Cooking up Joe chemical kids’ books climate action meets for green in india joe camel good night page 5 page 11 page 12

Vol. 43, No. 4 / Fall 2012

delta rising Launching the most ambitious environmental restoration project in the nation’s history page 6 TALK back Climate change is here

The year 2012 may be remembered as a turning point in the history of global warming: Americans endured the hottest 12 months on record. What lies ahead? wildfires in the West, a killer storm in the Environmental Defense Fund’s Northeast and withered corn crops throughout the Midwest—the once- mission is to preserve the natural moribund topic of climate change and how it drives extreme weather is systems on which all life depends. suddenly big news. The impacts of a warming planet have hit , as Guided by science and economics, these stories from our members attest. Is Congress listening? we find practical and lasting solutions to the most serious environmental problems.

Our work is made possible by the support of our members.

COOKING UP JOE CHEMICAL KIDS’ BOOKS CLIMATE ACTION MEETS FOR A GREEN ON THE COVER: IN INDIA JOE CAMEL GOOD NIGHT PAGE 5 PAGE 11 PAGE 12 It’s time to set right Vol. 43, No. 4 / Fall 2012 a great wrong. Oil spill penalties, levied against BP,

DELTA RISING are soon expected owell/ AP P hoto Launching the most ambitious environmental restoration project in the nation’s history PAGE 6 to begin paying for

a historic restoration of the battered Candice T Gulf coast. A Nevada farmer inspects his devastated crops. Without action to curb carbon emissions, scientists say the American Southwest will turn into a permanent Dust Bowl by 2050.

Solutions editor Peter Klebnikov traveled to the Mississippi Delta to True tales of the new normal meet the remarkable array of partners “The last two years’ of rain has I’m concerned about my nieces and their working with EDF to heal the coast. been shocking. Last year our farm flooded children. What will be left when they grow See page 6. seven times—in just two months. Other up?” —Patricia T., Butler, WI Cover photo: Roseate Spoonbill by Phyllis Greenberg/ farms suffered great damage. We Animals Animals focus on how to proactively manage “Last year’s crops were nearly as bad as extreme weather.” this year. Farmers can stand a loss like SOLUTIONS —Sean Z., Livingston Manor, NY this occasionally but not years in a row. Global warming now seems a devastating Editor Peter Klebnikov “Almost every storm has had a Weather possibility to farmers.” Environmental Defense Fund Service warning—once a rarity here—of —Tom W., Columbia, MO 257 Park Ave. South high winds and flash floods. There was New York, NY 10010 one particularly bad storm. When it hit, we “In the center of Iowa we have re- Main number 212-505-2100 were driving home and found ourselves established some tallgrass prairie areas. Membership questions Call 800-684-3322 in a nightmare. Trees and live power While the introduced grasses in pastures or email [email protected] lines were falling everywhere. I’ve never have dried up, our prairie areas are Feedback Mail to address above, experienced a storm like that.” lush and green. They are producing call 800-927-6464 or email [email protected] —William K., Washington, DC because of their deep roots in spite of the Online edf.org moisture shortage.” ©2012 Environmental Defense Fund. “I live in farm country. Crops are drying up. —Carl K., St. Anthony, IA Published quarterly in New York, NY. Cows, stressed by the heat, are producing ASSN 0163-2566 less. But northern Wisconsin, where my “Trees are leafing and flowers blooming New York / Austin / Bentonville, AR / Boston / sister lives, had flooding all summer. We eight weeks earlier. But the real extreme Boulder / Raleigh / Sacramento / San Francisco / Washington / Beijing, China / La Paz, Mexico both live in disaster areas, drought or flood. weather story is about the elected officials

2 solutions fALL 2012 edf.org the art of seizing TALK back Climate change is here opportunity from crisis who disseminate false information. Many of come from the By EDF President Fred Krupp states hit hardest. If they took the time to visit the farmers they represent, they’d see the devastation.” —Daniel H., Braden River, FL It’s the kind of victory that doesn’t happen often. In a strongly bipartisan “We’ve avoided the fires but not drought. Our forests are dying from vote this summer, Congress approved the pine beetle, exacerbated by warmer winters. Fish are struggling a plan that EDF helped design to heal the Gulf Coast—using billions to survive in our streams, running low and warm. In contrast, last of dollars in penalties from BP’s 2010 year brought a 100-year flood. The weather is not right.” oil disaster. Out of that catastrophe —Justin H., Steamboat Springs, CO arose a once-in-a-generation chance to restore a devastated coastal Submit your story at edf.org/sharestories ecosystem. (See story, page 6.)

