Complete list of press releases

(SACRAMENTO, CA – 24 de Enero de 2024)Environmental Defense Fund y Rural Community Assistance Corporation están aceptando aplicaciones para el Instituto de Liderazgo del Agua para las comunidades de la subcuenca Delta Mendota, incluidos los condados de Sacramento, San Joaquín, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera y Fresno. El Instituto se llevará a cabo del 9 de Marzo al 12 de Junio, con cuatro sesiones presenciales los sábados. Los participantes adquirirán habilidades y conocimientos para tomar decisiones informadas, innovadoras y equitativas sobre el agua en las comunidades que enfrentan crecientes problemas de agua, como la disminución de las aguas subterráneas y el empeoramiento de los riesgos de inundaciones, sequías y calidad del agua. 
 
El Instituto ayuda a las comunidades rurales y de bajos recursos a participar en la gestión eficaz de las aguas subterráneas locales y en la toma de decisiones sobre el agua. Dicha participación de la comunidad es fundamental, ya que las regiones de California que dependen de las aguas subterráneas están finalizando los planes para administrar sus suministros de agua subterránea de manera más sostenible.
 
"La subcuenca Delta Mendota está en la primera línea de la creciente crisis de agua de California", dijo Mariana Rivera-Torres, codirectora del Instituto y gerente de sistemas de agua del Fondo de Defensa Ambiental. "Los líderes comunitarios de la cuenca son los expertos, viven con los desafíos del agua, entienden los problemas y, sin embargo, sus perspectivas a menudo están ausentes en las decisiones sobre el agua. El Instituto busca cambiar esa dinámica y ayudar a elevar a los expertos de las comunidades en procesos de toma de decisiones relevantes".
 
A través de una serie de cuatro sesiones mensuales, bilingües y gratuitas a partir de Marzo, el Instituto ayudará a los participantes a desarrollar habilidades de liderazgo y capacidad para participar de manera más efectiva en la toma de decisiones sobre el agua y desarrollar soluciones equitativas. Los participantes estudiarán la historia y la visión local, las leyes y la gestión del agua, los estilos de liderazgo, la planificación estratégica y la comunicación y la narración de historias.
 
 
“Les invito a todas las comunidades rurales a participar para que se comuniquen para aprender sobre los problemas que tienen nuestra agua…  así apoyarnos para poder luchar para que siempre haya agua limpia y económica”. dijo Sandra García, egresada de la edición 2022 del Instituto.
 
El Instituto de Liderazgo del Agua 2024 contará con cuatro sesiones presenciales los sábados del 9 de Marzo al 12 de Junio.  No se requiere experiencia en gestión del agua o liderazgo, solo un compromiso para participar plenamente en todas las sesiones y una fuerte motivación para servir a la comunidad. Se anima a los residentes de la subcuenca del Delta Mendota a asistir, incluidos, entre otros, las comunidades rurales o pequeñas de los condados de Sacramento, San Joaquín, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera y Fresno.
 
Invitamos a los locales, líderes comunitarios, administradores del agua y otros miembros de las comunidades interesados en asistir al Instituto de Liderazgo del Agua deben presentar su solicitud antes del 15 de Febrero de 2024 en www.edf.org/waterleadership. 
 
Recursos adicionales:
1.    Folleto sobre el Instituto de Liderazgo del Agua en Inglés y Español 
2.    Vídeo: www.edf.org/waterwarriors 
3.    Inscríbete aquí: www.edf.org/waterleadership 
4.    Blog: Conozca a líderes locales que ayudan a las comunidades a abordar problemas clave relacionados con el agua.

(SACRAMENTO, CA – January 24, 2024) Environmental Defense Fund and Rural Community Assistance Corporation are accepting 2024 Water Leadership Institute applications for communities in the Delta Mendota Subbasin, including Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera and Fresno counties. The Institute will run from March 9 to June 12, with four in-person Saturday sessions. Participants will gain skills and knowledge to make informed, innovative, and equitable water decisions in communities facing mounting water issues, including groundwater decline and worsening flood, drought, and water quality risks.

The Institute helps underrepresented and disadvantaged communities engage in effective local groundwater management and water decision-making. Such community participation is critical as groundwater-dependent regions of California are finalizing plans to manage their groundwater supplies more sustainably.

“The Delta Mendota Subbasin is on the frontlines of California’s growing water crises,” said Mariana Rivera-Torres, co-director of the Institute and water systems manager at the Environmental Defense Fund. “Community leaders in the basin are the experts—they live with the water challenges; they understand the issues and yet their perspectives are often missing from water decisions. The Water Leadership Institute seeks to change that dynamic and help elevate community experts into relevant decision-making processes.”

