Complete list of press releases

(Sacramento, CA - November 20, 2008) California stands to reap substantial economic benefits from implementing The Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32), according to a soon-to-be-released study sponsored by Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). EDF economist and policy scientist, Dr. James Fine, will preview the findings of the report during his testimony today at the only public meeting by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) on its proposed implementation plan to meet AB 32’s mandate to reduce California’s greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 30 percent by 2020.

• California is well positioned to lead the nation’s transition to a clean energy economy because of actions taken during the past several decades.
• The adoption of similar efforts to reduce emissions by other states that are following California’s lead – and proposed under the incoming Obama administration – can protect California jobs and give California a competitive advantage in the low-carbon economy.
• Emphasis on renewable energy technologies will create jobs.
• California’s friendly regulatory setting will attract increased energy-related research and development investment into the state.
• Market-based policies that help bridge economic shifts and expand access to financing will help to minimize adverse consequences on particularly vulnerable populations.

(Washington, DC – November 20, 2008) Today, the Global Environmental Management Initiative (GEMI) and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) released the “Guide to Successful Corporate-NGO Partnerships,” a comprehensive resource for designing, implementing and measuring the benefits of partnerships between businesses and non governmental organizations (NGOs).

The Guide provides detailed recommendations for both businesses and NGOs looking to develop successful partnerships, and relevant case examples based on EDF’s twenty years of success working with corporations and GEMI member companies’ experiences. While the Guide focuses on environmentally driven partnerships, lessons learned can be adapted to a wider range of partnerships, including those focusing on community development, health and other social issues.

“Business-NGO partnerships, if designed and executed effectively, can achieve remarkable results and inspire the next generation of successful partnerships,” said Steve Rutledge, GEMI partnership project work group co-chair and manager, integration & governance, Duke Energy. “We hope the Guide will assist in educating GEMI member companies as well as non-member companies and the public sector on the benefits of successful collaboration between corporations and NGOs.”

“Environmental Defense Fund has a long legacy in partnering with companies to achieve substantial environmental and business results,” said Kyle Cahill, director of corporate engagement, Environmental Defense Fund. “In today’s economy, collaboration and the sharing of ideas between NGOs and companies will only grow in importance. We hope this Guide encourages further collaboration and demonstrates how environmental efforts can strengthen the bottom line.”

The Guide provides an in depth overview of the key drivers behind business-NGO partnerships, best practices in project design, project implementation and measurement. It also showcases specific examples of business-NGO partnerships covering a range of environmental opportunities from transportation to energy efficiency to habitat restoration to nanotechnology. While companies can help the environment and society in many ways, including through philanthropic activities, the Guide distinguishes business-NGO partnerships from corporate philanthropy. GEMI and EDF believe the most effective partnerships do not rely on financial contributions. Rather, a partnership occurs when independent organizations bring together their distinct views, resources and expertise to work towards a common goal.

“Private sector leaders recognize that they should develop strategies to meet social and environmental needs while remaining profitable,” said Mark Hause, GEMI partnership project work group co-chair and global environmental competency leader, DuPont. “At the same time, many of the most effective NGOs recognize that they can achieve widespread and lasting change by harnessing the power of the market.”

GEMI and EDF will be launching the Guide today, November 20 at 3:00pm EST via conference call and webinar.

• CALL-IN INFORMATION: 1-866-502-6991 (international participants: 720-239-9060), Participant code: 2025806285# NOTE: *Please keep your phone on mute so that background noises do not interfere with the presentation.

• LOG-IN INFORMATION: PLEASE log-in 10 minutes prior to the webinar as we will begin promptly at 11:00am EDT. Go to https://meetingvisuals.webex.com/meetingvisuals/j.php?ED=110089737&RG=1&UID=0 Register for the meeting. (Meeting number: 599 978 863). Check for confirmation email with instructions on how to join.

To obtain more information or to download a copy of the Guide, please visit www.gemi.org or www.edf.org/partnershipguide.

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Environmental Defense Fund, a leading national nonprofit organization, represents more than 500,000 members. Since 1967, Environmental Defense Fund has linked science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems. Environmental Defense Fund has a 20 year track record of success in partnering with business. To maintain its independence and credibility, EDF accepts no money from corporate partners; generous individuals and foundations fund its work. For more information, visit www.edf.org.

