Complete list of press releases

(NEW ORLEANS, LA – February 27, 2019) The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) plans to open the Bonnet Carré Spillway in St. Charles Parish on Wednesday, Feb. 27, alleviating pressure on downriver levees and preventing flooding. An unprecedented event, this will mark the third time the spillway is opened in the last four years – the first time in history to be opened in back-to-back years. It is the result of the wettest winter in the Mississippi Valley in the last 124 years. The 7,600-acre Bonnet Carré Spillway is located upriver of New Orleans. When opened, this structure is designed to shunt up to 250,000 cubic feet per second of sediment-laden water from the river into Lake Pontchartrain, to reduce pressure on the river levees by keeping water flow below 1.25 million cubic feet per second.

Restore the Mississippi River Delta – a coalition of national and local conservation organizations committed to coastal Louisiana restoration including Environmental Defense Fund, the National Wildlife Federation, National Audubon Society, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana and Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation – issued the following statement in response:

“Another year brings another opening of the Bonnet Carré Spillway, and sediment and fresh water that should be directed into Louisiana’s vanishing wetlands will go into Lake Pontchartrain instead. While the Corps has effectively managed the Mississippi River and Tributaries Project for flood protection and navigation, it must prioritize coastal restoration in managing our rivers as well.

“Louisiana is losing land and we’re losing time, and too much of the nearly 100-million tons of sediment passing through our state each year continues to be wasted. Opening of the Bonnet Carré Spillway alone results in roughly 9 million cubic yards of sediment lost into the spillway and Lake Pontchartrain. The river’s sediment is our best resource for rebuilding and maintaining land across our coast, and too much of it continues to flow past our dying wetlands into the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico or be dumped into Lake Pontchartrain.

“This latest opening is unprecedented not just in terms of frequency, but also because it is due to the wettest winter in the Mississippi Valley in 124 years. If climate change continues to cause increases in rainfall, pressure on our levees will only increase, as will the need to open our spillways with increasing frequency. Projects like the Mid-Barataria and Mid-Breton Sediment Diversions, and proposed upriver diversions, would help reduce pressure on levees, while capturing sediment to maintain and build wetlands – further reducing the risk of flooding for our communities. These projects will manage the river for restoration in conjunction with the levees and spillways that provide flood protection – a win-win for the people of Louisiana and the coast that allows us to call this place home.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio today announced a 10-point plan to reorganize and fund the MTA, the agency responsible for public transportation in New York. The plan includes a joint endorsement of congestion pricing, which will raise more than $1 billion every year to fund a cleaner, more modern transit system. Since transportation makes up a third of New York’s greenhouse gas pollution, congestion pricing will help put the city and state on a trajectory to meet their ambitious climate goals.

“With today’s joint endorsement of congestion pricing, Gov. Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio are putting their money where their mouth is on climate action. We look to Albany to get congestion pricing over the finish line, which will reduce pollution and help build a cleaner transportation system for the city and state.”·

• Andy Darrell, New York Regional Director, Environmental Defense Fund

“The Trump administration will reportedly end negotiations with California and press ahead with its attacks on America’s protections against pollution from cars. That means the administration is doubling down on its reckless and deeply unpopular plan to roll back the Clean Car Standards.

 

“Rolling back the Clean Car Standards will force Americans to spend hundreds of dollars a year extra for gas, it will reduce jobs, it will put America at a technological disadvantage in the global market, and it will make everyone more vulnerable to the rising dangers of climate change. The administration’s roll back also includes an unprecedented and unlawful assault on states’ authority to protect their citizens from harmful pollution.

 

“States, cities, workers, moms and dads, and even many automakers have made crystal clear that they do not want the administration to move forward with this illegal, misguided, and damaging attack.

 

“EDF will keep fighting, in the court of public opinion and the court of law, to protect our Clean Car Standards for all Americans.”

 

            - Martha Roberts, EDF senior attorney

(WASHINGTON - February 14, 2019) Included in the spending bill passed by Congress today was an important boost to efforts to modernize data collection of recreational fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. The bill included up to $10 million to implement electronic reporting on federally permitted charter-for-hire vessels in the Gulf of Mexico. In response Robert E. Jones, Gulf of Mexico Director for Environmental Defense Fund’s Oceans program released the following statement:

“Sen. Richard Shelby has once again delivered for the Gulf’s coastal communities. Continued funding for the electronic logbook program is a win for healthy fisheries and more stable fishing businesses.