Through a series of four monthly free bilingual training sessions starting in March, the Institute will help participants build leadership skills and capacity to more effectively engage in water decision-making and develop equitable solutions. Participants will study local history and vision, water laws and management, leadership styles, strategic planning, and communication and storytelling.

“I invite all rural communities to sign up, to come learn about our water challenges and work together on the issues so we can support one another in the fight to ensure we always have safe, clean, and affordable water,” said Sandra Garcia, a graduate of the 2022 edition of the Institute.

The 2024 Water Leadership Institute will feature four in-person Saturday sessions from March 9 to June 12.  Water management or leadership experience is not required, just a commitment to participate fully in all the sessions and a strong motivation to serve the community. Locals in the Delta Mendota Subbasin are encouraged to attend, including but not limited to rural or small communities in Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera and Fresno counties.

Residents, community leaders, water managers and other stakeholders interested in attending the Water Leadership Institute must apply by February 15, 2024, at www.edf.org/waterleadership.

Additional resources:

• Flyer on Water Leadership Institute in English and Spanish
• Video: www.edf.org/waterwarriors
• Apply here: www.edf.org/waterleadership
• Blog: Meet local leaders helping communities address key water issues.

(SACRAMENTO, CA - January 23, 2024) — The satellite-based water data platform OpenET demonstrates considerable accuracy in measuring evapotranspiration in agricultural settings according to a new study in Nature Water. Evapotranspiration—the amount of water lost to the atmosphere through soil evaporation and plant transpiration—is a key measure of water consumption in agriculture and has previously been difficult and expensive to monitor accurately at scale.  

A public-private collaboration led by NASA, California State University Monterey Bay, Environmental Defense Fund, Desert Research Institute, and HabitatSeven, OpenET uses publicly available data produced by NASA and USGS Landsat and other satellite and ground-based systems to calculate evapotranspiration rates at the field level. The study shows OpenET’s results are particularly reliable for arid regions like California and the Southwest and for annual crops like wheat, corn, soy, and rice. The findings highlight the increasing value of OpenET in supporting real-time agricultural water management in regions hardest hit by growing water scarcity. 

“Farmers and water managers increasingly need accurate, field-level data on water use,” said Maurice Hall, OpenET director and senior advisor, Climate Resilient Water Systems, Environmental Defense Fund. “As reflected in the author list, this study is built on decades of work and helps confirm the vital role OpenET plays in providing a more granular, dynamic picture of water use that can meaningfully inform real-time water decision-making. We look forward to continuing to refine and expand the implementation of OpenET, to ensure farmers, ranchers, and communities can thrive in a world of highly stressed and variable water supplies.” 

“It’s truly rewarding to see decades of careful research and hard work by this science community come together, and this study sets a new benchmark for satellite mapping of field-scale evapotranspiration with Landsat,” said Forrest Melton, senior research scientist with NASA Ames Research Center. “By documenting the accuracy of the OpenET data, I anticipate that this study will further accelerate the already rapid uptake and use of these data to help solve pressing water management challenges and open up new applications and areas of future study.” 

In a supplementary article also published in the same edition of Nature Water, researchers argue, “OpenET shows promise towards a more sustainable way of water use,” by providing farmers with, “information that can potentially help them reform irrigation scheduling and increase water use efficiency, thereby conserving water and saving money.” 

Members of OpenET’s growing user base have also voiced their support for the platform’s accuracy and efficacy:

“The OpenET portal has enabled the Upper Colorado River Commission to evaluate water use from field- to basin-scale in a more efficient, cost-effective, and timely way,” said Sara Larsen, Deputy Director and Chief Engineer of the UCRC. “It has enabled us to fairly evaluate and administer our ongoing interstate water conservation programs such as the System Conservation Pilot Program. These programs work to benefit and protect critical infrastructure in the Upper Basin, as well as to increase local resiliency to drought and climate change. The OpenET Platform and the science behind it are core components of our ongoing efforts.”

The full study is available here.

OpenET was developed through an unprecedented public-private collaboration with input from more than 100 farmers, water managers, and other stakeholders. OpenET is led by NASA, California State University Monterey Bay, Environmental Defense Fund, Desert Research Institute, and HabitatSeven. Additional team members include Google, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of Agriculture, California State University Monterey Bay, University of Idaho, University of Maryland, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Wisconsin-Madison, UCLA, and Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil.

A new report from Environmental Defense Fund shows that proactive infrastructure investments will be key to accelerating the long-term transition to zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles. The report identifies key actions regulators and state legislators can take to allow both public and investor-owned utilities to get ahead of electricity demand growth, making it easier, faster and more affordable for fleets to electrify.