The Global Environmental Management Initiative (GEMI) is a non-profit organization of leading companies dedicated to fostering environment, healthy and safety excellence and corporate citizenship worldwide. Through the collaborative efforts of its members, GEMI also promotes a worldwide business ethic for environmental, healthy and safety management and sustainable development through example and leadership. For more information, visit www.gemi.org

GEMI members include: 3M; Abbott; Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc.; Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; BNSF Railway Company; Cadbury Schweppes PLC; Cargill, Inc.; Carnival Corporation & PLC; The Coca-Cola Company; ConAgra Foods; The Dow Chemical Company; Duke Energy; DuPont; Eastman Kodak Company; Ecolab, Inc.; Eli Lilly and Company; FedEx; Johnson & Johnson; Johnson Controls, Inc.; JohnsonDiversey, Inc.; Koch Industries, Inc.; Kraft Foods Inc.; Merck & Company, Inc.; Motorola, Inc.; Novartis Corporation; Occidental Petroleum Corporation; Owens Corning; Perdue Farms, Inc.; Pfizer Inc; The Procter & Gamble Company; Roche; Schering-Plough Corporation; The Scotts Company; Smithfield Foods, Inc.; Southern Company; Vulcan Materials Company; and, Wyeth.

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Contact: Tony Kreindler, EDF, 202-210-5791 (cell), or 202-572-3378 (w)

(Washington—November 18, 2008) President-elect Obama got it exactly right: the effort to create millions of jobs and restore American leadership will “start with a federal cap and trade system.” His approach to dealing with our economic, energy, and environmental problems together makes a huge amount of sense. He’s clearly rejecting the timid, business-as-usual approach that often keeps Washington from solving our biggest problems. His plan – to reduce emissions to their 1990 levels by 2020 and an additional 80% by 2050 – will jump-start job creation in new energy industries, and take a huge step toward solving climate change. We strongly applaud President-elect Obama’s statement today, and his leadership on this issue.

About Environmental Defense Fund

A leading national nonprofit organization, Environmental Defense Fund represents more than 500,000 members. Since 1967, Environmental Defense Fund has linked science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems. For more information, visit edf.org

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

1. Reduce air pollution from school buses in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.
2. Install new monitoring equipment that will provide new insight into how fine soot pollution from traffic affects public health for those living, working, or attending schools near major highways in the Washington, DC region.

The economic and environmental disaster of overfishing can be stopped with a straightforward update of fishing regulations, according to Oceans of Abundance, a new report released today by a bipartisan working group of two dozen economic and environmental leaders and scientists.  The full report is available at www.OceansOfAbundance.org.

“President-Elect Obama faces depleted fisheries that have caused painful job loss and a ticking litigation clock if legal deadlines to end overfishing by 2011 aren’t met,” said Bruce Babbitt, co-chair of the working group and former Secretary of the Interior and Arizona governor. “The good news is that new science clearly points the way to recovery.”

“Overfishing is one environmental crisis that President-Elect Obama and Congress can actually solve in the near-term,” said Norm Mineta, working group member and former Commerce and Transportation secretary. 

The group recommends widespread adoption of “catch shares,” a fishery management system that gives fishermen the flexibility to determine how and when to best meet scientific catch targets. Recent research published in the journals Science and Nature shows that catch shares can stop, and even reverse the collapse of fisheries worldwide while increasing the abundance of fish that can be caught. 

“The leaders who developed these recommendations share a conviction that catch shares are, by far, the best way to manage the nation’s fish stocks,” said former Rep. James Greenwood from Pennsylvania, co-chair of the working group and president and CEO of the Biotechnology Industry Association.  “Our conclusions are rooted in science, economics, experience, and a realistic assessment of what can be accomplished over the next few years.”

Catch shares set mandatory scientific targets and give fishermen maximum flexibility in choosing how to meet that target.  The mandatory target holds fishermen accountable to catching only the allowable amount of fish.  The flexibility gives fishermen the chance to improve their efficiency, and allows them to benefit as they help restore the oceans.  The value of their shares increases as the health of the resource improves.  The combination of private accountability and flexibility works better than having the government try to manage the details of the fishing business, the working group found.

The stakes of the overfishing crisis are enormous as the food supply of one billion people is in jeopardy, along with 200 million associated jobs worldwide.   “Catch shares are a powerful way to secure fish populations that people around the globe rely on for their main source of protein,” said working group member Jeffrey Sachs, director, The Earth Institute at Columbia University.

Science-based catch shares, wherever implemented, make fish more abundant and fisheries more profitable.  Catch shares also protect ocean productivity and diversity more effectively than traditional management. Economists at the University of California, Santa Barbara estimate that catch shares will easily double the value of U.S. fisheries.

The report urges President-Elect Obama to ensure that all federal fishery management plans are evaluated for catch shares by 2012, and that at least half of all plans feature catch share management by 2016.  Other management programs would be required to match the same level of economic and environmental performance.