“Reporting through electronic logbooks generates more real-time, verifiable, and high-quality recreational fishing data than the outdated paper reporting systems that are all too common in U.S. fisheries. Better access to more reliable data will help the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) better understand and manage overall fishing levels for charter fishing operators and the millions of American anglers who rely on their businesses to fish recreationally in the Gulf.

“We commend Sen. Shelby, without him electronic logbooks would not be on the water today.

“We look forward to working with NMFS to ensure the successful implementation of this important management tool, which will benefit Gulf fishermen and fisheries.”

The Senate and House are expected to pass a spending package today that will avoid another government shutdown and fund the federal government through the remaining fiscal year.

“The spending package that is expected to pass through Congress today is, above all else, a win for American families and communities. The bill will avert a government shutdown, ensuring that hundreds of thousands of people will earn paychecks and that agencies critical to protecting the environment and public health will remain open.

“It is particularly heartening to see that Congress has once again soundly rejected the Trump administration’s proposed budget that sought to strip billions from EPA, DOI, and other agencies, and, in doing so, made clear that America’s health, environment, and safety should never be put on the chopping block.”

Among the other important agencies that saw at least level funding were FEMA, USDA, and NOAA. FEMA, in particular, saw $12.6 billion directed to its Disaster Relief Fund and the bill includes strong support for state and local first responders—key provisions as our country experiences intensifying storms and disasters linked to climate change.

“Still, it is an appropriate time to bring renewed attention to EPA’s broadly insufficient funding. Pollution continues to impact millions of Americans each year, causing asthma, heart disease, early deaths and more. All the while, our climate crisis grows more serious. Looking ahead, EPA—and similar environmental and public health agencies—must be prioritized in our government’s spending decisions so that Americans can breathe easier and feel confident that the government is doing all it can to protect our air, water, and climate.”

• Elizabeth Gore, Senior Vice President, Political Affairs

(Washington, D.C. – February 14, 2018) Two EDF experts joined dozens of other Americans at a public hearing today to urge the Trump administration to stop its attack on common sense protections against climate pollution from new, modified, and reconstructed power plants.

“EDF urges EPA to withdraw its reckless, unlawful proposed rule for new coal plants. The proposal fails to place any meaningful limits on power plant pollution, fails to reckon with the reality of climate change, and, as a result, fails to satisfy EPA’s legal obligation under the Clean Air Act,” said EDF legal fellow Lance Bowman at today’s hearing.

EPA established our first-ever nationwide limits on carbon dioxide pollution from new, modified, and reconstructed fossil fuel-fired power plants in 2015. As the Clean Air Act requires, EPA set the standards at levels that reflect the best demonstrated system for reducing pollution. The standards have been in full force and effect for more than three years, protecting all Americans from uncontrolled carbon dioxide pollution from new power plants.

However, EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler issued a proposal in December to severely weaken the current standards. Wheeler’s proposal would allow new coal-fired power plants to be built and operated without reducing their carbon dioxide pollution to any meaningful degree. It also questions whether carbon dioxide pollution from new power plants should be subject to any limits at all under the Clean Air Act.

“[T]he Clean Air Act … obligates EPA to require new power plants to limit their emissions using the ‘best’ system of emission reduction. But the current administration now proposes to weaken current standards for new coal-fired power plants, and find that achieving no meaningful emission reduction is what’s ‘best.’ Indeed, the proposed standard for brand new coal-fired power plants is significantly weaker than what many existing coal plants are already achieving without carbon controls,” said Bowman in his testimony.

“Communities across the country are already grappling with the devastating impacts of climate change, and this proposal would only further risk public health and welfare—particularly for the most vulnerable among us,” said EDF attorney Surbhi Sarang, who also testified at today’s hearing.

The Trump administration is holding its one and only public hearing on the proposal at EPA headquarters in Washington D.C. today. Along with EDF, representatives from Moms Clean Air Force, the American Lung Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Thoracic Society, Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, National Parks Conservation Association, National Wildlife Federation, Environmental Law and Policy Center, Clean Air Task Force, Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club also signed up to testify.

The proposal flies in the face of mounting evidence that we must make clean energy progress:

• A Trump administration report warns that natural disasters are worsening because of climate change.
• A Trump administration index shows greenhouse gases have increased by 41 percent since 1990.
• The Trump administration recently confirmed that the past five years are, collectively, the warmest five years in the modern record.

