Complete list of press releases

(Boulder, Co – December 23, 2020) Environmental Defense Fund filed a formal petition for rulemaking at the Air Quality Control Commission on December 22 to propose the Colorado Greenhouse Gas Program—a regulation establishing a legally-binding, declining emissions limit across Colorado’s major sources of climate pollution.

Colorado law requires the state to achieve ambitious, science-based reductions in climate pollution—but existing and proposed policies fall far short of achieving these critically important reductions. The regulation proposed by EDF would work hand-in-hand with any sector-specific policies adopted by the Commission and would provide a backstop that guarantees the needed emission reductions are achieved cost-effectively. Additionally, EDF’s draft regulation is designed to help reduce harmful local air pollution in disproportionately impacted communities, as well as target clean energy and clean transportation investments to those communities. EDF has requested that the petition be considered at the Commission meeting held February 18^th- 19^th 2021.

“As 2020’s extreme wildfire season unfortunately underscored, we cannot lose any more time in implementing a policy framework that will achieve critical emission reductions,” said Pam Kiely, Senior Director of Regulatory Strategy at EDF. “The Colorado General Assembly understood that we must take immediate and aggressive action to address the climate crisis. That urgency is reflected in the requirement that the Commission propose regulations that would achieve the state’s climate goals by last July. Unfortunately, none of the policies currently being discussed have the ability—either alone or collectively—to deliver the pollution reductions at the pace and scale needed to avoid the most devastating impacts of climate change. This draft regulation from EDF provides the Commission with a concrete option that would achieve the enforceable pollution reductions that the law and the science require.”

Under the 2019 amendments to Colorado’s Air Pollution Prevention and Control Act, the AQCC is required to promulgate regulations to reduce climate pollution 26% by 2025, 50% by 2030 and 90% by 2050 below 2005 levels—and to propose regulations that would meet these goals by July 1^st, 2020. Despite these requirements, and repeated requests from the public, local government officials, legislators and members of the Commission, the Air Pollution Control Division (APCD) has not yet brought forward a proposal or a group of proposals ambitious enough to achieve these science-based goals.

The EDF proposal is designed to provide the Commission with a policy option that would fulfill the requirements of Colorado law, and provides a starting point for a comprehensive stakeholder process to consider this and any other alternate proposals. This proposal is projected to reduce 215 million metric tons CO2e of pollution between 2022 and 2030. Those reductions are consistent with a declining emissions trajectory towards Colorado’s 2025 and 2030 reduction goals and the steep and persistent pollution reduction pathways identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the international science body, to avoid the most extreme effects of climate change. 

Over the past year, the Commission has heard testimony from local elected officials, state legislators, and citizens statewide urging them to take swift and effective action to address climate pollution. The Commission received extensive public comments specifically supporting the development of enforceable regulations and the creation of a “regulatory backstop” that would ensure greenhouse gas reductions are achieved at the pace and scale required. The EDF petition provides a policy option that would create such a backstop, while also driving critical reductions in harmful local air pollution.

“Alongside its climate mandate, the Commission needs follow through on the critical mandate to cut air pollution in frontline communities that have borne the brunt of pollution for far too long,” said Pam Kiely, Senior Director of Regulatory Strategy at EDF. “EDF’s proposed regulation will not only generate major public health benefits, it is also designed to prioritize climate-related investments in disproportionately impacted communities and communities transitioning away from the fossil-fuel economy.”

The Colorado General Assembly requires the Commission’s climate regulations to provide for the ongoing tracking of emission sources that adversely affect disproportionately impacted communities, and, critically, to “include strategies designed to achieve reductions in harmful air pollution affecting those communities.”

The EDF proposal achieves significant reductions in dangerous local air pollutants:

• Sulfur dioxide emissions will be reduced 60% statewide by 2030—by about 5,000 metric tons annually.
• Nitrogen oxide emissions will be reduced by close to 20%—about 23,000 metric tons annually in 2025 and 2030.
• PM_2.5 emissions will be reduced by about 800-900 metric tons annually in 2025 and 2030, respectively.