The report’s 10 recommendations focus on how policymakers can maximize the benefits of proactive grid investments while minimizing the risk and total cost to ratepayers. At the center of the recommendations is the necessity for strong collaboration between state regulators and utilities and the need to create incentivizes for proactive, forecast-based grid expansion that is also protective of ratepayers.

“We need to ensure utility decisionmakers have the tools and authority to quickly and cost-efficiently build the infrastructure that will power the next generation of American trucks,” said report author Cole Jermyn, attorney, Energy Transition, Environmental Defense Fund. “The energy transition is going to require significant electrification growth, and having these solutions in place will be a major advantage for any state aiming to meet ambitious truck electrification and climate goals.”

Electrifying trucks and buses at the scale required to deeply cut pollution from the nation's most emitting sector will require an expansion of current grid capabilities, yet some utilities are not currently keeping pace with the speed that fleets and state goals require. Current regulatory processes require utilities to wait for specific requests to expand charging infrastructure. While fleets are often able to procure zero-emissions vehicles and chargers in months to two years, new grid upgrades for electric trucks and buses can take upwards of five years or more.

“At US Foods, we continue to adopt alternative fuel solutions such as the addition of battery-electric powered trucks to fulfill our sustainability commitments, and getting the grid capacity needed to power the vehicles is a critical component of our forward-looking plans,” said Ken Marko, fleet sustainability senior manager, US Foods. “The adoption of the policies outlined in this report could go a long way toward accelerating the transition of additional battery-electric powered trucks as we achieve our science-based emissions reduction targets as approved by the Science Based Targets initiative.”

The report calls for regulators and utilities to account for projected medium- and heavy-duty vehicle electrification growth in their forecasting and planning. A recent ICCT report found that peak charging demand from these vehicles could be more than 10 gigawatts nationally by 2030 – which is equivalent to 10 average nuclear power plants – and this load growth will increase significantly beyond 2030.

The recommendations in the report build upon findings from a previous EDF commissioned report which showed that utilities can cover the cost of infrastructure upgrades needed for fleet charging without raising consumers’ electricity rates.

(Alpine, Texas - January 18, 2023) Texas lawmakers, water experts, community leaders and landowners met today in Alpine, Texas to discuss emerging issues and opportunities in West Texas water management. 

The Water in the Desert conference, hosted by Sul Ross State University, featured discussion of regional water data gaps, relevant water policy developments at the Texas Legislature, Chihuahuan Desert hydrology, groundwater management needs, stewardship practices, and promising water-enhancing projects in the region.

“Because of its relative scarcity, water is central to the healthy function of West Texas landscapes and communities,” said Vanessa Puig-Williams, director of the Environmental Defense Fund’s Texas Water Program — an organizing partner of the conference. “As drought deepens, cities spread, and groundwater pumping increases, the pressure on the region’s limited water resources only grows. This gathering was an ideal chance for all interested parties to come together and talk about the kind of public-private collaboration it will take to help the region safeguard its most critical resource.”

More information on the conference, including organizing partners, sponsors, and a detailed agenda can be found here. 

More information on the Environmental Defense Fund’s work to catalyze sustainable water management in Texas, the western United States, and the world can be found here.

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Water in the Chihuahuan Desert At-a-Glance:

• The Chihuahuan Desert is the largest in North America and the most diverse in the western hemisphere. (National Park Service) 
• Groundwater is the source of all perennial surface water in this unique desert, including its famous springs, streams, and tinajas. (NPS) 
• The Chihuahuan Desert boasts 3,000 plant species, including more than 500 of the world's 1,500 species of cactus that depend on groundwater. (World Wildlife Fund).
• Half of the native fishes of the Chihuahuan Desert are either in danger of extinction or are already extinct. (Sanchez et al., 2016).
• Groundwater basins in the Chihuahuan Desert span more than 121,500 square miles along the US-Mexico border. In total, 72 different aquifers fill the borderlands region.  

“The Chevron doctrine is a foundational legal principle that our nation depends on to ensure clean air, clean water, aircraft safety, food safety and more for millions of people. Today’s arguments clearly illuminate that the Supreme Court should preserve this long-standing precedent.

“The Chevron doctrine is the bedrock legal principle that courts should defer to Executive Branch agencies’ expert interpretations of Congressional authority delegated under law when the statutory language is ambiguous and the interpretations are demonstrated to be reasonable. The Chevron doctrine has been in effect for forty years and in that time has been a guideline for the Supreme Court itself in scores of cases, as well as for lower courts, Congress, the Executive Branch, and the public.

