing efforts in developing nations, whether the sources are public or private.

“It is clear from the Advisory Group on Finance report that getting to $100 billion per year in climate funding is possible, though it will require serious political will and incentives, and a price of at least $20-$25 per ton of carbon dioxide emissions by 2020,” Haverkamp said.

She added, “Direct public finance will be necessary to spur private finance, but regardless of the source, there must be transparency and accountability in how the funds are generated, allocated, and spent.

“We must recognize that eventually it is private capital, the engine of global growth, that will shape the new carbon constrained global economy,” said Haverkamp.

NEWS RELEASE

Contacts: Ann Hayden, 510-590-2410 (m), ahayden@edf.org
Cynthia Koehler, 415-235-9432 (m) ckoehler@edf.org  
Sean Crowley, 202-550-6524 (m), scrowley@edf.org

(Sacramento, CA – November 18, 2010) An incomplete working draft of the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) released today shows progress to date, but also that much work lies ahead to ensure sustainable state water supplies and recovery of endangered fisheries in the Bay Delta, according to Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).

“For the sake of current and future Californians, we must take advantage of this opportunity to complete the plan and provide the scientific credibility required to assure reliable water supplies and recovery of endangered fisheries,” said EDF Senior Water Resource Analyst Ann Hayden, a member of the BDCP steering committee that reviewed the working draft. “For example, the economic future of Pacific salmon fishermen depends upon a healthy Bay Delta, including sufficient delta water flows, to ensure the recovery of endangered Chinook salmon.”

“Everyone acknowledges that we have been managing the San Francisco Bay-Delta unsustainably for many years,” said Cynthia Koehler, EDF California Water Legislative Director. “California’s water reform legislation of 2009 gave us a road map forward. We must reduce our dependence upon the Bay Delta’s fragile ecosystem.”

Some of the key unresolved issues include:

1. The plan must be guided by quantified biological goals so results, or lack thereof, can be measured.
2. Proposals for pumping water must be compatible with the recovery of salmon populations and other endangered fisheries.
3. The best available science, which shows that a healthy Delta estuary requires increased freshwater flows, must be applied.
4. The size and operation of any new conveyance facility must be optimized to improve the health of the Bay-Delta.

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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 www.edf.org/california. Follow us on Twitter at EDF_CA and read our blog at http://blogs.edf.org/waterfront/.

NEWS RELEASE

Contact:
Sean Crowley, 202-550-6524-c, scrowley@edf.org  

(Washington, DC — November 17, 2010) An interim engineering report of preliminary findings about the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico reinforces the need for stronger deepwater drilling safety standards, according to Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).

The numerous technical and operational breakdowns that contributed to the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and spill suggest the lack of a suitable approach for managing the inherent risks, uncertainties, and dangers associated with deepwater drilling operations and a failure to learn from previous “near misses,” according to the report from a committee of the National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council.

“This report clearly justifies the new federal rules issued by the Interior Department in September to help improve drilling safety and workplace safety by reducing the risk of human error,” said EDF’s oil spill response coordinator Elgie Holstein, a former Chief of Staff at the Department of Energy who coauthored a Bipartisan Policy Center report about the deepwater drilling moratorium — as well as the need for new rules, and a new corporate safety culture — for the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling.

“Now the Administration must work with the leadership of both parties in Congress to ensure that Clean Water Act penalties which will be assessed to BP for this oil disaster are dedicated to funding Gulf Coast restoration, not simply deposited in the federal treasury,” concluded Holstein.

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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 www.edf.org/oilspill . Follow us on Twitter at EDF_Louisiana and read our blog at http://blogs.edf.org/restorationandresilience.

Contact:
Lori Sinsley, (415) 902-8111 (mobile), lsinsley@edf.org
Tony Kreindler, (202) 445-8108 (mobile), tkreindler@edf.org

(Sacramento — November 16, 2010) A plan released today to reduce deforestation in the Acre state in the Brazilian Amazon and in Chiapas, Mexico that would be credited in California’s carbon market is a historic achievement to reduce climate change, according to Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).