The estimated combined local health benefits of reduced PM_2.5 are over $1.9 billion annually by 2030 with cumulative benefits over the upcoming decade about $16 billion. Quantifying both the public health and climate benefits, the benefits of the program dramatically outweigh the costs, with net benefits estimated at $11-20 billion over the upcoming decade.  

Read the EDF’s proposed amendments to Regulation 22 and the Statement of Basis and Purpose here.

Read EDF’s blog analyzing the impact of Colorado’s delay on emissions here.

Other documents included in the petition filing:

• Memorandum of notice.
• Initial economic analysis of EDF’s regulation.

(December 23, 2020) A federal appeals court agreed with the Environmental Protection Agency today that the San Antonio, Texas area has unhealthy levels of smog.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld EPA’s determination that San Antonio’s air quality does not meet the nation’s health-based standard for ground-level ozone pollution, commonly known as smog.

“Today’s decision means that Texans can breathe easier, because it ensures that the San Antonio area will continue taking steps to reduce pollution and restore healthy air,” said EDF Senior Counsel Peter Zalzal, who argued the case.

Smog exacerbates lung conditions like asthma and is linked to a wide array of serious heart and lung diseases. It’s especially dangerous for children, the elderly, people who work outdoors, and low-income communities or communities of color.

EPA strengthened America’s protections against smog in 2015, based on an extensive scientific record showing that earlier standards were inadequate to protect public health and welfare. EPA estimates that when communities meet the 2015 smog standard it will save hundreds of lives and prevent 230,000 asthma attacks in children each year – including numerous deaths and thousands of hospitalizations each year in Bexar County (where San Antonio is located).

EPA faced a deadline of October 1, 2017 to identify the areas that had unhealthy pollution levels, and thus did not meet (or were in “nonattainment” with) the 2015 standard for smog. When EPA missed that deadline, EDF and a broad coalition of public health, environmental, and community groups filed a lawsuit against the agency and then-EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. The lawsuit prompted EPA to finalize nonattainment designations nationwide, including a nonattainment designation for the San Antonio area.

After EPA found in July, 2018 that Bexar County, Texas was in nonattainment,” the state of Texas filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the designation. Texas sued even though the nonattainment designation was based on “Texas’s own undisputed, state-certified air monitoring data [which] shows that air quality in the area, in fact, does not meet the health-based standard.” (EDF’s Brief, page 5).

EDF and Sierra Club intervened in the lawsuit to defend EPA’s nonattainment designation. Today’s decision will require Texas policy makers to continue developing a plan to restore clean, healthy air to the San Antonio area, including by ensuring major sources of pollution, like the oil and gas sector, are taking common sense steps to reduce pollution.

In rejecting Texas’s claims and upholding EPA’s designation of Bexar County today, the Fifth Circuit wrote:

“The Clean Air Act allows EPA to modify a state’s initial attainment designation whenever it ‘deems necessary.’ That language grants EPA discretion to determine when it is necessary to make changes to a state’s initial designation. Here, EPA concluded that Texas’s designation of Bexar County as ‘attainment’ needed adjustment. Texas’s petition is DENIED.” (Decision, page 22)

Today, the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) released its long overdue revision of the 1991 Lead and Copper Rule (LCR), ignoring extensive evidence it received in public comments highlighting major flaws. Among other issues, the agency failed to address environmental justice concerns raised by a recent American University-EDF analysis revealing that a lead pipe replacement program in Washington, D.C., similar to what will be set up under the rule, disproportionately benefited the wealthy, while leaving low-income and Black residents behind. By placing the financial burden of replacement on households, the rule will worsen disparities in lead exposure resulting from income and racial inequality.

The final rule also fails to proactively require replacement of lead service lines (LSLs) – the lead pipes connecting the water main to homes, that are the main source of lead in drinking water. EPA estimates that as many as 9.3 million LSLs continue to provide water to households across the country, not significantly fewer than when the original 1991 rule was promulgated.