We need similar bipartisan courage . Charles E rickson

to address an even larger crisis: T global climate change. While other A scientist speaks out: countries have been moving forward on this issue, two camps in the United States have been talking past each other: the majority that is “This is a view of the future, convinced by the overwhelming evidence, and a vocal minority that remains unconvinced. so watch out.” But a summer of unprecedented heat—with half of our nation – Kevin Trenberth, senior scientist with the declared a federal disaster area because of drought—has begun National Center for Atmospheric Research to shift the conversation. The odds of this record heat occurring randomly, rather than as a result of climate change, are one in a million. After Colorado wildfires drove 30,000 people from their homes, Princeton University physicist Michael Oppenheimer, At the “crossroads of the world,” formerly EDF’s chief scientist, said this: a stark reminder “What we’re seeing is a window into what global warming really looks like. It looks like heat, it looks like fires, it looks like this kind of environmental disaster.”

EDF is working hard to help change the polarized debate over climate. Already, some prominent skeptics have reassessed their positions. In a recent study, partly funded by billionaires David and Charles Koch, physicist Richard Muller concluded: “You should not be a skeptic, at least not any longer.” And Republican leaders like Governors John Kasich of Ohio and Chris Christie of New Jersey have also spoken out about the reality of climate change.

These views may represent a tipping point. We’ll have a much better shot at stabilizing climate if leaders across the political spectrum are engaged.

We can start by agreeing on some basic propositions: (1) Dramatic alterations to the climate are under way and are likely to worsen— with profound damage to the economy—unless sustained action is taken. (2) Some proposed climate solutions, if not well designed, Half a million people pass through New York City’s Times Square could harm the economy. For any policy to succeed, it must work daily. To reach the throngs of overheated tourists, EDF created with the economy, not against it. a 15-second video, “Sweltering? Blame global warming,” which As we saw in the Gulf of Mexico, nothing dismantles old thinking highlights the thousands of heat records shattered in the past year. quicker than a crisis. America urgently needs the cooperative spirit It was shown every hour on a jumbo screen. Congress demonstrated when it extended a lifeline to the Gulf Coast. With your help, EDF is working to build these crucial bridges. Watch the video at edf.org/timessquarevideo

EDF wants to hear from you. Email at [email protected] or visit us at face­book.com/EnfDefenseFund. All letters are edited for clarity and length.

edf.org solutions FALL 2012 3 a sharp turn toward cleaner cars and safer air John R ae

or EDF and our allies, it was a clean climate change,” said EDF general counsel Perhaps the most significant aspect Fsweep: cleaner cars, and a huge court Vickie Patton. “In strong and language, of the decision was the judges’ support victory for clean air. the court declared EPA’s interpretation of the for climate science. In blunt language, In late August, the Obama Clean Air Act was ‘unambiguously correct.’” the court rejected the plaintiffs’ assertion administration finalized rules requiring Together with several states and other that EPA’s scientific analysis of climate new cars to average 54.5 miles per gallon environmental groups, EDF intervened change was faulty and the agency by 2025. The rules represent the greatest on the side of EPA in the case, which was had relied too much on papers that improvement in fuel economy standards challenged by industry groups and states synthesized scientific work. since 1975. When fully implemented, they such as Texas and Virginia. “This is how science works,” the court could cut oil use by 2.2 million barrels a The challengers argued that climate wrote. “EPA is not required to re-prove day—nearly half what America imports change carries no threats to human health, the existence of the atom every time it from OPEC. and therefore any regulation of emissions approaches a scientific question.” EDF helped pave the way, starting is unauthorized. If that argument The court’s opinion “was a sharp in 2002 when we secured the votes for had prevailed, it would have undercut rebuke of those who deny or denigrate ’s landmark clean car law, which everything EPA is trying to achieve under climate science,” said Dr. Steven Hamburg, became the foundation of the new federal the Clean Air Act to protect the public EDF’s chief scientist. standards. from global warming pollution. The landmark decision validates EPA’s Implementation of the new rules, In its decision, the court upheld two common sense approach to address global supported by U.S. automakers and the related regulations as well: warming pollution and will help secure a United Auto Workers Union, was made healthier future for all Americans. possible by a series of victories in the courts. • The Timing Rule, which The most recent came in June when addresses the timetable a federal appeals court unanimously for large new industrial upheld EPA’s 2009 “endangerment finding,” facilities to deploy cost- in which the agency determined that effective pollution controls carbon dioxide from cars and light trucks for greenhouse gases. constitutes a danger to public health. That finding, under the Clean Air Act, meant EPA • The Tailoring Rule, which was required to regulate those gases. The requires that new, large decision dealt a decisive blow to companies industrial emitters (such and states that for years have been fighting as power plants) phase steps to address climate change. in the best-available

“This was a clear-cut win for EPA’s controls, while exempting H arrison S hull/ A urora P hotos historic, science-based policies to address smaller emitters. EPA’s rules for new power plants could lower U.S. demand for coal.