Governors Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, Binho Marques of Acre, Brazil, and Juan Sabines Guerrero of Chiapas, Mexico today announced that they had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to form a Working Group to promote efforts on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) at the sub-national, or state, level. The cutting and burning of tropical forests accounts for roughly 15 percent of global carbon dioxide pollution, which is more than all of the cars and trucks in the world produce.

“Acre has opted for development based on preserving and wisely using its forests to honor of Chico Mendes’ dream, which echoed around the world two decades ago,” said Acre Governor Binho Marques. “We seek to consolidate sustainable development through a low carbon, high social equity economy. This partnership between our states will allow our economies to grow and address global climate change.”

“This pact is a significant and concrete step to protect the climate by protecting the world’s forests,” said Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp. “It also is a precedent-setting initiative as countries gear up for international climate change negotiations in December.”

California, Acre and Chiapas are members of the Governor’s Climate and Forests Task Force (GCF), a collaboration of 14 states and provinces in the U.S., Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico and Nigeria that was created at the first Governor’s Global Climate Summit in 2008.

The MOU calls for the Working Group to make recommendations to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) by October, 2011 on how California can link its emerging carbon market to the REDD programs in Acre, Chiapas and potentially other states or provinces around the world. The board is the agency responsible for overseeing California’s landmark climate and clean energy policy, AB 32, which goes into effect on January 1, 2012 and features an industry-wide cap-and-trade program.

“This understanding demonstrates international climate leadership,” said EDF Tropical Forests Director Steve Schwartzman. “It clearly demonstrates that we can start to effectively combat climate change and stop deforestation in the absence of a national policy and an international agreement.”

The MOU follows Acre’s adoption of a State Incentives for Ecosystem Services law in October. The law creates the regulatory framework to incentivize forest protection, and generate and certify carbon credits for reducing deforestation. In 2008, the state adopted a deforestation reduction target, calculated as Acre’s contribution to Brazil’s national target of an 80 percent reduction below average rates from 1996–2006 by 2020.

It has reduced its emissions—more than 90 percent of which are caused by forest clearing and burning—approximately 66 percent since 2004. Chiapas also is designing a comparable state program to reduce its deforestation.

California’s draft cap-and-trade regulations allow companies that are required to cut pollution to meet up to eight percent of their emissions reductions obligations from offsets, or emissions reductions that occur in sectors not directly covered by California’s cap. Reductions from REDD programs would be considered offsets under California’s system.

NEWS RELEASE

Contact:
Sharyn Stein, 202-572-3396, sstein@edf.org
Peter Zalzal, 617-943-2843, pzalzal@edf.org

(Chicago – November 15, 2010) Today the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Transportation (DOT) are holding public hearings in Chicago to receive public input in response to the nation’s first fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas pollution standards for commercial freight trucks and buses.

Environmental Defense Fund’s Peter Zalzal testified in support of the groundbreaking proposal at today’s hearing.

“This common sense proposal will reduce our dangerous dependence on oil and strengthen our economy while protecting our environment,” said Zalzal. “These Made in America clean trucks will deliver new job opportunities in manufacturing at the same time they are delivering freight with more efficiency and less pollution.”

The proposed standards will apply to new trucks and buses manufactured in model years 2014-2018. Over the lifetime of those vehicles, the proposed standards will reduce oil consumption by more than 500 million barrels, will save more than $41 billion in fuel costs, will cut global warming pollution by 250 million metric tons, and will save individual truckers up to $74,000.

Commercial Trucks and Buses Major Oil Consumer and Large Greenhouse Gas Source

• Today, the nation’s freight trucks and buses consume nearly 2.5 million barrels of oil per day and emit about 20 percent of U.S. transportation sector greenhouse gas pollution.The large commercial vehicles in this fleet average about 6.1 miles per gallon. Transportation sources collectively emit 28 percent of all U.S. greenhouse gases and have been the fastest growing sector of emissions since 1990.

Proposed Standards to Apply Beginning in Model Year 2014

• The proposed standards are expected to apply to new vehicles manufactured for model years 2014 to 2018 and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 20% and increase efficiency up to 25%. After public notice and comment, final adoption of the standards is scheduled to be completed by July 30, 2011.

Standards Produce Significant Benefits

• EPA and DOT’s proposed standards will have significant, cross-cutting benefits for American families. The standards will allow a semi-truck operator to pay for technology upgrades in under a year and have net savings up to $74,000 over the truck’s useful life.