“Everyone, regardless of their income or race, deserves to drink water that isn’t coming from a lead pipe,” said Tom Neltner, Chemicals Policy Director at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). “Unfortunately, this rule is a major missed opportunity to advance efforts to equitably replace the country’s remaining lead service lines.”

In EDF’s comments on the draft proposal, we highlighted findings from an American University-led analysis of LSL replacements conducted in DC from 2009-2018. During this period, the water utility started a program that gave more opportunities for homeowners to replace the line, however the homeowners still needed to pay for the work. This had the unintended consequence of putting low-income and Black households at greater risk of lead exposure, while facilitating replacement in the wealthier parts of the city with lower percentages of Black residents.

Under the new LCR, communities will set up programs similar to the DC program, and we anticipate this will result in similar health disparities. This is particularly important as a GAO report released last week found that LSLs are more likely to be in areas of poverty. 

EPA also appears to have ignored the findings from our analysis of the impact replacing LSLs has on heart disease deaths. Using publicly available data from EPA, we found each line replaced yields a $22,000 payback in reduced deaths from heart disease – which would result in more than $205 billion over 35 years if all LSLs were fully replaced in 10 years. We provided the analysis to EPA in our comments on the draft proposal. Given the magnitude of the benefits, the agency should have incorporated this into its economic analysis and considered strengthening the LSL replacement requirements. 

“With the major issues that remain in this rule, it is all the more important that states and communities continue to step up to get the lead out of their water systems,” said Lindsay McCormick, Health Program Manager at EDF.

While the final rule makes several improvements to parts of the original, including requirements for LSL inventories and customer notification, the flaws will severely inhibit meaningful progress. Beyond the above issues, the final rule:

• Continues to treat full LSL replacement as a last resort. LSL replacement should be an integral part of a long-term solution, including periodic benchmarks for all water systems to achieve regardless of water testing results.
• Continues to allow water systems to conduct partial replacements where the property owner is unwilling or unable to pay the cost for the portion not owned by the water system. Partial replacement significantly increases short-term lead in water levels and fails to provide the long-term lead exposure reductions provided by full replacement.
• Backslides on the rate of mandatory LSL replacement. When a water system’s lead levels are so high that full LSL replacement is mandated, EPA proposes an annual replacement rate of 3% instead of the current 7%, effectively giving a system with high levels of lead in water 33 years rather than the current 15 years to replace all of its LSLs. While more systems are likely to have to conduct mandatory full LSL replacement because of the stricter sampling requirements, most will not.

It will be three years before the new rule becomes fully effective across the country. In the meantime, cities and states should step up to fully replace their LSLs while ensuring funding and other support for low-income communities and communities of color.

See all of EDF’s blogs on the Lead and Copper Rule.

(Washington, D.C. — December 21, 2020) Today, three states and the District of Columbia  signed a bipartisan memorandum of understanding (MOU) to develop regulations designed to reduce climate pollution from the transportation sector, a move that will make a down payment on addressing climate change, while delivering public health benefits and investments that can support equity and environmental justice. The final MOU comes on the heels of a year-long public comment period and reflects the states’ commitment to tackling climate pollution from the region’s largest source of emissions. If regulations are ultimately adopted, these states would be the first east of the Mississippi to adopt overall limits on carbon pollution from the transportation sector.

“With a growing gap across the country between rhetorical commitments on climate and concrete policy action that can deliver, the leadership shown today by Governors Baker, Raimondo, and Lamont and Mayor Bowser is encouraging. This MOU reflects a collaborative effort to clean up our transportation system by putting a limit—and a price—on carbon pollution. These types of solutions are designed to ensure that emissions go down, while providing key investments in clean technologies that will unlock even greater climate and health benefits over time.