The working group also urges Congress to ease bottlenecks to the President’s goal by passing legislation requiring catch shares be considered in all federal fishery management plans by 2012.

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The Oceans of Abundance working group was convened by the Environmental Defense Fund and the Marine Conservation Biology Institute to present policymakers with achievable methods, based on the most current scientific consensus, to reverse the economic and environmental decline of U.S. fisheries and the communities that depend on them.  World Wildlife Fund contributed content to the report.  Support for the report was provided by the Walton Family Foundation.  www.OceansOfAbundance.org

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) is a leading national nonprofit organization representing more than 500,000 members. Since 1967, EDF has linked science, economics and law to create innovative, equitable and cost-effective solutions to society’s most urgent environmental problems. Environmental Defense Fund is dedicated to protecting the environmental rights of all people, including future generations. Among these rights are access to clean air and water, healthy and nourishing food, and flourishing ecosystems. Guided by science, Environmental Defense Fund evaluates environmental problems and works to create and advocate solutions that win lasting political, economic and social support because they are nonpartisan, cost-efficient and fair. Environmental Defense Fund believes that a sustainable environment will require economic and social systems that are equitable and just.  www.edf.org

The Marine Conservation Biology Institute (MCBI) began in 1996, to encourage scientists who want to safeguard the oceans’ web of life. Since then, MCBI has become one of the world’s most influential marine conservation organizations, with the mission to advance the science of marine conservation biology and secure protection for ocean ecosystems. Science is central to MCBI. If something isn’t both true and important, MCBI will not advocate for it.  MCBI cooperates with researchers, fishermen, conservationists, business people, legislators, government officials, educators, reporters, to help conserve the oceans’ biodiversity.  MCBI believes that marine ecosystem-based management is the way to protect, recover and sustainably use the living sea. MCBI uses just one measure to gauge success: Are we making a difference in the sea, where it counts? The answer is “yes.”  MCBI’s people are very proud of what they’ve achieved, but recognize there is still much more that needs to be done.  www.mcbi.org

The World Wildlife Fund is the world’s largest conservation organization, working in 100 countries for nearly half a century. With the support of almost 5 million members worldwide, WWF is dedicated to delivering science-based solutions to preserve the diversity and abundance of life on Earth, stop the degradation of the environment and combat climate change. www.worldwildlife.org.    

Oceans of Abundance working group members include:

Secretary Bruce Babbitt (co-chair): Former U.S. Secretary of the Interior; former Governor of Arizona, chairman, World Wildlife Fund

Congressman James C. Greenwood (co-chair): President and CEO, Biotechnology Industry Organization; former U.S. Representative (8th District, Pennsylvania); Board of Directors, Marine Conservation Biology Institute

Congressman Sam Farr: 17th District, California; co-chair, House Oceans Caucus

Congressman Wayne Gilchrest: former U.S. Representative (1st District, Maryland); former chair, House Resources Fisheries and Oceans Subcommittee

Congressman Rush Holt: 12th District, New Jersey; member, House Natural Resources Committee

Senator Connie Mack Senior: Policy Advisor, King and Spalding; former U.S. Senator (Florida)

Secretary Norman Mineta: Vice Chairman, Hill and Knowlton; former U.S. Secretary of Commerce; former U.S. Secretary of Transportation; former U.S. Representative (13th and 15th Districts, California)

Governor Christine Todd Whitman: President, Whitman Strategy Group; former Governor of New Jersey; former

Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; former chair, Pew Oceans Commission

Secretary Mike Chrisman: Secretary for Resources, State of California; Chair, California Ocean Protection Council

Dr. Christopher Costello: Professor of Environmental and Resource Economics, University of California Santa Barbara

Dr. Dan Esty Hillhouse: Professor of Environmental Law and Policy, Yale University; Clinical Professor of Law, Yale Law School

Dr. Steve Gaines: Professor of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, Director, Marine Science Institute, University of California Santa Barbara

Terry Garcia: Executive Vice President, National Geographic Society; former Deputy Administrator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Dr. Les Kaufman: Professor of Biology, Boston University; Principal Investigator, Marine Management Area Science

Program, Conservation International

Dr. Jane Lubchenco: Wayne and Gladys Valley Professor of Marine Biology, Oregon State University; former President, American Association for the Advancement of Science; member, National Academy of Sciences; member, Pew Oceans Commission

N.J. Nicholas, Jr.: Chairman, Environmental Defense Fund; Member, Council on Foreign Relations; former President, Time, Inc.  