The Trump administration is accepting public comment on the proposal until March 18.You can submit a comment through EDF’s website.

You can read Bowman’s full testimony here, and Sarang’s full testimony here.

(SACRAMENTO, CA – February 12, 2019) “EDF thanks Felicia Marcus for her outstanding public service as chair of the California State Water Resources Control Board since 2012. Drawing on her deep knowledge and broad private and public experience, she has been fair and even-handed as she has helped guide California through some incredibly tough water challenges, including the historic drought from 2011 to 2015. Marcus recently showed leadership in steering the board to increase water flows in the San Joaquin River system to reverse the collapse of fisheries, while leaving the door open for voluntary settlements.

“At the same time, EDF applauds Gov. Gavin Newsom’s appointment of Joaquin Esquivel as chair and Laurel Firestone as a member of the Water Board. Since his appointment in 2017, Esquivel has already demonstrated his deep commitment to understanding all sides of an issue and been fair-minded in his approach. Firestone brings a strong track record as an experienced water attorney and fierce advocate for the needs of California’s most disadvantaged communities to the board. We have no doubt her energy and passion will serve California well as we face several seemingly intractable challenges in the water arena, including providing safe, clean drinking water to all residents. We believe these appointments are a strong signal that Gov. Newsom will keep California moving forward toward a future more resilient to climate change, with a more sustainable water system that supports people, the economy and ecosystems.”

• Maurice Hall, Associate VP, Ecosystems – Water, Environmental Defense Fund

(SACRAMENTO, CA – Feb. 12, 2019) “California has long been an environmental leader, and Gov. Newsom today sent a powerful message that the state will continue that legacy. Wildfires, drought and other impacts of climate change will be a challenge for California in the years to come, but by doubling down on our commitments to expand the use of clean, affordable, reliable energy, the future will be brighter than ever. We salute Governor Newsom’s vision for a clean energy economy and his recognition that our state’s investments will impact the next generation in new ways that will require new solutions. EDF looks forward to working with his administration to achieve this vision.”

• Timothy O’Connor, Senior Director, California Energy Program, Environmental Defense Fund

“We are encouraged that Gov. Newsom emphasized the urgent need for California to meet its massive water challenges head on and commend him for calling the lack of clean drinking water for 1 million Californians a ‘disgrace’ and ‘medical emergency.’ We stand ready to help pass long-overdue legislation for more sustained funding to solve this crisis.

“We join Newsom in highlighting the first task for Joaquin Esquivel, newly named chair of the State Water Resources Control Board, should be reaching real agreements to save the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta. It is time not only to move past the old binaries of farmers versus environmentalists and North versus South, but also to usher in a new era of compromise and solutions that support people, the economy and ecosystems.”

• Maurice Hall, Associate VP, Ecosystems – Water, Environmental Defense Fund

(LOS ANGELES – February 12, 2019) The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) announced a groundbreaking decision to retire three aging fossil gas plants in favor of investing 100 percent in clean energy. Instead of investing in the Haynes, Harbor and Scattergood plants to meet the requirements of a 2010 law related to a practice known as once through cooling (OTC), the utility will take the plants permanently off line.Once completed, LAWDP’s decision to close the plants will reduce California’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2 million metric tons annually, equivalent to taking 425,000 vehicles off the road.

“Retiring these gas plants mean LADWP’s four million customers will get to enjoy healthier air and reliable, affordable clean energy. The less we rely on aging gas infrastructure, the safer our communities will be. The fact that the nation’s largest municipal electric utility is making this commitment shows how real the opportunities are for utilities across the country to invest more in clean energy alternatives today.”

• Tim O’Connor, Senior Director of EDF’s California Energy Program

NEWS RELEASE

(Washington, D.C. – Feb. 12, 2019) In a newly published piece in Foreign Affairs, Environmental Defense Fund leaders Fred Krupp, Nathaniel Keohane, and Eric Pooley argue that the world has waited so long to act boldly on climate change that we must now include strategies that remove climate pollution from the atmosphere. Amidst a rebirth of climate activity in Washington – a series of congressional hearings, a new special committee in the House of Representatives and bold proposals for 100% clean energy and a Green New Deal – Krupp, Keohane, and Pooley describe a largely overlooked side of the climate solutions story.

Drawing from a recent National Academy of Science study, they argue "negative emissions technologies"—from simple solutions to the most advanced technologies —that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere are needed if we're going to protect our economy and society. NETs are different from conventional approaches to climate mitigation in that they seek not to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere but to remove carbon dioxide that's already there.