“As jurisdictions develop the forthcoming model rule and adopt regulations, we urge them to build on the minimum commitments in the MOU and guarantee that investments will be prioritized for the types of transportation solutions—such as medium- and heavy- duty truck electrification—that will drive reductions in both climate and local air pollution. Harmful air pollutants from cars, buses and trucks have disproportionately affected the health of low-income communities and communities of color for too long.  

“Importantly, this announcement also includes a regional commitment to direct at least 35% of the proceeds to underserved and overburdened communities. States must deliver on this commitment and engage with those communities to allow deep and meaningful input from the people who have an on-the-ground understanding of the investments and policies needed to ensure healthy air for everyone.”

• Pam Kiely, Senior Director of Regulatory Strategy 

More background: The MOU provides a high-level outline of the policy framework the states are committing to adopting. The regulations would put a limit on transportation-sector pollution that is designed to ensure pollution declines faster than expected, and then require major industrial suppliers of transportation fuels to pay for every ton of pollution emitted from their products under that limit. The revenue generated would be invested by participating states in strategies to accelerate the deployment of clean transportation solutions—including a minimum threshold of investment in targeted strategies (such as medium- and heavy-duty vehicle electrification) that would drive reductions in critical greenhouse gases, as well as harmful co-pollutants in disproportionately impacted communities.

(Washington, DC, Dec. 21, 2020) — Tonight, Congress will consider a bipartisan year-end omnibus spending package that will make major investments in numerous Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) climate, energy, and conservation priority areas and will provide $900 billion in critical economic stimulus relief to Americans reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic. The measure also includes major energy innovation legislation that will advance the clean energy economy and sets the stage for President-elect Biden’s ambitious climate change agenda.

Additionally, the legislation extends tax credits for solar and wind deployment, energy efficient equipment, and creates a new offshore wind credit; re-authorizes the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA); and phases down the use and production of Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), potent greenhouse gases used in refrigeration systems.

“We commend Congress for working to advance bipartisan legislation to protect our environment, help build a cleaner and more sustainable economy, and provide much needed relief to Americans hurt by the pandemic,” said Elizabeth Gore, Senior Vice President for Political Affairs at Environmental Defense Fund. “While this legislation represents a strong starting point, EDF looks forward to working with the Biden-Harris Administration and the 117th Congress because more is needed to tackle the pressing climate crisis including curbing pollution from transportation, and to address environmental and racial justice.”

Here are a few of the bill’s highlights:

• Pipeline safety reauthorization — The first time Congress has directed operators of natural gas gathering, transmission, and distribution pipelines to find and fix methane leaks using advanced leak detection technologies, making pipelines safer for people and the climate.
• A bipartisan deal to phase down the use and production of HFC refrigerants – known as a climate “super pollutant” – in line with the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol.
• Robust funding for EPA “core” programs to protect our clean air and water.
• Reauthorization of the EPA Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) program.
• Clean energy provisions including: $1.7 billion reauthorization of the Weatherization Assistance Program to support low-income families by retrofitting homes with cost-saving clean energy technologies; the development of hybrid microgrid systems for isolated communities, particularly for those communities exposed to extreme weather conditions and high energy costs; large increases in R&D authorizations for clean energy technologies, including record funding authorization levels for Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, solar, and wind energy R&D; and a new Department of Energy Industrial Emissions Reduction Technology Development program to research and demonstrate low-carbon solutions for this challenging sector.
• Extensions of the solar investment tax credit (ITC) for two years, onshore wind production tax credit (PTC) for one year, the carbon capture and sequestration “45Q” tax credit for two years, and creation of a new offshore wind ITC for five years. It also extends tax credits for energy efficiency investments in commercial and residential buildings.
• A water infrastructure package authorizing many EDF priorities, including: advancing natural infrastructure to reduce flood risk and increase community resilience in areas most at risk; addressing a number of regional priorities on sea level rise on the New York and New Jersey coasts; and advancing large-scale ecosystem restoration along Louisiana’s coast as well as studies on management of the Mississippi River.
• A western water package to expand and improve Bureau of Reclamation programs that make grants for water conservation and efficiency, drought response and ecological resiliency.
• Additional resources to help buoy the U.S. fishing industry during the continuing COVID crisis and its impact on major domestic seafood markets, such as restaurants.
• Investments in broadband to support rural prosperity and community well-being.