“The Chevron doctrine provides that Congress, in enacting statutes, can entrust expert agencies with making reasonable decisions to ensure clean air for our families, taking action against consumer fraud, determining that cars and planes are fundamentally safe, and more. Without it, judges would be asked to second-guess reasonable decisions about technical issues affecting our nation's ability to protect sustainable fisheries, address the climate crisis, keep our food safe, and keep people safe in the workplace.

“As Justice Jackson stated during today’s argument, overturning the bedrock Chevron principle could mean that the courts – unelected judges – become ‘uber-legislators.’ (Transcript, page 69).

“It is profoundly disappointing and not surprising that industry forces responsible for extensive pollution are behind these cases, as reported in yesterday’s New York Times.

“Today’s Supreme Court arguments shined a spotlight on the widespread and serious stakes for our nation’s ability to protect the health and safety of the American people, and showed clearly why the Chevron doctrine should stand.”

            - Vickie Patton, General Counsel for Environmental Defense Fund

Today’s Supreme Court oral arguments were in in Relentless v. Dept. of Commerce (No. 22-1219) and Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (No. 22-451). Environmental Defense Fund is the only environmental group to file amicus briefs in both cases – here and here. 

(TOPEKA, KS. – January 17th, 2024) Climate change is expected to bring more severe weather, like droughts and extreme heat, to Kansas in the coming decades, with significant negative impacts on farm productivity and profitability. EDF, Cornell University and Kansas State University today released research that quantified the financial risk to Kansas farms posed by extreme heat, and how management decisions and government programs partially mitigated the negative impacts.

The study found over the last four decades, for every 1⁰C of warming gross farm income decreased by 7%, and net farm income decreased by 66%. For an average farm in this study, this meant that farmers lost about $43,000 from an average net farm income of about $66,000.

“Excessive heat was a significant factor in our crop losses in 2023. One afternoon, it reached 112⁰F, and I went out into some soybean fields and was alarmed that it smelled similar to plant tissue ruptured by a freeze. It was the first time I had smelled plant tissue breaking down from heat,” said Justin Knopf, a farmer who raises wheat, soybeans, alfalfa, corn and other crops in central Kansas. “Learning and implementing practices to improve the resilience of our cropping systems is imperative along with financial and risk management tools to mitigate risk.”

Farmers like Justin need access to financial and risk management solutions that help them adapt to a changing climate. Robust risk management practices and programs play a crucial role in reducing the impacts of extreme heat on net farm income. Crop insurance helped farmers recover 51% of net income losses, while crop inventory adjustments helped recover 16% of the losses.

“Implementing practices that build resilience to climate change may present short-term risks for farmers, that will need to be addressed by lenders, insurers and federal programs,” said Vincent Gauthier, manager of climate-smart agriculture at EDF. "Developing financial and risk management solutions that proactively support farmers in the transition to climate-resilient production systems is critical to reducing climate risks to farmers while maintaining robust agricultural production.”

The study also found that growth in Kansas farmland values was five percentage points lower over a 30-year period than would have been the case without increasing extreme heat. This meant that landowners lost value on their assets that they could have gained without extreme heat.   

“Our results clearly show that extreme heat not only affects crop yields, but also farm profitability and the land asset value farmers rely on to leverage financing to invest in their operations,” said Dr. Jennifer Ifft, associate professor and Flinchbaugh Agricultural Policy Chair at Kansas State University. “Conducting research on the farm income effects of extreme weather and climate change can help inform risk management and adaptation policy.”

“For decades, the US agricultural sector has seen 1.5 percent productivity growth every year, year over year – few countries have seen that kind of sustained growth. Globally, we’ve found that climate change has already slowed productivity growth,” said Ariel Ortiz-Bobea, associate professor in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management and a Cornell Atkinson faculty fellow.

The number of days with extreme heat in Kansas that causes crop loss has increased over the last four decades and is projected to increase by 58% by 2030. Supporting farmers’ adaptation to climate impacts like these is critical. It will require collaborative efforts from various stakeholders. To bolster farms’ resilience to climate change, the study recommends that:

• Agricultural lending institutions can support their farmer borrowers in making investments that adapt to climate change risks on the farm and manage risks to lenders’ loan portfolios.
• The US Department of Agriculture, land-grant universities and the private sector can increase research, outreach and education on climate resilience solutions to support farmers’ adaptation to climate change.
• The Federal Crop Insurance Program can support farmers in implementing on-farm climate resilience measures while continuing to provide financial risk management.