4 solutions fALL 2012 edf.org Network, a coalition of nonprofit groups of which EDF is a founding member. Each digester reduces carbon dioxide emissions by approximately three tons a year, which will have value in future carbon markets. In fact, the digesters were funded in part through the advance sale of future reductions. Champa no longer fills her hut with wood smoke at breakfast. Instead, she simply lights her gas stove, powered by methane from the digester. Thanks to this simple convenience, her family’s health has improved, meaning India cleans the air, fewer days home from school and less money spent on visits to the doctor. And uren/ S hutterstock one family at a time Champa no longer spends her days in M arc van V search of wood. Instead, she has time to take better care of two family cows, which hampa, a farmer’s wife and mother of Champa’s life in Ananthpur District in are producing more milk, increasing the Cthree in southern India, used to get up the state of Karnataka. Until recently, she family income. And she has begun to take every day before sunrise to cook breakfast would a large part of her day in in sewing and weaving jobs, bringing in over a wood fire in the family’s tiny hut. search of firewood, walking up to six miles, still more income for the family. In time, The smoke aggravated one child’s asthma, collecting wood as she went and carrying it the proceeds from carbon reduction often keeping him from school. in a bundle on her head, before returning credits also will flow to the household. As India’s economy has boomed in home in the evening. But in June of last Ahuja calls it Low Carbon Rural recent decades, so have its emissions of year, Champa’s life changed overnight: she Development. This simple intervention is global warming pollution. But a sizable got a biogas digester and a small gas stove. one of many that are being implemented to portion of those emissions still comes The digester is a small concrete pit deliver the elusive triple win: accelerating from the burning of wood for cooking and with an airtight cover just outside her development and poverty alleviation, heating by India’s poor. house. She fills it with the dung from her improving local air quality and health and Poor quality cook stoves exacerbate the cows, which then decomposes, producing reducing global warming pollution. problem by burning wood very inefficiently, enough methane for her daily cooking “Today, EDF and our Indian partners increasing the pressure on forests and needs. The remaining slurry is a good are working with some 150,000 Champas,” releasing vast amounts of carbon once fertilizer for the farm. Ahuja says. “And this is just the beginning. stored in living trees. The smoke from wood Champa’s digester is one of thousands There are 150 million women like her in fires is also a deadly public health problem. being provided through the Fair Climate India. The work must be done.” The World Health Organization estimates that globally some 1.5 million people die every year from diseases like lung cancer LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION! and pneumonia caused by pollution from indoor cooking fires. To spark action on climate But how do you attack this problem change in India, EDF in a nation of 1.2 billion people, one-third produced and distributed of whom lack access to electricity and a Bollywood-style film in more than half of whom earn less than Hindi called Aarohan (“A $500 a year? New Beginning”). The film “You start at the grassroots,” says links global warming to Richie Ahuja, EDF’s program director rural development and has for India. “You work in the 600,000 rural been seen in some 500 villages where most Indians still live, villages as part of our effort ord/ A urora P hotos helping people find ways to reduce carbon to promote low-carbon

emissions and live better lives.” development in India. R ussell K As an example, Ahuja describes edf.org solutions FALL 2012 5 cover story

John Rae bringing the gulf coast back to life

By Peter Klebnikov n the day in late June when Congress navigation and petroleum infrastructure Ovoted to dedicate billions of dollars in and the survival of New Orleans. Forming a rare bipartisan BP oil spill fines to restore the Gulf Coast, “We don’t know exactly how a river two key allies in the fight, EDF scientist Dr. builds land,” says Dr. Freeman. “But we coalition, EDF and our Angelina Freeman and coastal scientist Dr. do know it does so on a scale that humans John Lopez (pictured above), were far from with bulldozers can’t match.” allies launch the nation’s Washington in a muddy pass south of New It was once a common event here for biggest environmental Orleans, observing the future. the Mississippi to overrun its banks and Around them, the Mississippi River replenish wetlands with sediment. But restoration. Our secret was coursing through a willow swamp. The for much of the past century, the Army temperature was 101° and the mud was Corps of Engineers built canals and levees, weapon? The mighty profound. But as they took measurements slicing up wetlands, turning the river into a and scribbled notes, the scientists were walled barge canal and sending hundreds Mississippi River. delighted. They were seeing the Big Muddy of millions of tons of precious sediment run free. out into the Gulf of Mexico each year. An ambitious idea is taking shape in As a result, the Louisiana coast is this swamp. EDF scientists are studying losing 17 square miles of coastal land how the river builds up land by depositing annually, exposing New Orleans to storms. sediment. Our goal is to replicate these “We need to reverse this mistake,” says Dr. mechanisms on a large scale, harnessing Lopez, who directs the Lake Pontchartrain the power of the Mississippi to create Basin Foundation. land that is critical to local communities, To launch such a restoration, what’s