Engine Makers Support Initiative

• Numerous engine makes have expressed their support for the initiative to address commercial freight vehicles including: Cummins, Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, Daimler Trucks North America, Navistar, Mack Trucks, and Volvo Trucks.

Wide Variety of Solutions Are Available

• A recent report by the National Academy of Sciences found that a variety of solutions are available to improve fuel efficiency and reduce pollution from these vehicles.

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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

(Washington, D.C. and Oak Brook, Ill. – Nov.15, 2010) Twenty years ago this month, McDonald’s Corp. and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) embarked on a groundbreaking collaboration to change the way environmental progress is achieved. Since then, both EDF and McDonald’s have maintained partnership and collaboration as key ingredients to achieving sustainable solutions and continuous improvement around environmental innovation.

In November 1990, McDonald’s announced that it would work with EDF to phase out its iconic polystyrene clamshell food containers in an effort to significantly reduce its environmental impact by cutting solid waste. It was the first partnership between an environmental group and a Fortune 500 company in an era when environmental and business interests were typically not aligned. Since this first partnership, both organizations have continued their innovative work with a broad range of industry leaders and NGOs to catalyze environmental progress.

“We are celebrating two decades of sustainable progress with EDF,” said Bob Langert, McDonald’s vice president, Corporate Social Responsibility. “We believe this positive relationship created not only an environmental benefit, but a model for us on how we’ve addressed substantive issues with NGOs going forward. We’re proud of all of the significant results achieved and business benefits attained over the years.”

EDF and McDonald’s worked together to develop a new solid waste reduction plan. The initiative eliminated more than 300 million pounds of packaging, recycled 1 million tons of corrugated boxes and reduced waste by 30 percent in the decade following the partnership, and this was all achieved at no additional cost to the company.

EDF’s President Fred Krupp, who started the conversation with McDonald’s 20 years ago, noted, “Our work with McDonald’s sends a strong message about the potential and profitability of sustainability. This partnership showed that collaboration can effectively spur innovation and lead to powerful results that make sense for both business and the environment.”

Twenty years later, EDF and McDonald’s continue to have measurable success working with other industry leaders and NGOs. EDF has helped develop cleaner trucks with FedEx, launch a comprehensive sustainability campaign with Walmart, and helped private equity leader KKR systematically improve performance of its portfolio companies.

EDF also has embraced other creative ways to encourage corporate environmental innovation. One of these programs, EDF Climate Corps, pairs MBA students with leading companies to develop energy efficiency plans that save millions in operating costs and carbon emissions. Since the program began in 2008, the EDF Climate Corps fellows have discovered efficiencies that could save $439 million in net operating costs and avoid over 500,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions at Fortune 500 companies such as AT&T, Yahoo! and eBay. This past summer, McDonald’s hosted a 2010 Climate Corps fellow who worked with the company’s operations and environmental teams to focus on increased energy efficiencies in restaurants.

The collaboration with EDF spawned nearly 40 additional programs and partnerships with McDonald’s over the years, which have resulted in sustainable progress on a range of issues. For example:

• An average of 99% of all McDonald’s animal handling suppliers have passed their animal welfare audits over the last three years. More than 4,000 audits have been conducted in the past 10 years. Every animal handling facility in the McDonald’s supply chain is required to be audited annually.
• More than 98% of McDonald’s whitefish originates from fisheries with favorable sustainability ratings, as a result of McDonald’s partnership with Conservation International to develop its sustainable fisheries program.
• McDonald’s developed its Supplier Environmental Scorecard with Conservation International to measure and reduce water, energy, air, and waste impacts in its supply chain. The scorecard is currently being used by bakery, beef, poultry, pork, and potato suppliers in the company’s nine largest markets.

“More and more companies recognize the business benefits of environmental innovation, and we look for ways to leverage the market clout of these industry leaders,” said Gwen Ruta, who has headed EDF’s business partnership program for the past 10 years. “Our program has grown, but our partnership model hasn’t changed – no financial contributions from companies, multi-disciplinary teams to develop environmental innovations, and transparency of project results. These three pillars enable us to push for big, bold goals that have industry-wide impact.” Even with the significant results of its business partnerships over the past 20 years, both organizations agree that significant challenges for the environment remain.