Diversifying crop production to include crops with lower water requirements can be a pathway toward a resilient future for Kansas agriculture. A recent EDF study, Kansas in 2050: A pathway for climate-resilient crop production, found that replacing some acres of corn, soybeans and wheat with less water-intensive crops — oats, rye, millet and sorghum — could lower water use more than 10% and increase nutritional yield per acre. Achieving robust agricultural production in the face of climate change will require financial and technical assistance from the public and private sectors.

For more information, see our new report: https://business.edf.org/insights/extreme-heat-financial-farm-kansas/.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(ALBANY – January 15, 2024) A new report released January 18 by Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and ElectrifyNY traces the growth of mega-warehouses in New York communities, driven in-part by the e-commerce boom. Please find the full report here.

Who:

• Aileen Nowlan, U.S. Policy Director, Global Clean Air, EDF
• New York State Assemblymember, Marcela Mitaynes (D-51)
• New York State Senator, Michael Gianaris (D-12)
• Antonio Rosario, Organizer, Teamsters Local 804
• Jaqi Cohen, Tri-State Transportation Campaign
• Kevin Garcia, Transportation Planner of NYC-EJA (emcee)

What: Launch of new EDF report on warehouse boom in New York State

Where: Join us online. Get details and register here.

When: Thursday, January 18, 2024, 11:00 AM ET  

If you would like to set up an interview, please contact Derek Schwabe.

Key report findings

• 4.8 million state residents – at least one in four – live within half a mile of a leased warehouse of at least 50,000 square feet.
• Of those, 315,000 are under age five and 649,000 are over age 64.
• Black, Hispanic/Latino and low-income populations live near warehouses at rates that are more than 59%, 48% and 42% higher, respectively, than would be expected based on statewide demographics.
• New York mega-warehouses attract hundreds of thousands of freight truck trips daily, making them top sources of air pollution in communities where they are located.

Aileen Nowlan, EDF’s U.S. Policy Director for the Global Clean Air initiative and lead author of the report, commented: "New York communities have been raising the alarm about trucks in neighborhoods for years. New science and analysis reinforce the disproportionate risk imposed by trucks serving warehouses. New York as a climate leader can lead the way in ensuring the cleanest goods transport starts in the most vulnerable communities.”

Advocates and lawmakers call for legislative action

The report arrives as New York State legislators consider the Clean Deliveries Act, a bill that would direct the state to conduct a review of emissions related to large warehouses and require warehouse operators to choose from an array of actions to minimize pollution. The legislation would also commission a study of the feasibility, benefits and costs of implementing low and zero emissions areas for air pollution and congestion hotspots.

Advocates from ElectrifyNY, the coalition supporting the bill, commented on the report’s findings and the need for legislators to act. “The NY Proximity Mapping Report provides further proof about the unregulated siting and operation of e-commerce mega warehouses in the state,” said Kevin Garcia, Transportation Planner with the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance. “These warehouses are causing further air pollution in communities of color that have historically been disproportionately impacted by polluting transportation infrastructure. The Clean Deliveries Act recognizes this disparity and is key legislation to protect frontline communities from increased vehicular traffic and tailpipe emissions.”

New York Senate Deputy Leader, Michael Gianaris, who authored the Clean Deliveries Act, also commented: “The proliferation of e-commerce warehouses has brought with it unprecedented vehicular traffic, with blatant disregard for its impact on the climate and health of our communities. My Clean Deliveries Act, S2127-A, would protect public health by addressing the repercussions of the harmful emissions caused by these warehouses.”

New York Assemblymember Marcela Mitaynes (AD51), co-sponsor of the Clean Deliveries Act, also commented on the report. "The recently released report by Environmental Defense Fund on New York’s warehouse boom highlights the obvious truth that many of our redlined working-class communities of color have experienced over the last several years: the proliferation of increasingly large last-mile warehouse facilities has worsened the effects of pollution, health risks and safety in their communities as our city and state stall behind enacting necessary health and environmental regulations for them. These results mirror EDF's findings in 10 other states, showing the urgency of action across the country. This is why New York should act and pass the Clean Deliveries Act (A1718-A) into law this 2024 legislative session."

(Washington, D.C.) Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency took another critical step to implement the Methane Emissions Reduction Program, which was passed by Congress last year in the Inflation Reduction Act, with a proposed structure for MERP’s methane waste charge on large sources of oil and gas methane pollution.

“EPA’s proposal for a fee on oil and gas methane pollution implements the clean air protections for Americans that were part of the Inflation Reduction Act,” said Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp. “It’s common sense to hold oil and gas companies accountable for this pollution. Proven solutions to cut oil and gas methane and to avoid the fee are being used by leading companies in states across the country.”