(SANTA FE, NM) The New Mexico Environment Department released new data today from a series of overflights that reveal methane emissions from oil and gas operations increased significantly from 2019 to 2020 and suggested improved oversight would be necessary to significantly reduce this pollution. Methane is a potent climate pollutant responsible for at least a quarter of current global warming.

“We are thankful to Secretary Kenney and the hardworking staff of the New Mexico Environment Department for their commitment to science and for their call for stronger rules and enforcement. This effort underlines how requirements like frequent instrument-based inspections can clean up the air and protect neighboring communities.”

• Jon Goldstein, Director of Regulatory and Legislative Affairs, Environmental Defense Fund

The research is in line with a November analysis from EDF that estimates the state is likely emitting over one million tons of methane emissions a year, and with science-based measurements measuring methane emissions in the Permian Basin, indicating that problems with malfunctioning and/or unlit flares are a significant source of methane emissions.

(RALEIGH, N.C. — Dec. 18, 2020) Environmental Defense Fund and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University’s College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (CAES) held a virtual signing ceremony today to formalize an internship program that has been operating for three years to develop future environmental leaders.

“This partnership is all about creating opportunities for young Black leaders to rise in the fields of agriculture and environmental science, where they are essential to creating a sustainable future,” said CAES dean Mohamed Ahmedna, Ph.D., who co-signed the agreement with Hawley Truax, EDF southeast regional senior director.

“Our shared goal is to help talented students rise to the challenge of building a more resilient future,” Truax said. “Growing the diversity of people and perspectives in the field is essential to overcoming longstanding barriers to progress.”

Under the agreement, EDF will provide a summer internship for a qualified CAES student interested in exploring a career in environmental work, from sustainable agriculture to environmental policy. EDF and N.C. A&T will seek additional opportunities to collaborate through guest lectures, joint research and other projects.

“In the three years we’ve collaborated with EDF on this internship, I’ve seen my students gain the skills and confidence they need to enter the workforce to make a difference in the world,” said Antoine Alston, Ph.D., CAES associate dean for academic studies. “As an educator, there is no better feeling than supporting your students’ dreams, and I hope this partnership will help many more N.C. A&T students realize their dreams of becoming environmental leaders.”

Michael S. Regan, Secretary of the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, also attended the signing ceremony and provided opening remarks. Regan is an alumnus of N.C. A&T and former associate vice president and southeast regional director at EDF.

“Michael Regan took the helm as Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality when it had been battered much the way EPA has been these last four years. He quickly restored morale and then solved big problems by respecting science and bringing together people with different views — that’s how he’s been so effective protecting public health and the environment in North Carolina’s divided government.

“As an Environmental Defense Fund staffer from 2008 to 2016, Michael Regan led our efforts to grow clean energy and demonstrated a talent for working with unexpected allies to achieve environmental progress. He was on point for the historic Save-A-Watt program, the first utility lead energy efficiency program in the Southeast. He led work that helped modernize the grid in Ohio and New York.

“In North Carolina, as Secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality for the past four years, he has led a large and complex agency with skill, openness to new ideas and a determination to achieve real results for the people of his state. Michael took over during a difficult time in the agency’s history, after years of budget cutting and turmoil. Michael’s work led to the largest excavation of toxic coal ash in the nation’s history. He successfully tackled the PFAS pollution from Chemours, leading to a 99% reduction in discharges and a major clean up. Michael’s collaborative approach has allowed him to build durable policies that promote clean air and clean water alongside a strong economy.

“The selection of Michael Regan makes it clear that Joe Biden is serious about making real progress on climate change, improving public health and addressing environmental justice. He will ensure that science, law and a commitment to a healthier future will be at the center of America’s environmental policies. I am thrilled that this great leader will be guiding the EPA at this critical moment, as we determine what kind of future we will leave to our children and grandchildren.”