6 solutions fALL 2012 edf.org cover story

“EDF’s expertise in the region proved invaluable reached consensus,” recalls our project director Courtney Taylor, “we supported as we put together recommendations to restore them with a barrage of editorial board, grassroots and business backing in the the Gulf Coast.” region and nationally.” EDF members —Ray Mabus, Secretary of the Navy helped by sending more than 100,000 messages to Congress. needed, besides public consensus and “Without them, restoration would be In March, the Senate approved the sound science, is money—lots of it. So, impossible.” Also key was the support of RESTORE Act as an amendment to the shortly after the BP Deepwater Horizon the navigation industry. Barge pilots worry transportation bill. A similar version disaster, we and our partners worked with that a key route, the Intercoastal waterway, passed in the House. The final RESTORE Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) on an idea has become exposed to rough open seas Act was approved in June by huge to dedicate BP’s penalties to Mississippi due to wetlands loss and sea level rise. bipartisan majorities: 373–52 in the House River Delta restoration. EDF worked across party lines with and 74–19 in the Senate. In her speech Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, key senators to help craft the RESTORE to Congress, Senator Landrieu called the Obama administration’s point man Act, emphasizing both environmental EDF “absolutely instrumental” to the in the Gulf, seized on this idea and urged and economic restoration. Ultimately, legislation’s success. Congress to create a Gulf recovery fund seven of the nine senators sponsoring the The final bill dedicates 80% of Gulf dedicated to restoring wetlands and legislation were Republicans. oil spill penalty money to healing the creating jobs in the hard-hit region. “Once the Gulf Coast delegation Gulf Coast—an amount that could There was one problem, and it was a big one: getting such an ambitious plan through Congress, which had been local hero agreeing on little and doing even less for the environment. If Congress did nothing, John Taylor grew up hunting and fishing around the Lower Ninth Ward, where the BP’s penalties would have flowed to the wetlands met the city. “I remember millions of trees here, flowers and animals galore like federal treasury rather than to the area trout and black bear,” he says. “My parents tried to scare us from going into the woods, harmed by the spill. but that didn’t work.” To persuade lawmakers to dedicate Then, in the 1960s, Taylor saw the rich ecosystem destroyed by the Mississippi the funds to the Gulf, EDF helped craft River Gulf Outlet, a shipping channel that allowed salt water in. And in 2005, he watched legislative language with our partners, as Hurricane Katrina the Audubon Society, National Wildlife roared up the channel, Federation, The Nature Conservancy, demolishing the Lower Ocean Conservancy and Oxfam America. Ninth. “The wetland We brought businesspeople, scientists would have slowed the and community leaders to Congress and, in storm surge and saved studies with Duke University, demonstrated hundreds of lives,” he that environmental restoration generates says. “It’s a shame more jobs than oil and gas investments. we couldn’t stop its “We showed lawmakers that commerce destruction. Sometimes and prosperity depend on conservation,” I think about how it was, says Paul Harrison, senior director of our with the lilies blooming water program. and the cypress knees John R ae “EDF had a lot of credibility going everywhere. It looks John Taylor: “Sometimes I think about how it was.” in,” adds the Rev. Robert Gorman of monstrous now.” Catholic Charities in Houma. Among other As coastal restoration moves forward, Taylor and the organization he works for, achievements, EDF helped secure locally the Lower Ninth Ward Center for Engagement and Development, will help guide the popular victories like the closure of the work, ensuring local jobs are created. “Nobody knows the coast better than the local Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, a little-used people,” says EDF project director Brian Jackson. shipping canal that funneled Katrina’s storm EDF’s local allies range from riverboat pilots to the Catholic Charities in Houma, surge deep into the heart of New Orleans. where Father Gorman dispenses gas money and clothes for job interviews to a fishing “We found the right business voices,” community still reeling from the BP oil spill. “Dozens of people are still losing their says EDF senior counsel James Tripp, who boats,” Gorman says. “We need to rebuild these communities.” has been working in the Gulf for 35 years. edf.org solutions FALL 2012 7 cover story

reach $21 billion, assuming a settlement and energy to the world. By volume, the tourism and wildlife habitat, is threatened. is reached. This money will spark the most port of south Louisiana is the nation’s “Destruction of the Mississippi ambitious environmental restoration largest—by far. River Delta is by far the largest and project in U.S. history and it will improve But over the years, the destruction most tragic loss of ecological resources the lives of millions. of cypress swamps, coastal marshes and in this country,” says Tripp. “Everyone barrier islands has exposed New Orleans understands that the way we’ve been What’s next for New Orleans? to hurricanes and oil spills. Sea level managing the river was killing the Delta A local saying goes: New Orleans is a rise and stronger storms due to global wetlands. We’ve pushed the system to the necessary city in an impossible location. warming have accelerated the damage. edge. Now it’s time to rebuild it.” Sit on the levee south of the city and you’ll Today, the regional economy, With the legislation passed, we and see why. Every five minutes, an enormous including the port complex and oil and gas our partners are eager to get to work. The tanker glides by, taking America’s food infrastructure, a $23 billion fishing industry, guiding document is Louisiana’s 2012

It took the mighty Mississippi River 7,000 years to lay down the Reclaiming sediment that built Louisiana’s wetlands. But in the last century, nearly a third of that land has disappeared, largely due to flood Louisiana’s control and navigation projects. Now, EDF is helping to rebuild what has been lost, using vanishing wetlands billions of dollars in fines that will result from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Once again, the Mississippi will create coastland that preserves the region’s fisheries and wildlife and protects the city of New Orleans.