McDonald’s latest efforts focus on improving sustainability in beef production. Earlier this month the company was a lead sponsor of the World Wildlife Fund Global Conference on Sustainable Beef, which convened 300 global stakeholders in the beef industry. Participants engaged in a series of discussions around eight key issues including food and nutrition, community, water, labor and business, land management, energy, biodiversity and greenhouse gas emissions. The goal of the Conference was to help clarify the issues and align the beef industry around the sustainability of the beef production system.

For more on EDF’s partnerships with business, visit edf.org/partnerships. For more on McDonald’s sustainability work, visit www.aboutmcdonalds.com/csr.

(Raleigh – November 11, 2010) Environmental Defense Fund and the Southern Environmental Law Center announced this week they are appealing a recent decision by the N.C. Utilities Commission that would allow Duke Energy to get renewable energy credits from harvesting and incinerating whole trees to produce electricity in old coal plants. The groups’ appeal contends North Carolina’s renewable energy law restricts burning forest materials to wood waste. Increasing demand for bioenergy requires new state policies to protect natural forests, support rural communities and reduce air pollution.

“The commission’s decision allows utilities to cut and burn our state’s forests, with no questions asked,” said Will McDow, a specialist in wood biomass with Environmental Defense Fund. “Burning wood waste creates low-carbon energy, but giving unrestricted access to burn thousands of acres of natural forest is imprudent. Wood biomass can help the state transition to a clean energy future, but first the state must develop policies to shape the new markets for bioenergy. States with sound policies will create sustainable bioenergy markets for landowners and loggers.”

“The commission’s decision allows utilities to meet state renewable energy targets by unrestricted cutting, chipping and burning forests. In the appeal, we are asking the Court of Appeals to take a fresh look at this important legal issue,” said Gudrun Thompson, senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center.

In a dissent to the Utilities Commission order, Commissioner William T. Culpepper wrote: “I am unable to accept the idea of the state legislature enacting law that permits the clear cutting of old growth forest land for electricity generation purposes without providing concomitant requirements for best forestry practices and/or sustainability measures.”

The notice of appeal filed Nov. 10 asks the N.C. Court of Appeals to reverse the Utilities Commission’s October decision and limit the burning of wood to wood waste, as defined in North Carolina’s 2007 renewable energy law.
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NEWS RELEASE

Contact:
Tony Kreindler, 202-445-8108, tkreindler@edf.org
Mark MacLeod, 202-572-3377, mmacleod@edf.org

(Washington, D.C. – November 10, 2010) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today released new guidance that will help companies and states find and implement cost-saving energy efficiency measures as they begin the permitting process for the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions.

“Energy efficiency is one of the best ways to reduce pollution and save money, particularly in the manufacturing sector,” said Mark MacLeod, director of special projects at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and co-chair of EPA’s Climate Change Work Group.

“Today’s guidance will prepare companies for the permitting process and help them find ways to cut pollution while saving money for themselves and their customers,” MacLeod added.

EPA’s action is required as part of the Clean Air Act mandate to protect human health and the environment from harmful air pollution. Only the largest emitters will be subject to the requirement to implement the best available measures to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the guidance.

In the first phase of the program, from January 2, 2011 to June 30, 2011, large industrial sources proposing to construct or modernize facilities will be required to cost-effectively mitigate greenhouse gas pollution if the source would already be regulated due to other air pollution levels and if the source would discharge 75,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent or more annually. Beginning July 1, 2011, large industrial sources annually emitting 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent or more will be subject to pre-construction review permitting.

The guidance released today helps states and the regulated community to carry out the permitting program. Under the law, the determination of what constitutes the best available measures to mitigate greenhouse gas pollution is determined on a case-by-case basis by state permitting agencies considering energy, environmental and economic impacts.

The guidance, which is accompanied by a set of industry-specific white papers, was informed by a collaborative, multi-stakeholder process set up under EPA’s Clean Air Act Advisory Committee (CAAAC). In fall of 2009, EPA asked the CAAAC to establish a Climate Change Work Group to offer recommendations for permitting the very largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions and the application of best available control technology for those sources.