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that is responsible for about 30% of current global warming. The oil and gas sector is the largest industrial emitter of methane in the U.S. 

“The Methane Emissions Reduction Program’s waste charge creates important incentives for operators to take near-term actions to reduce their methane pollution,” said Environmental Defense Fund attorney Grace Smith. “Today the EPA delivered a fair, practical and effective proposal to implement that program in accordance with Congress’ directives and in complement with EPA’s recently-finalized methane standards.” 

MERP’s waste charge applies to large polluting facilities in the oil and gas sector with excessive methane pollution. By reducing their emissions in line with industry’s own targets, companies can avoid paying the charge. Those that choose to continue to pollute excessively will have to pay a fee for each ton of methane they release. 

MERP also includes funding for states, tribes, local communities, operators and other stakeholders to reduce methane pollution from the oil and gas industry. Last month, EPA announced an initial commitment of $350 million to 14 states to mitigate and monitor emissions from end-of-life wells. 

In December, EPA finalized new protections that will significantly reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. MERP was designed by Congress to complement and bolster those standards by reinforcing EPA’s authority, providing financial and technical assistance, and incentivizing timely implementation and compliance. The proposal announced today provides details for how EPA will calculate the charge and determine when certain exemptions apply.

(January 11, 2024) An Environmental Defense Fund expert joined dozens of others in a packed, all-day virtual hearing yesterday in support of an EPA waiver for California’s Advanced Clean Cars II rule, which ensures all new cars and passenger trucks sold in the state will be zero-emitting by 2035.

“California’s Advanced Clean Cars II rule provides critical health and climate protections, and it is important that EPA affords full effect to these life-saving standards,” said EDF Transportation Attorney Eric Wriston in his testimony last night. “These ACC II standards will save lives, reduce harmful air and climate pollution, save Californians money, and deliver jobs.”

The transportation sector is the largest source of climate pollution in the U.S. and a main source of harmful pollutants that cause smog and damage human health. California has long-standing authority under the Clean Air Act to set its own protective standards for air pollution from cars and trucks with a preemption waiver from EPA. Over the last half century, California has been granted more than 50 waivers for successful programs to reduce transportation pollution. The Clean Air Act also allows other states to opt-in to California’s program. Eleven other states have already adopted Advanced Clean Cars II, and three more are in the rulemaking process.

California’s leadership and recent federal investments in the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure law have helped to spur an electric vehicle market poised to meet these standards and save people money while doing so. A report by EDF and WSP showed that $165 billion in electric vehicle investments and almost 180,000 new U.S. jobs have been announced in the last eight years, with more than 56% of those announcements happening since passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in August 2022. Another EDF and WSP report compared select electric vehicles to the cost of comparable gasoline vehicles and found that all the models studied were equally or less expensive to own, with savings totaling more than $18,000 for some models.

In May, the California Air Resources Board notified EPA that it had adopted the Advanced Clean Cars II (ACC II) regulations for new cars and passenger trucks starting with model year 2026, and formally requested that EPA grant a waiver. EPA held yesterday’s public hearing as part of the process of deciding whether to agree to California’s request.

“Near-term vehicle emissions reductions are vital to mitigating the effects of climate change and protecting public health, especially the health of low-income communities and communities of color disproportionately impacted by transportation air pollution,” Wriston testified. “The life-saving standards adopted by California and many other states are critical to curbing … pollution and moving toward an emissions-free future. We urge EPA to grant the waiver given its manifest consistency with Clean Air Act requirements and the extensive benefits it will provide to Californians.”

You can read Wriston’s full testimony here.

(Washington, D.C. – January 11, 2024) Today the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published an announcement that it filed a food additive petition [PDF, 1MB] and a color additive petition [PDF, 783KB] that call on the agency to rescind its approvals for four carcinogens in food. The petitions were submitted by Environmental Defense Fund, Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, Center for Environmental Health, Environmental Working Group (EWG), and Lisa Lefferts, an environmental health consultant. 

“FDA has been disregarding the law by permitting these long-established carcinogens to be added to food,” said Maria Doa, Senior Director for Chemicals Policy at Environmental Defense Fund. “We hope that recent changes in FDA leadership will fix the agency’s broken system for overseeing chemicals added to the food supply." 

“I think most people would be shocked to learn that known human carcinogens like benzene and trichloroethylene are food additives that can legally be added to food,” said Lisa Lefferts, a scientist and coauthor of the petition. “The Food and Drug Administration should have prohibited these uses decades ago.” 