High quality carbon offsets can help businesses meet their voluntary climate goals and increasingly support the goals of the Paris climate agreement, according to a new publication from Environmental Defense Fund with ENGIE Impact. 

Mobilizing Voluntary Carbon Markets to Drive Climate Action lays out a first-ever series of recommendations for how companies can use offsets in order to meet their net zero climate targets and their commitments to the Paris Agreement, which just marked its five-year anniversary. It’s the result of a year-long process led by EDF and ENGIE Impact to convene more than 50 key players in the voluntary carbon market – including nearly 10 major companies; international non-governmental organizations; and voluntary carbon market standards. 

The recommendations come as the voluntary carbon market reaches its highest demand in half a decade on the back of an upsurge in companies setting net zero carbon goals. 

“Offsets can provide real, credible emissions reductions that help companies and the world address the climate crisis. But not all offsets are created equal, and there can be legitimate questions about their validity and whether they’re helping or hurting the climate,” said co-author Kelley Kizzier, EDF’s Associate Vice President for International Climate, and former EU climate negotiator for the Paris Agreement. 

“These recommendations were designed to help the private sector address these hurdles, navigate the carbon offsets landscape, and accelerate the use of offsets to accelerate emissions reductions,” said Kizzier. “Today’s recommendations are a start, but as a new EDF analysis on corporate pathways to net zero emissions reveals, there’s still a lot of hard work ahead. The commitment of this group has shown there is a strong and authentic desire to get it right.”

EDF, with expert support from ENGIE Impact, over the last year virtually convened more than 50 representatives from major non-governmental organizations, international organizations, voluntary carbon market standards and companies. 

Four former UN climate negotiators who were instrumental in the design and passage of key provisions of the Paris Agreement, with decades of combined experience in carbon markets, led the series of meetings which resulted in the recommendations. 

The authors note that it is critical that the voluntary carbon market is designed to not only deliver high-integrity carbon offsets, but to contribute to emerging national and international climate action and the goals of the Paris Agreement. Other recommendations center around:

• how carbon offsets can make a credible contribution to climate strategies
• how voluntary offset markets dock into international accounting systems under the Paris Agreement
• advances in quality and transparency necessary in the post 2020 context

“High quality carbon markets have an important role to play in the implementation of the Paris Agreement,” said co-author Alexia Kelly, Director of Sustainability Solutions at ENGIE Impact and former U.S. climate negotiator for the Paris Agreement. “Many companies are looking to carbon offsets to make immediate and meaningful progress to reduce their emissions while they design and implement strategies to achieve their long-term climate change commitments. Governments and these voluntary market actors will need to work together to ensure that collective ambition continues to increase and that these markets are working together to drive climate change mitigation outcomes.” 

Mark Carney, the UN special envoy for climate and former governor of the Bank of England, has cited the voluntary offset market as an “imperative” to help reduce global emissions to net zero.
 

“According to press reports, President-elect Biden has chosen Brenda Mallory to lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality. She is an outstanding choice.

“Brenda Mallory will bring extensive experience, leadership, and a profound commitment to protecting public health and the environment for all Americans. She has three decades of experience fighting for public health and the environment in both the public and private sectors. She served as General Counsel for the Council on Environmental Quality during the Obama administration, and has also worked in senior leadership positions at EPA on a broad range of issues protecting a safe, healthy environment for the American people.

“I have worked with Brenda and know that her expertise and common sense approach will make her an effective leader for environmental progress. She is deeply committed to following science and the law to protect the American people.

“The reported selection of Brenda is another clear signal that President-elect Joe Biden is serious about making real progress on climate change, creating clean energy jobs, improving public health and addressing environmental justice. She will ensure that science, law, and a commitment to healthier communities will be at the center of America’s environmental policies.”

- Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense Fund

(Washington, D.C. – December 16, 2020) Today, Environmental Defense Fund released a national poll that shows broad public support for requiring companies to disclose climate risk and spending on climate-related advocacy. The top reasons voters gave for supporting disclosure were to assist the environment and climate, improve corporate transparency, protect consumers and to promote economic growth.

Key Findings:

• 71% of voters support requiring companies to disclose climate risk, including two-thirds of independents and moderate Republicans as well as 76% of young people (18-34).
• Nearly two-thirds of voters say disclosure should be a priority for the Biden administration within the first 100 days, including 87% of Trump-Biden voters, 56% of moderate Republicans as well as 76% of young people (18-34).
• 71% of voters support a requirement for companies to disclose the money they spend to influence climate policy, including 80% for Democrats and 59% of Republicans as well as 74% of young people (18-34).

Explore the polling memo here.

“The public wants more transparency from companies on the risks they face due to climate change, and how they are addressing those risks, including their lobbying and political spending. Disclosure is an essential tool to hold companies accountable to consumers and investors and will accelerate progress on climate solutions,” said Elizabeth Gore, Environmental Defense Fund Senior Vice President for Political Affairs. “People of all walks of life, and particularly young people, understand that transparency from companies is paramount if we’re going to tackle the climate crisis head on while ensuring we have a just and thriving economy.”

Climate change poses an unprecedented threat to companies’ operations, value chains, employees and communities. Assessing climate risk — including physical risk from damage to facilities and disruptions to supply chains – is essential in order for companies to proactively reduce that risk. It also enables consumers and investors to understand which companies are leading the transition to a low-carbon future.

Finally, the most powerful tool that companies have to fight climate change is their political influence. To date, it has been very difficult to assess corporate spending on climate policy. Yet as this poll reveals, more than 70% of voters want this to change.

An inquest into the cause of 9-year old Ella Roberta Adoo Kissi-Debrah’s death concluded today, with the ruling that dangerously high levels of air pollution in London made a “material contribution” and will be recorded as a medical cause of her death in 2013. The inquest was possible thanks to the extraordinary campaign led by her mother, Rosamund Kissi-Debrah, now a World Health Organization advocate for health and air quality.

“By declaring air pollution the cause of Ella’s tragic death, this ruling sends a powerful wake-up call to leaders around the world. Failure to act on dangerous pollution is having and will continue to have tragic consequences every day for children around the world. We know that air pollution is needlessly cutting short lives; we know that the burning of fossil fuels is the dominant source; and we have solutions to clean the air and protect our children’s health. What we need is the courage and commitment to take action.  

While this tragedy occurred in the UK, we face similar problems here in the US. The Biden administration has the opportunity to take immediate steps to deliver cleaner air for the millions of children suffering from asthma and for communities across this country that bear a heavy pollution burden.”

• Sarah Vogel, Vice President, Health 

"According to news reports, President-elect Joe Biden has chosen Gina McCarthy to be America's domestic climate advisor. The fact that we'll have a new position overseeing national climate policy demonstrates that the incoming administration will pursue ambitious action while also creating jobs and strengthening our economy — and the fact that Gina McCarthy has been tapped for the job means we'll have a leader who can make it happen.

"Gina McCarthy was one of the most effective EPA Administrators in U.S. history, with a rare gift for policy and politics alike. Simply put, she understands how government works. She spearheaded scientifically and legally solid actions to protect Americans from unhealthy air, dirty water, and the clear and present danger of climate change – all while navigating past climate denialism. She has all the tools and talents needed to be a great domestic climate advisor in an administration that's poised for progress. I look forward to working with her in her new role.

"This good news about Gina McCarthy follows two other high-profile reports today. Biden has reportedly picked former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm to be Secretary of Energy and Mayor Pete Buttigieg to be Secretary of Transportation. Both are strong advocates of climate action and clean energy. Buttigieg ran on an aggressive plan for climate action, including 100% new zero emissions cars by 2035 and 100% new zero emissions trucks and buses by 2040, and Granholm's deep knowledge of the auto industry will be just what America needs as we begin building these clean trucks, buses and cars of the future.