The Work Group included representation from a variety of manufacturing industries, electric utilities, state and local permitting authorities, and environmental organizations. The Work Group completed work on its first set of recommendations in February 2010, and on its second set of recommendations in July 2010.

Numerous States and major power companies are prepared to begin implementing measures addressing greenhouse gas pollution, as evidenced by the following:

“[T]hese companies believe that EPA regulation of GHG emissions under the Clean Air Act can be an important first step in reversing the current trend of increasing GHG emissions. Further, these companies support EPA’s implementation of reasonable regulations governing GHG emissions from the electric sector under the Clean Air Act.”
— Calpine Corporation, Exelon Corporation, National Grid, New York Power Authority, NextEra Energy, PG&E Corporation and Seattle City Light, in a joint October 2010 legal declaration

“Calpine is committed to working with EPA and states to ensure that consideration of GHGs can proceed without disruption of the permitting process .. [Calpine] agreed to undertake a voluntary Best Available Control Technology (BACT) review for GHG emissions” at a proposed new fossil fuel power plant.
— Thad Miller, Calpine Corporation’s Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, in an October 2010 legal declaration. Calpine operates 93 power plants that are capable of delivering nearly 29,000 megawatts of clean, reliable electricity to customers and communities.

Efforts to block EPA’s programs could “delay investments in small businesses that would be important sources of innovation.”
— The Small Business Majority, in an October 2010 legal declaration

“With the onset of greenhouse gas (GHG) permitting only two months away, every state but one is poised to ensure that sources can obtain preconstruction permits under the Clean Air Act come January 2, 2011.”
— The National Association of Clean Air Agencies, in their October 28, 2010 analysis examining the readiness of permit programs nationwide

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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

NEWS RELEASE

Contacts:
Tony Kreindler, EDF, 202-445-8108, tkreindler@edf.org
Ramon Alvarez, EDF, 512-691-3408, ralvarez@edf.org
Raviya Ismail, Earthjustice, 202-667-4500, ext. 221

(Washington, D.C. – November 9, 2010) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced final rules for the disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas industry, one of the largest sources of methane, a potent global warming pollutant.

“Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, and the public has a right to know about the extensive methane pollution that is leaked, vented, and flared from the oil and gas industry,” said Dr. Ramon Alvarez, an atmospheric scientist with Environmental Defense Fund. “EPA’s action in requiring disclosure of this harmful pollutant will mean more rigorous information and smarter policies to address these emissions.”

“For far too long the public has been kept in the dark about the large volumes of pollution released from facilities in the oil and gas sector,” said Emma Cheuse, an attorney at Earthjustice. “EPA’s action will strengthen public accountability for this major source of global warming pollution.”

Under today’s final rule, data collection will begin in January 2011, and reporting of annual emissions to EPA will begin in March 2012.

EPA estimates that the rule will cover 85 percent of the greenhouse gas discharges from the oil and gas sector and will require reporting by about 2,800 facilities. EPA also finalized rules requiring inventory and disclosure for large sources of fluorinated gases.

EPA’s action for the oil and gas sector requires annual reporting of methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions from flaring, equipment leaks, offshore petroleum and natural gas production, onshore production facilities, liquefied natural gas imports and exports, and onshore transmission and distribution. EPA, however, has not completed final rules for the gathering lines and boosting stations at onshore natural gas and petroleum processing and production operations.

Methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas with a warming potential 21 times that of carbon dioxide. The oil and gas industry is the second largest contributor to U.S. methane emissions, accounting for 23% of methane emissions in the United States in 2007.

Rigorous emissions data is the foundation of well-designed public policy. Access to facility-based data from the oil and gas sector is a critical first step towards achieving well-designed emissions reductions.

In addition to the oil and gas rules, EPA has finalized rules for high-potency greenhouse gases that would require reporting from producers of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) and other fluorinated greenhouse gas products, electronics manufacturing, manufacturers of electrical equipment, and importers of pre-charged equipment and certain foams.

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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

Earthjustice is a non-profit public interest law firm dedicated to protecting the magnificent places, natural resources, and wildlife of this earth, and to defending the right of all people to a healthy environment. For more information, visit www.earthjustice.org