For over 60 years, the law has clearly stated that food and color additives that induce cancer in humans or animals cannot be deemed “safe” for use in food. Yet FDA has kept approvals on the books for chemicals that were found to cause cancer decades ago.  In fact, benzene, trichloroethylene, methylene chloride and ethylene chloride were found to cause cancer in animal studies conducted by FDA’s sister agencies, the National Cancer Institute and the National Toxicology Program, decades ago. 

These chemicals are known or anticipated to cause multiple forms of cancer, including liver, kidney, lung, leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The carcinogenic solvents and their food uses include: 

• Benzene, allowed in hops extracts (used in beer production and supplements).  

• Trichloroethylene (TCE), allowed in decaffeinated coffee, certain extracts of spices used for taste and coloring, and hops extracts. 

• Methylene chloride, allowed in decaffeinated coffee, certain extracts of spices used for taste and coloring, in ink used to mark produce, and hops extracts. 

• Ethylene dichloride, allowed in certain extracts of spices used for taste and coloring, hops extracts, in water used to wash sugar beets, and to dilute pesticides. 

In 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed to eliminate all uses of TCE and most uses of methylene chloride regulated under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), due to their risks for cancer and other serious health harms. But food uses regulated by FDA under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act remain. 

In addition to inducing cancer, the chemicals cause other health effects, including fetal cardiac malformations and other developmental effects (TCE), decreased blood cell counts (benzene), and effects on the kidney (ethylene dichloride) and liver (methylene chloride). 

The widespread use of some of these chemicals is of particular concern for pregnant people and developing fetuses. Independent testing in 2020 and 2022 by the Clean Label Project detected methylene chloride in several common brands of decaf coffee. 

“It should be concerning to everyone that pregnant women and those with health issues looking to cut back on caffeine are unknowingly sipping trace amounts of methylene chloride in their decaf coffee,” said Jaclyn Bowen, executive director of the Clean Label Project. “FDA should prohibit methylene chloride, and companies should use safer available methods of decaffeination. 

Quotes from petitioners: 

“Allowing cancer-causing chemicals in our food doesn’t just impact consumers’ health, it also impacts the health of communities and workers who manufacture, store, and transport these chemicals,” said Sue Chiang, Food Program Director, Center for Environmental Health.   

“Cancer-causing chemicals have no place in our food,” said Scott Faber, Senior Vice President for Government Affairs for EWG. “Banning these cancer-causing solvents is an important test of FDA’s new-found commitment to making chemical safety a priority.” 

“FDA has acknowledged that these chemicals cause cancer, but still permits them in food,” said Lisette van Vliet, Senior Policy Manager from Breast Cancer Prevention Partners.  “That’s unacceptable.  It’s way past time for the FDA to protect the public from chemicals that increase our risk of cancer and other serious health problems.”

Contacts: 

Cecile Brown, Environmental Defense Fund, (202) 271-6534, cebrown@edf.org 

Erika Wilhelm, Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, 415-539-5005, erika@bcpp.org 

Emily DiFrisco, Center for Environmental Health, 510-655-3900 x 307, emilyd@ceh.org 

Iris Myers, Environmental Working Group, 202-939-9126, iris@ewg.org

“California faces overlapping budget and climate crises, and their impacts are not equally felt. With scientists concluding this decade is our best chance to protect Californians from the most dangerous effects of climate change, confronting this tough deficit must not overshadow our need for committed climate leadership. We get one shot to protect California communities from a future shaped by extreme heat, drought, wildfires, and harmful pollution but the state is not yet acting at the scale required for success.

“Bold action this decade provides our best chance to prevent a catastrophic climate future. Our leaders recognized this when state coffers were full, adopting more ambitious clean energy goals and dedicating $54 billion to climate solutions. Now, they must demonstrate these are not priorities of convenience but a necessity to protect health, lives, and livelihoods.

“EDF looks forward to working with the governor and lawmakers to ensure the final state budget agreement meets this standard. We are particularly interested in investments to prevent extreme wildfires by increasing forest resilience, to ensure an affordable, reliable, and equitable transition to clean energy, to accelerate the deployment of zero-emission trucks and infrastructure, and to improve groundwater sustainability in ways that create a range of public benefits through the Multi-Benefit Land Repurposing Program.”

- Katelyn Roedner Sutter, California State Director, Environmental Defense Fund

(ALBANY, NY – January 9, 2024) - As part of New York’s recent 2024 State of the State, Governor Hochul announced the commitment to establish a comprehensive plan and other expanded programs and policies to build resilience amid extreme weather and worsening climate impacts. These include assistance to protect homes, supporting vulnerable communities, expanding data availability and accessibility, overhauling building codes, strengthening infrastructure and improving disaster preparedness across the state. 