Louisiana Mississippi Atchafalaya River management Mississippi River Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) restoration area Lake Pontchartrain Atchafalaya River

New Orleans MRGO . B inselam, 2007, L SU Center for the H ealth I mpacts of urricanes/Louisiana G eological S urvey. Houma eele, and S . A

Areas where EDF and partners are working Community Wetlands loss 1937 – 2000 resilience project Land gained 1937 – 2000 Myrtle Grove project Lower river redesign project horeline Change 1937–2000, J. S nead, R . H P S ource: Louisiana horeline Change 1937–2000, J.

8 solutions fALL 2012 edf.org Coastal Master Plan, which EDF’s Tripp played a key role in shaping. It outlines 145 projects to restore 860 square miles of coastal land, nearly half of what Louisiana has lost since the 1930s. The goal is to fundamentally change the way the Mississippi has been managed for the last 100 years. Our top restoration priorities are projects to reconnect the Mississippi to its wetlands, so that sediments from the river can replenish the coast. The Army

EDF Helps rebuild Craig S emetko a VITAL coastlINe In Southern Louisiana, healthy oyster beds mean much-needed jobs.

Rejoining the river to the delta Corps is using EDF’s models to plan these what we have and I don’t want to lose Levees keep the Mississippi from restoration projects, which include the it,” he says. “But I worry about how our depositing sediment, causing wetlands Central Wetlands of New Orleans community will survive the changes.” to erode. EDF is using the river to rebuild and Myrtle Grove to the south. “Soon, Sea level rise from global warming marshes in places like Myrtle Grove. the river will once again build wetlands is a leading concern. “I’m afraid in my for generations to come,” says Harrison. lifetime this will all be under water,” says Giving the Atchafalaya a boost “We’ll make sure there are no more Houma oysterman Jason Gilfour, gesturing The Mississippi feeds the Atchafalaya River boondoggles like the Mississippi River at a landscape of shopping malls and gas and supports America’s largest swamp. Gulf Outlet.” stations. “All the concrete infrastructure Smart environmental management has you build will not help you if the sea partially replenished the river’s wetlands. Inherited from Spanish kings continues to rise.” EDF is pushing for flows that mimic natural fluctuations to build even more land. In an area where people’s lives are “We’re preparing for change,” adds inextricably bound up with the water, Voisin. “We’re among the first to experience Filling in old canals reconstruction of wetlands will bring social the effects of the continual coastal loss.” change. EDF is working with communities Like many people here, Voisin believes that Obsolete canals, like the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet boondoggle, allow salt water and industries to help them adapt. A rebuilding the wetlands, if done correctly, into freshwater marshes, destroying them priority is the Gulf oyster industry. can save coastal areas. and damaging fisheries. EDF is working to Louisiana remains the world’s leading refill these old waterways. producer of oysters, but the industry is in “Soon, the river trouble. Threatened by coastal erosion and Protecting living reefs salt water intrusion, 90% of the oyster beds will once again Oyster reefs protect the coast from storms, south of Houma are gone. This is troubling build wetlands for provide fish and bird habitat, and improve both for economic reasons—200,000 water quality. We’re working with oystermen people depend on the industry—and generations to come.” to restore reefs in exposed areas. because oysters are a keystone species. —Paul Harrison, EDF water program They improve water quality and form Restoring barrier islands shallow reefs that protect the coast against As freshwater wetlands are restored, Barrier islands are the first line of defense hurricanes and serve as habitat for other oyster beds will need to be moved closer against a storm surge. They also help maintain a balance between fresh and economically valuable species. to sea for the optimal salt/freshwater salt water. Mike Voisin of Motivatit Seafoods balance. EDF is helping oystermen in Houma leases 15,000 acres of oyster determine where the future beds will be. beds to grow his Gold Band oysters. His “EDF brought together fishermen and ancestors began harvesting oysters here others and got these communities to sit when the area was still a possession of down together,” says Voisin. “With EDF King Charles IV of Spain. “I’m proud of involved we are moving forward.”

edf.org solutions FALL 2012 9 Arsenic, lead, mercury, zinc and A mother speaks out on cadmium contaminated the soil. During my childhood, officials told us not to eat locally mercury pollution grown vegetables or locally caught fish. For my grandparents, that was hard to accept. Despite laboratory tests that revealed dangerous levels of soil pollution, they kept eating vegetables from their garden. Both suffered serious cancers of the digestive tract. Now I’m a new mother, and, like any parent, I want my child protected from toxic chemicals, especially mercury, a dangerous neurotoxin. As a wildlife ecologist, I’m also concerned that mercury and other pollutants poison fish and wildlife by

R eg M orrison/Corbis building up in the food chain. That’s why I’m relieved that the grew up in a small town perched on Environmental Protection Agency Ia bluff overlooking the Ohio River, recently passed a rule to slash mercury in southwestern Pennsylvania. While and other toxic emissions from coal-fired charming, the town was also within power plants. breathing distance of a coal-fired power But we can’t rest yet. plant, the world’s largest zinc smelter, Congress tried to overturn the rule an oil refinery, several steel mills and in June and some are still fighting to stop foundries, a couple of plastics factories, EPA from enforcing fundamental clean air and a synthetic rubber plant. laws. There are companies that support Many hot summer nights, when we cleaner air, but it seems some polluters slept with the windows open, I fell asleep will never stop trying to use Congress Dr. Stacy Small-Lorenz is an EDF conservation scientist in our land, water and wildlife holding the covers over my face to filter and the courts to to kill clean air program. the stink from the air. protections.