"Acting swiftly to cut carbon pollution, including by moving to clean energy across the global economy and protecting tropical forests, is absolutely central to protecting our health, economy, and future. But removing carbon from the atmosphere must also be part of any comprehensive ‘Plan A' for solving the climate crisis," said Krupp, president of EDF. "The world has waited too long to act – we need both clean energy and carbon pollution removal now."

Environmental Defense Fund has long been a thought-leader on climate change solutions, including developing market-based mechanisms which now limit climate pollution in California, Europe, China, and elsewhere. The effort by EDF's leaders to catalyze an important discussion on carbon removal is a step toward developing a comprehensive policy to meet the challenge of climate change.

NETs range from replanting and vitalizing forests and adopting sustainable farming practices that put more carbon into the soil, to technological CO2 removal such as direct air capture plants that can suck pollution directly out of the air and store it or recycle it into fuel, fertilizer, and concrete. Direct air capture is already in the pilot stage.

Carbon markets, which typically reward people for reducing carbon emissions, could also be a powerful way to reward them for developing effective NETs. Airlines, which account for about two percent of global emissions today and are set to triple or quadruple such pollution by mid-century, have agreed to cap emissions from international flights at 2020 levels, with the help of a global carbon credit program. This program could catalyze a global carbon market that drives investment in low-carbon fuels and technologies such as NETS.

Some observers are concerned that NETs are too speculative or will make a contribution only in the distant future. But while the technological approaches do require further development, and there will inevitably be dead ends, other methods are ready to be deployed at scale today. We cannot afford to dismiss strategies that could make the difference between limiting warming to bearable levels and failing to do so.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(AUSTIN, TX – Feb. 12, 2019) EPA released its draft greenhouse gas inventory today, showing an increase in oil and gas methane emissions for 2017.

"It's worth noting that year after year, we see a similar story. Emission estimates rise or fall by one percent or two, but overall methane emissions remain unacceptably high.

"Moreover, the inventory's methods of data collection dramatically undercount methane—by about 60 percent according to a comprehensive scientific study. Just last week, a new paper from the American Geophysical Union described atmospheric methane's increase since 2007, saying methane reductions from the oil and gas industry are urgently needed and ‘essential' to meeting global climate protection goals."

• Matt Watson, Vice President, Energy Program

(Washington, D.C. – February 8, 2019) Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and a coalition of 10 other environmental, environmental justice, and public health organizations filed a brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today as part of their effort to close a damaging new EPA loophole for toxic air pollution.

EDF and its allies filed a lawsuit in March challenging the loophole. Today they filed reply briefs in the case.

“This hastily created and unlawfully enacted loophole puts American families and communities at risk of exposure to more toxic, dangerous and cancer-causing pollutants such as benzene,” said EDF Lead Attorney Tomás Carbonell. “The Trump administration’s EPA should never have created this loophole, and should close it now.”

EPA’s new loophole applies to “maximum achievable control technology,” or MACT, standards for hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act. These standards generally apply to large industrial facilities like refineries and chemical plants that emit high amounts of 187 dangerous or cancer-causing pollutants.

Those “major source” facilities had to comply with the MACT standards for as long as they operated – until January 2018, when EPA suddenly announced the loophole. Under this policy, thousands of industrial facilities across the country could be eligible to operate with weaker, or no, air pollution controls. An EDF report found at least 18 major facilities in the Houston area alone that are eligible to use the loophole.

Then-EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt created the loophole unlawfully – in a four-page memo issued without notice or public comment and without considering the damage to Americans’ health and the environment.

In today’s reply brief, the groups argue that the memo creating the loophole:

“[C]hanges a prior legislative rule, and decisively alters rights and obligations; it is consequently a final legislative rule, unlawfully issued without notice and comment … Furthermore, EPA has arbitrarily failed to address critical consequences of its decision.” (Brief, page 9)

Earthjustice, California Communities Against Toxics, Downwinders at Risk, Environmental Integrity Project, Hoosiers Environmental Council, Louisiana Bucket Brigade, Natural Resources Defense Council, Ohio Citizen Action, Sierra Club, and Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Series are joining EDF in the lawsuit. The state of California is also challenging the loophole.