“Time and time again, New York communities experience the devastating consequences from climate-driven weather and flooding disasters. Hurricanes Ida, Sandy and impending heavy rains have made it abundantly clear that these impacts are already here today. We need a plan for that.  

“Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) commends New York State’s commitment to developing a comprehensive resiliency plan and expanding critical resources to support frontline communities facing climate impacts. With an influx of funding thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and the Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act, the time could not be better to establish a statewide framework that supports the strategic deployment of these investments and related programs spanning different agencies and levels of government toward the reduction of risks for New York’s communities.  

“A comprehensive resilience plan is a priority that EDF has advocated for in collaboration with governor’s office. We are thrilled that the Hochul Administration recognizes the importance and urgency of building statewide climate resilience, and we look forward to working with leaders, local communities and our partners in supporting the advancement of these policies and other environmental commitments.”  

- Kate Boicourt, Director, Climate Resilient Coasts & Watersheds, New York-New Jersey, Environmental Defense Fund  

(Washington, D.C. – January 3, 2024) An analysis by Environmental Defense Fund finds that enough U.S. battery production capacity has already been announced to supply all the electric vehicles – both cars and trucks – expected to be sold in 2030.

EDF’s analysis determined that more than 1,000 gigawatt hours per year of U.S. EV battery production capacity has already been announced to come online by 2028. That’s the equivalent of what is needed to power 10 million electric cars – and is more than enough to supply all the electric vehicles that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency projects could be sold in 2030.

The EV market is already rapidly growing – EPA recently announced that electric vehicles reached 12% of all vehicles produced for sale in the U.S. in 2023, an increase of 70% over the year before.

All of the announced electric vehicle battery manufacturing captured in EDF’s latest analysis is domestic, which underscores that the U.S. is poised to supply its own battery needs. States with the most announced battery production capacity include Michigan (140 gigawatt hours per year), Georgia (136 gigawatt hours per year), Tennessee (128 gigawatt hours per year), Kentucky (119 gigawatt hours per year) and Indiana (97 gigawatt hours per year).

“This analysis adds to the large body of evidence already supporting the unambiguous feasibility of protective EPA vehicle emission standards for both light-and-medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicles,” said Ellen Robo, EDF’s Manager of Transportation and Clean Air Policy.

EDF’s analysis evaluates battery demand that could result if manufacturers choose to sell battery electric vehicles to meet both EPA’s Multi-Pollutant Emission Standards for Light and Medium-Duty Vehicles and EPA’s Phase 3 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty. 45 battery manufacturing facilities have been announced already, with an average production capacity of 23 gigawatt hours per year. What’s more, the average time between announcement and expected start of production for the battery facilities in this analysis is 2.7 years. That means additional facilities that would come online after 2026 have not yet been announced. It also means manufacturers can respond to additional demand for batteries in a relatively short timeframe.

Roughly 90% of electric vehicle battery demand is expected to come from passenger vehicles, although demand for electric buses and trucks is also growing. Heavy-duty, commercial vehicle manufacturers have begun announcing battery production facilities, and significant sharing of batteries and components is possible across light and heavy-duty electric vehicles.

The announced battery production is driven, in part, by tax credits and incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act that provide strong support for manufacturers to build batteries in the U.S. An earlier analysis by EDF and WSP focused on the impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act in dramatically accelerating U.S. investments in electric vehicle manufacturing and job growth. That report found more than $165 billion in announced investments over the last eight years, with 56% of that investment occurring since passage of the IRA. The announced investments will support 179,000 direct jobs and are expected to create more than 800,000 additional jobs in the broader economy.

(Washington, D.C. – December 22, 2023) The U.S. Treasury Department today released proposed regulations governing what qualifies as clean hydrogen under the 45V Hydrogen Production Tax Credit. We congratulate the White House and everyone involved for helping to ensure that hydrogen is a credible climate solution in the U.S. The final language will determine whether the nation’s growing investment in hydrogen will deliver on its promise to help decarbonize our energy system.

“The proposal does a great job addressing very complex challenges. The draft rule takes us a very big step forward toward a genuinely sustainable hydrogen economy that delivers real benefits for the climate and for the broader clean energy ecosystem. We applaud the administration’s diligent work.

“Getting hydrogen right means reining in all of the emissions associated with production and use. Looking ahead to a final 45V rule, we need to make sure the tax policy takes proper account of the methane emissions from hydrogen made from fossil fuels, as well as the warming potential of hydrogen itself when released into the atmosphere. 

“We look forward to supporting the White House and interagency team and continuing to work closely with business, labor and local communities as the process moves forward.”

• Amanda Leland, Executive Director, EDF