"Biden's nominees all have the stature, experience, and vision that America needs to rebuild the economy with good clean energy jobs, protect our health from pollution, support equity, and keep our families safe from climate change. These are brilliant choices. We can all breathe a little easier knowing we'll be in such good hands."

- Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense Fund

(WASHINGTON, DC — Dec. 15, 2020) The Trump administration today declined to add the monarch butterfly to the endangered species list after years of sharp declines and a western population that is hanging on the brink of extinction. In the same day, the administration finalized two rules under the Endangered Species Act that narrow the definition of habitat and limit the ability of federal agencies to establish critical habitat for listed species.

“Trump has made it nearly impossible for the Endangered Species Act to function as a backstop to mass extinction of our nation’s iconic wildlife. The monarch butterfly has long been a symbol of hope and resilience, which the world needs now more than ever. When we fail to protect the most precious and delicate species on this planet, we fail both people and nature. It is incumbent on the Biden administration to restore the foundation of our nation’s bedrock environmental policies to ensure that people and nature can thrive in the future.”

• Eric Holst, associate vice president, Working Lands

(WASHINGTON, DC — Dec. 14, 2020) Policy and business leaders across the U.S. agricultural sector are laying out ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving water quality and building soil health, presenting a growing need to understand the financial value of on-farm conservation practices.

To close this information gap, Environmental Defense Fund published A practitioner’s guide to conducting budget analyses for conservation agriculture, developed in partnership with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, K·Coe Isom, Precision Conservation Management, Soil Health Partnership (an initiative of the National Corn Growers Association), American Farmland Trust, Field to Market and Datu Research.

The guide describes the importance of measuring the financial impacts of practices like conservation tillage, cover crops and nutrient management. It also includes a user-friendly checklist of best practices for researchers, academics, conservation nonprofits and other organizations interested in measuring the farm financial outcomes of these practices.

“As USDA, state agencies, food companies and private investors ramp up investments in sustainable agriculture, it is paramount to more widely and consistently measure and share the financial impacts that conservation practices have on the farm bottom line,” said Vincent Gauthier, a research analyst at EDF and lead author of the guide. “Our hope is that this guide can help farmers and their advisors evaluate the business case for conservation agriculture to inform profitable conservation solutions.”

Despite the economic and environmental benefits of conservation practices, adoption in the U.S. remains relatively low, with no-till being used on 26.3% of U.S. cropland and cover crops on only 3.9%.

“More than 70% of land in the lower 48 states is privately owned. Working with America’s farmers, ranchers and foresters to help them implement conservation practices on their lands can help them reduce costs and risk, increase yield resilience and diversify their income streams, and is critical for helping to protect our natural resources for the future,” said NRCS Acting Chief Kevin Norton. “Improving the economics of regenerative agriculture and sustainable supply chain initiatives can help scale innovative agricultural solutions, ultimately building a more resilient food system. We’re thrilled to see the research and innovation funded by the Conservation Innovation Grants program being put to work in this capacity.”

The guide is informed by a thorough review of 33 farm budget case studies and five multi-farm analyses that examined conservation adoption, in addition to input from leading experts on conservation agriculture and farm financial management.

“Working with EDF and the other partners on this report helped the Soil Health Partnership assess the management and economic data we are collecting from farmers in our network,” said Maria Bowman, lead scientist at Soil Health Partnership. “This guide focuses on the information that farmers and their financial partners need to make decisions about conservation practices, and the proven approaches practitioners can use to collect those data.”

“Farmers are businessmen and women who need to know the costs and benefits of anything they do, before they do it — especially in a capital-intensive business with tight margins,” said Laura Gentry, director of water quality science for Illinois Corn Growers Association. “Ultimately, this guide can help farmers and their business partners make well-informed decisions that support long-term profitability and resilience.”

For more information on this report, visit www.edf.org/measuring-conservation-profitability.