“I am deeply saddened by the passing of Congressman John Dingell. His remarkable leadership led to the enactment of some of the most consequential environmental laws in our nation’s history. It is no exaggeration to say that through his work, millions of lives were saved.

“America is a cleaner, healthier, and more prosperous place because of John Dingell. It is also a more just nation because of his leadership in passing civil rights and voting rights legislation. While we did not agree on everything, I always knew he sought a better America. He was a leader of the old school—seeking true progress, principled compromise, and durable solutions. And he did so with a grace and wit that will be profoundly missed.

“I will never forget the day I spent hours with him as he gave me a very personal guided tour of the Detroit Auto Show. His devotion to the industry, manufacturing in America, as well as for the need to develop more modern vehicles were all quite apparent. 

“Our air and water are dramatically cleaner, our wildlife and wild lands more protected, and our future more secure because he—for so long and with such high purpose—walked the halls of Congress. His legacy will be open space, clean air, and healthy kids.”

• Fred Krupp, President of EDF

(Washington, D.C. – February 7, 2019) A broad coalition of public health, environmental and consumer advocates is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to examine the flawed decision that set in motion current efforts to roll back America’s health-protective Clean Car Standards.

The Clean Car Standards are one of our nation’s biggest environmental success stories. They reduce climate pollution, save American families money at the gas pump, spur fuel efficiency gains and stimulate auto sector innovation.

In April 2018, then-EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt issued a Final Determination concluding that that these win-win standards should be rolled back — a decision which obligated EPA to weaken these protections.

Today, the coalition filed a brief with the court stating:

“In his zeal to ‘roll back’ some of the Nation’s most important protections against pollution that causes dangerous climate change, the Administrator flouted EPA regulations guaranteeing all stakeholders – including Petitioners – a robust, transparent public process supporting a detailed, record-based ‘appropriateness’ determination. The Administrator provided no reasoned explanation for reversing past agency findings firmly grounded in a massive record. These unlawful actions must be set aside.” (Brief, page 9)

Pruitt’s Final Determination was based almost entirely on auto industry statements, without any independent analysis. It directly quotes the auto industry 14 times and cites them 63 times – while never once citing any EPA analyses. Pruitt’s Final Determination also never mentions the words “health,” “air pollution,” or “climate.”

The Final Determination disregards the extensive factual record EPA had developed, including thousands of pages of analysis and peer-reviewed studies, showing that the Clean Car Standards are readily achievable at lower costs than the agency originally projected.

In May 2018, the coalition asked the D.C. Circuit to review and set aside the Final Determination. In November 2018, the D.C. Circuit rejected EPA’s efforts to prematurely dismiss that challenge.

The Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation Law Foundation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Public Citizen, Sierra Club (represented by Earthjustice) and Union of Concerned Scientists (represented by Democracy Forward) joined EDF on today’s brief.

A coalition of 18 states and an industry coalition including major power companies and auto manufacturers are also challenging the Final Determination as parties in the case.

A coalition of sixteen cities and counties across America, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities have filed for leave to participate in the litigation as amici, as have the Consumer Federation of America the South Coast Air Quality Management District, and Advanced Energy Economy.

You can read more about the extensive legal and technical flaws of the administration’s proposed Clean Car Standards rollback in the coalition’s comments to EPA. You can find all legal briefs in the case on this web page.

“The Green New Deal has brought new energy to the climate debate, and introduction of these resolutions from Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is another significant step forward. The Green New Deal points to the need for boldness and ambition at a time when they are sorely required – and it is generating thoughtful ideas and building real political momentum. We applaud the sponsors for taking a leadership role in this important debate.

“We must achieve net zero climate pollution across the economy by 2050 – that’s the benchmark that scientists tell us is necessary to safeguard our kids’ future. The array of climate goals in the Green New Deal, including the goal of 100 percent clean energy in the electric power sector, will accelerate us down that path.

“EDF believes that in order to cut climate pollution as far and as fast as the science demands we must use all available tools. That includes policies that require polluters to pay for the pollution they emit and policies that create incentives for better and cheaper technologies, all backed by mandatory limits on climate pollution. We will also need stronger health and environmental safeguards, agricultural and land use innovations, and investment in research and development for new technologies to reduce pollution and to capture and store carbon.

“We look forward to working with the sponsors of the Green New Deal – and all those across the political spectrum working towards climate solutions – to transform our economy and achieve a healthier, more equitable and prosperous future.”

- Elizabeth Gore, EDF Senior Vice President, Political Affairs