Climate
Spurring demand for clean energy
More than 60 conventional, dirty coal plants have been canceled or replaced with better alternatives since the groundbreaking deal we struck with the Texas utility TXU in 2007 to cancel new coal plants. After talks with EDF and our partners, NRG Texas agreed to offset or store 50 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions from a new coal plant.
The second largest utility in Texas also promised to fund two experimental projects designed to store carbon pollution thousands of feet underground in geologic formations.
In Colorado, after our staff worked with Xcel Energy to switch from coal to cleaner energy, Xcel became the largest utility provider of wind power in the country. Astoundingly, Xcel met its commitment to generate 10 percent of its power from wind a full eight years ahead of schedule.
New jobs and investment in the green economy
Our work to put a 10 percent renewable energy portfolio in place in Colorado proves once again how curbing greenhouse gas emissions can be good for the economy. A Denmark wind manufacturer recently announced it will build a new plant in Colorado, bringing 1,300 jobs and $290 million in investment to the state.
Protecting rainforests to save the planet
At international climate talks in Ghana, our staff and allies helped advance an innovative plan to reward tropical countries for reducing deforestation, the source of 20 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.
We also introduced a new proposal to provide developing countries with money to invest in clean technologies—if they accept an early cap on their emissions. Climate talks can be chaotic, demanding affairs. But a senior U.S. negotiator attending the crowded event detailing our new approach said, "I figured that if it was a proposal by EDF, I'd better be there since it could get traction."
In Peru, we worked with partners to identify financial and trade leverage points that resulted in the government establishing its first Environmental Ministry. We will continue to fight to protect the pristine, diverse Peruvian Amazon. More than 75 percent of the area is now blanketed with oil and gas contracts.
In China, rewarding cuts in pollution
We worked with the China Beijing Equity Exchange to establish an environmental commodities exchange that will reward those who make greenhouse gas reductions. Most of China's pollution comes from factories that export goods. For that reason, we launched the Green China Supply Chain Initiative which uses the purchasing clout of global retailers like Wal-Mart to get factories to comply with environmental laws—as a condition of receiving contracts. (Learn more about our work in China.)
States build momentum for climate action
We dispatched a team of economic and policy experts to Sacramento to help California implement its Global Warming Solutions Act, which we co-sponsored and helped draft. The law sets the nation's first economy-wide cap on greenhouse gas emissions, mandating a 30 percent cut by 2020.
The landmark plan will alter how utilities generate electricity, automakers design cars and refineries make fuel. We are working with California, Arizona, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, Utah and British Columbia, Manitoba, Quebec and Ontario to implement the Western Climate Initiative, a cap-and-trade system that will create the largest carbon market in North America.
Oceans
Restoring fisheries to abundance
The Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council overwhelmingly approved a catch share program we helped design for grouper and tilefish. Each fisherman will be assigned a percentage of the total allowable annual catch, encouraging conservation by giving fishermen a financial stake in the recovery of the fishery.
In a major breakthrough, the Pacific Fishery Management Council gave preliminary approval to a similar plan to revive groundfish. We teamed up with Stanford and Duke to offer workshops to regional fishery management council members from around the country to provide them with cutting-edge information about fisheries management.
Whole Foods gets serious about farmed fish
We worked with Whole Foods to develop strict new standards for farmed fish. Roughly half the seafood consumed in the U.S. comes from fish farms. The new guidelines ban the use of preservatives, antibiotics, hormones and other chemicals in farmed fish. Meanwhile, our Seafood Selector was recently featured in Redbook magazine, Dr. Andrew Weil's monthly newsletter Self Healing and Fish Without a Doubt, a new cookbook from celebrity chef Rich Moonen.
President Bush announces the world's largest marine reserve
President Bush asked his cabinet to consider our recommendation to give Monument status to the Mariana Trench and the Central Pacific Islands, which contain the most pristine shallow-water coral reefs in the world. In January 2009, President Bush announced the creation of three new new marine monuments in the Central Pacific. The vast area, larger than California, will be the biggest protected area on Earth.
Land, water and wildlife
EDF making conservation pay for landowners
Our broad coalition helped put $4 billion in the Farm Bill to help private landowners improve conservation on their land. Farmers, ranchers and forest owners manage more than two-thirds of the land in America, so they play a critical role in protecting habitat and wildlife.
Louisiana moves to restore wetlands and coastal areas
We helped secure more than $100 million of state funding to restore Louisiana's coastal ecosystems, the state's first line of defense against hurricanes. We now are working with the state, oil companies and local governments to accelerate the massive rebuilding of critical cypress wetlands.
Protecting the Mississippi Delta
EDF worked with allies to convince EPA to block the Yazoo Pumps project, which would have pumped water out of the Mississippi Delta and destroyed up to 200,000 acres of wetlands. Messages to EPA from more than 40,000 of our members helped carry the day.
Keeping on eye on water needs for Western rivers
With our partners, we worked to pass new state legislation to protect water flows in Colorado's rivers and streams. The law provides funding to buy up water rights from private landowners so that water is not diverted from critical aquatic and riparian habitat.
Health
Big win on big ships
In a major breakthrough, new international standards will cut diesel pollution from oceangoing vessels by 80 to 90 percent. Our staff, armed with our new report, Floating Smokestacks, played a pivotal role in getting Congress to vote to join the international treaty. The victory complements new EPA rules we helped win that cut soot and smog-forming pollution from diesel barges, ferries and trains.
Cleaning up dirty diesel
There's an added bonus for the Port of Los Angeles — the single largest industrial source of pollution in a region that has the dirtiest air in the country. Much of the filth spews from old diesel trucks, as they ferry cargo to and from ships. We were instrumental in enacting new rules and incentives to remove 16,000 of those trucks from the road by 2012. Also, following pressure from us, EPA announced tough new emission standards for non-road gasoline engines like lawnmowers and jet skis.
Preventing mercury hotspots
In a major win for public health, a federal appeals court ruled against EPA policy that could have created toxic mercury hot spots, potentially putting children's brains at risk. We brought the challenge with Earthjustice and a coalition of doctors, states and advocacy groups. Spurred by strong state standards like those we helped win in Colorado, more than 90 power plants nationwide are now installing advanced mercury controls.
Hog heaven
North Carolina's ten million hogs generate more waste than the combined human populations of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston. Culminating a decade of work by EDF and our partners, North Carolina became the first state to ban new hog lagoons. It also established a cost-share program to help farmers switch to cleaner technology.
Corporate partnerships
Greening Wal-Mart
With Wal-Mart, we've jointly issued a challenge to solar suppliers for projects assessing innovative solar technologies at Wal-Mart sites around the country. Wal-Mart is interested in the next generation of solar cells that use flexible thin films and solar cells incorporated into roofing materials or windows.
The march of the Climate Corps
We created an elite cadre of MBA students to parachute into corporations to identify energy-saving measures which also improve the bottom line. Our seven interns identified more than 119 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year — about enough to power 10,000 homes — and $35 million in net cost savings over five years.
Making green the new business as usual
We formed a groundbreaking new partnership with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) to drive environmental improvement across the private equity giant's multi-billion dollar portfolio. It's the first time that a nonprofit group is helping to green the portfolio of a private equity firm. The analytic tools we're developing will enable managers at companies like Toys "R" Us and U.S. Foodservice to assess and track improvements.
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