Moms to the rescue In June, Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) the environment through introduced a bill in the Senate that would have “naptime activism.” killed EPA’s new mercury rule, which will slash Heading the effort, emissions 90% over the next three years. author Dominique Moms Clean Air Force, a group of mothers and other clean Browning leads a diverse air supporters, now more than 100,000 strong, swung into action community of bloggers to defend the rule, one of the biggest public health advances in a including a science generation. Inhofe that the public health benefits of lowering teacher from Connecticut,

mercury emissions are “EPA propaganda.” an Army wife in Texas and AP P hoto Senator Inhofe still doesn’t get it. America’s coal-burning power plants release about 70,000 a staff cartoonist for The pounds of toxic mercury into the environment each year. New Yorker magazine. More than 50,000 members sent messages Mercury exposure, even in small quantities, can lead to serious to the Senate warning it not to touch the mercury rule. Says neurocognitive problems, including impacts on thinking and Browning, “No politician wants to make a mother angry.” memory. Young children are particularly susceptible. EDF lobbied hard to defeat Inhofe’s proposal, which was WHAT YOU CAN DO: Tell President Obama and EPA finally voted down 53–46. A big part of our push came from Moms Administrator Lisa Jackson to keep fighting for clean air at Clean Air Force, a project that gives mothers a way to help protect momscleanairforce.org/action.

10 solutions fALL 2012 edf.org protecting our most vulnerable New safe-chemicals law begins to move in Washington easonliao/ G etty I mages

omentum may finally be shifting Chicago Tribune lights a fire long-overdue action on Capitol Hill and Mtoward action on chemical safety. “Playing with Fire,” a four-part series elsewhere. EDF scientist Dr. Richard Denison that recently ran in The Chicago Tribune In June, California Governor Jerry has been working for more than a decade (chicagotribune.com/flames), exposes Brown called for a sweeping overhaul toward reforming our nation’s obsolete a deceptive campaign by the chemical of that state’s flammability standards to Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). industry in the 1970s to enact laws dramatically reduce or eliminate toxic This 36-year-old law doesn’t regulate even mandating massive amounts of toxic flame retardants in furniture and baby the most dangerous chemicals—such as flame retardant chemicals in furniture and products. (California is such a large market asbestos, formaldehyde and lead—despite other consumer goods. The effort involved that its regulations typically become de their linkage to many chronic diseases. extensive collusion between chemical facto standards for the nation.) And—incredibly—the vast majority of the companies and Big Tobacco to blame In July, EPA announced a broad 80,000 chemicals available in the United flammable furniture for house fires actually investigation of flame retardants, and the States have never been tested for toxic caused by cigarettes. Consumer Products Safety Commission impacts on people or the environment. The ruse took the pressure off urged lawmakers to grant it special authority Over the years, Denison has shined cigarette makers and enriched chemical to speed removal of these chemicals from a spotlight on the shortcomings of TSCA, companies. Yet recent tests show that new upholstered furniture. writing reports, blogging, testifying before the flame retardants mandated by the The same month, the Safe Chemicals Congress and helping to create coalitions. laws don’t actually retard fires. They do, Act, a bill that would reform TSCA, passed But he credits a newspaper story for however, accumulate in people’s bodies, the Senate Environment and Public Works tipping the scales in favor of action. particularly children’s. Committee. This opens up the possibility Compared to their of a full Senate vote this session. mothers, toddlers have three times the level of flame Exposing a history of deceit retardants in their blood. And The Tribune’s story also helped explode studies show that exposure one of the chemical industries’ main early in development can arguments against TSCA reform: that increase the risk of learning companies are already protecting public and behavioral disabilities. health through voluntary measures “Every American is like the American Chemistry Council’s contaminated with toxic “Responsible Care” program. chemicals because of the “An industry that has consistently lied failures of TSCA,” said to the public can’t be trusted to regulate Denison. “For too long, people itself,” says Denison. “We’ll continue to have been involuntary guinea insist that the Safe Chemical Act place the pigs for chemical testing.” burden on chemical companies to prove Same actors, different poisons. EDF ran this ad to illustrate how The revelations in the their products are safe, rather than on EPA chemical companies lie to the public. Tribune stories sparked to prove they are unsafe.” edf.org solutions FALL 2012 11 green living On the Day You Were Born by Debra Frasier (1991, Teach your children well debrafrasier.com). When “things were at their darkest” in her difficult pregnancy with her daughter Calla, Frasier “asked a nurse at the hospital to bring me some paper so I could write down all the things on our Earth that would welcome my daughter, if she would just get here.” Lyrical language and bold, intricate artwork combine to describe the Sun, Moon, North Star, rain, tides and circle of people awaiting each child.