Dr. John Ogden Director: Florida Institute of Oceanography; Professor of Biology, University of South Florida

Wendy Paulson: Chairman, RARE; President’s Conservation Council, The Nature Conservancy

Dr. Ellen Pikitch: Executive Director, Institute for Ocean Conservation Science; Professor, School of Marine and

Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University

Dr. Andy Rosenberg: Professor, Natural Resources Policy and Management, University of New Hampshire; former Deputy Director, National Marine Fisheries Service; Commissioner, U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy

Dr. Jeffrey Sachs: Director, The Earth Institute, Columbia University; Special Advisor to Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations

Dr. Bob Steneck: Professor of Oceanography, Marine Biology and Marine Policy, University of Maine

Christophe A.G. Tulou: Principal, Christophe Tulou Associates; Director, Sustainable Oceans, Coasts and Waterways Program, The Heinz Center; Executive Director, Pew Oceans Commission

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Jennifer Witherspoon, EDF CA Communications Director, 415.378.1985 (mobile) or jwitherspoon@edf.org;

Johanna Thomas, EDF Pacific Oceans Policy Director, 510.703.8484 (mobile) or jthomas@edf.org;

(November 8, 2008: San Diego, CA) - The Pacific Fisheries Management Council (PFMC), which governs West Coast fishing, approved late last night a groundbreaking plan to revitalize the multi-million dollar West Coast groundfish trawl fleet, after five years of planning and negotiation.

“This is a watershed moment for West Coast fishing,” said Johanna Thomas Pacific Ocean Policy Director of Environmental Defense Fund. “Fishermen have struggled to make a living under ineffective regulations that weren’t working for the fish or the fishermen. Catch share programs have been proven to make fishing sustainable and to increase profits for fishermen, coastal communities and seafood processors alike.”

The plan will create financial incentives that encourage fishermen to meet stringent performance standards. Called a catch share, also known as Individual Fishing Quotas (IFQ), it provides fishermen with a guaranteed percentage of the catch based on boat size and fishing history. Old management rules attempted to set a limit on the fishery as a whole through shortened seasons. The final decision on the groundfish catch share came after years of negotiations with communities and other stakeholders. The end result is an innovative new way to manage fisheries on the West Coast and a model for other fisheries around the country.

Studies by EDF have shown that catch shares programs reduce bycatch by 40 percent. Bycatch is the unintentional capture of non-targeted species that is often tossed dead or dying overboard. It also fosters conservation and cooperation among fishermen. Competition for ever-dwindling fish is replaced by stewardship, where fishermen advise each other on which areas to fish or leave alone. At the same time, profits increase up to 80 percent per boat due to higher prices at the dock.

The groundbreaking vote came late in the evening on Friday, following days of testimony from scores of fishermen and intense lobbying from large seafood processors who wanted allocations of the fishing privileges. Ultimately the Council decided to allocate 90 percent of the fishing shares directly to fishermen and to reserve 10 percent of the fishing rights for an “Adaptive Management” program to be used for communities to adjust to the new program. No fishing shares were allocated directly to seafood processors who had waged a major effort to gain a large percent of the fishing quota.

The new IFQ program is considered critical for the recovery of the Pacific groundfish commercial trawl fishery, which was declared a “disaster” by the Secretary of Commerce in 2000 due to major declines in nine of 82 species of groundfish. Groundfish include soles and cod as well as deep-water “rockfish” like colorful canary and thorny heads – that are commonly marketed as red snapper. Landings for west coast trawlers had plummeted 70 percent in the last two decades. Revenues have dropped from $47.3 million to $22.2 million since 1998. Nearly all fish stocks around the world are declining or have collapsed. Studies recently published in the journals Nature and Science show that catch share systems reverse overfishing and even regrow depleted stocks. Catch shares also decrease wasteful discards and improve safety for fishermen. Catch share programs are presently used in parts of the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, and Iceland.

With catch shares, fishermen know how much they can fish in a given year and can fish when prices and weather are best, thereby maximizing profits while fishing in a more careful, efficient, and sustainable way. With the certainty and time provided by catch shares, fishermen can greatly reduce haste and waste.

Many positive precedents could be established once the IFQ is implemented, including a first-ever policy to allow fishermen to switch gear types to reduce bycatch and habitat impacts, and potentially allow them to deliver even higher quality harvests. In addition, the IFQ program would be one of a handful of fisheries in the U.S. with observers on every boat, which would improve scientific understanding of the health of the fishery. Once approved by the Department of Commerce, the plan will go into effect in 2011.

For immediate Release