Minn of the Mississippi by Holling C. Holling (1951, Houghton

A drian G reen/ etty I mages Mifflin Harcourt). This book for young teenagers The stories we read to drowsy children just before they go to sleep are indelible. adopts the point of view We know this because we recently asked Solutions readers to tell us about of an alligator snapping favorite environmental books for young people, and many of you responded with turtle journeying down fond memories from your own childhoods. the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. In his other books, author- Here are a few of your favorites: illustrator Hollings imagined himself as a tiny carved canoe floating to the sea; a The Lorax by Dr. Seuss (1972, Random Lost in the Woods by Carl R. Sams and cottonwood tree on the Santa Fe Trail; a House). This rhyming Jean Stoicks (order at scrimshaw ivory gull carried by sailors; fable of the small, strangerinthewoods. and a hermit crab in a tidal pool. “All these nonviolent Lorax’s com). “He slept books are fantastic!” writes Lauren Ranz of stand against the in the tall grass. Lafayette, CA. greedy Once-ler, who Was he lost? wants to cut down The animals of the forest wanted to know.” all the trees, was This story of a fawn—the second book of your overwhelming a well-regarded series—is told in unstaged Enriching favorite. “This book is beautifully photographs accompanied by text. Starla young minds written and has a clear message of Morgan of Bentonville, AR, called it “a environmental stewardship,” writes sweet, true depiction with animals.” Some wonderful titles that were Ariel Debroux of Madison, WI. The Lorax suggested to us may be out of print, concludes: “Unless someone like you Dear Children of the Earth by Schim but these and other used-book sellers cares a whole awful lot / Nothing is going Schimmel (1994, Cooper have a wide selection. to get better. It’s not.” Square Publishing). •Alibris New, Rare & Used Books, Featuring spectacular Movies & Music at alibris.com The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein (1964, illustrations by the Harper Collins). A author, this letter from •Amazon Used Books at amazon.com tree gives everything Mother Earth asks for •Barnes & Noble Used Books at to a boy but gets no help from children barnesandnoble.com appreciation until it’s everywhere. “Very good message (in a too late. Silverstein’s gentle way) to encourage our youngest to •Powell’s Books at powells.com poem packs a powerful respect and appreciate our only home,” conservation message. writes Ellen Heitman of Mauston, WI.

12 solutions fALL 2012 edf.org energy waste. In many production areas, for example, lighting-control timers had S iemens Corp. been disabled. Instead, workers turned on the lights manually, but forgot to turn them off. Many lights were left burning all weekend. Total savings from correcting the problem: $23,000 per year. A common problem at all the plants was leaks in compressed air lines. “You can never put your thumb on all of them—it’s a continuing struggle,” says Ed Derr, a union official. Several leaks were found at the Siemens plant; fixing them will save $16,000 per year. But the program isn’t “just about engines of change the money,” Derr says. “It’s about the environment, about our families, working together toward a common goal.” n the hypercompetitive global economy, conducted five treasure hunts. One Altogether, EDF and IUE-CWA Imanagement and labor have a shared recently took place at a Siemens factory recommended changes at the Norwood interest in staying competitive by keeping in Norwood, OH, 20 miles north of plant that will save $173,000 every year, costs down. Cincinnati. The plant, which builds large and prevent more than 1,100 tons of With that in mind, EDF has electric motors—up to 18,000 horsepower carbon from entering the atmosphere. been working with the IUE-CWA, a —has been operating since the 1890s. In the future, the union plans to expand 45,000-member union, on a series of During World War II, it built electric the treasure hunts and conduct them at energy efficiency “treasure hunts.” The motors for submarines. hundreds of workplaces. One key goal is to hunts are designed to eliminate sources The Norwood plant produces custom make energy efficiency part of the culture of wasted energy at large manufacturing motors, including some that are one of at these plants, not just something to think plants around the country. a kind—and much of the critical work, about once or twice a year. Union members naturally hope that like winding the insulated copper coils, is “It’s one thing to say, we need a saving money by saving energy will make done by hand. The plant’s 500 workers, greener planet,” says Mark Phair, a their jobs a little more secure. “What’s some of whose fathers also worked here, manager at the Siemens plant. “But good for the environment is good for labor firmly believe they build the best large when you can go to the plant manager —and good for company profits,” says motors in the world. and say, ‘Here’s your greener planet, EDF project manager Brendan FitzSimons. During the three-day hunt, EDF and and here’s $20,000, too,’ it’s a little more So far, EDF and IUE-CWA have IUE-CWA found numerous instances of interesting.”

EDF Legacy Match

Include EDF in your estate plan, and we will receive a matching donation of up to $10,000 today.

To learn more, call toll-free 877-677-7397 email [email protected] G etty I mages edf.org solutions FALL 2012 13 field notes

In California, solar for the ordinary homeowner? Keeping track of methane Many homeowners would Of the many questions associated with love to install solar panels the shale gas boom, one of the biggest and other clean energy unknowns is its effect on global warming. improvements, if only they Even though natural gas emits only half could afford them. the carbon dioxide of coal when burned, it In California, EDF has could end up accelerating climate change. an innovative solution: Why? Because some of it escapes from Provide easier access to wells and pipelines, and unburned natural financing, with repayments gas, mostly methane, is far more damaging made on monthly utility than carbon dioxide. bills. We’re working with The first step to stopping the leaks state legislators and utilities is finding them, but no one knows how to create the first statewide much methane is leaking from the on-bill repayment program A urora P hotos E than Welty/ natural gas system. So EDF is working Under our program, banks would finance home-energy upgrades. for energy upgrades, to be with researchers from the University of financed by private lenders. Middle-income earners stand to benefit Texas at Austin, who have begun a major Here’s how it would work: After since they otherwise do not have access to study to measure those emissions. Nine performing an energy audit, a contractor low-cost, unsecured financing. leading natural gas producers are also recommends improvements such as high- If just 1% of California homes taking part in the study, to be completed efficiency windows. If the homeowner subscribed to the program each year, by January 2013. agrees, the contractor sends a loan request to it would generate $2.7 billion in energy “If we want natural gas to be an a participating bank for approval. efficiency investments, create 20,000 accepted part of a strategy for improving

“The key is that the energy savings jobs and, within five years, reduce CO2 energy security and moving to a clean must be worth more than the monthly emissions equivalent to taking four energy future, it is critical for all of repayment,” says Brad Copithorne, million cars off the road. Other states, us to work together to quantify and EDF energy program director of financial including North Carolina, Ohio and reduce methane emissions,” says Mark innovation. “So the monthly utility bill would Texas, have approached EDF to explore Brownstein, EDF’s chief counsel for actually go down.” similar programs. energy.

Fishermen hate throwing away fish

Under old-style rules, fishermen had to discard too many fish, most of them dead or dying. Now they don’t have to. Under catch share programs, supported by EDF, fishermen can fish more selectively so they don’t haul in fish they can’t keep. The result: discards have dropped dramatically, helping populations recover.

In the Gulf of Mexico In the Pacific In New England

50% less 78% less 80% less wasted red snapper wasted fish wasted fish (versus 2006) (versus 2009) (versus 2009) im Connor P hoto by T

14 solutions fALL 2012 edf.org field notes

Even in hard times, conservation continues to pay dividends for America’s farmers During the bone-dry Dust Bowl years of the water by 50% or more the 1930s, widespread loss of topsoil led and save money. “This to the creation of the first federal farm project will help us avoid a conservation program. Today, the federal $2 million water treatment Farm Bill is the largest source of funding facility,” says Rick Twait, for landowners who agree to protect head of water purification wildlife, prevent erosion and filter water. for Bloomington. EDF has long encouraged the “This could be a model use of Farm Bill funds to benefit the for many cities with similar environment, and today we’re finding problems,” says EDF exciting new ways to do just that. consultant Terry Noto. In Bloomington, IL, for example, Similar Farm Bill we’re helping city managers tap a Farm conservation programs have Bill program to improve their drinking enabled farmers to plant water supply, which has tested high for nearly 30 million acres of potentially dangerous nitrates found in grass, trees and wetlands fertilizer from upstream farms. across America. Today, the The solution? Wildlife-friendly Farm Bill sets environmental wetlands. EDF and our partners showed policy for two-thirds of that “nitrate removal wetlands,” which America’s land. filter runoff, can reduce nitrogen levels in “The benefits in terms of water quality, soil health and ecosystems far outweigh the costs,” says Sara Hopper, EDF’s S NR C agricultural policy director. Landowners participating in Farm Bill programs have planted Yet, despite their nearly 30 million acres of grass, trees and wetlands across success, Farm Bill America to filter runoff and create wildlife habitat. conservation programs are in trouble in Congress: Both chambers are farmer Todd Hesterman, who worked poised to slash at least $6 billion. with EDF to create protective streamside We and our allies are working to make buffers on his land in Northwest Ohio, S uzanne and Joseph Collins/ G etty I mages

Farm Bill beneficiary: The Illinois chorus sure these valuable programs survive. using Farm Bill conservation funds. “To frog, a rare and tiny species with a “This assistance is a balance of economics me, that was also the key to becoming “squeaky wheel” croak. and environmental stewardship,” says involved with EDF.”

Helping corporations make every gallon of water count In many parts of the country, water mean big water savings. For example, shortages are endemic and likely to get more efficient cooling towers at office worse with climate change. Now EDF buildings and factories in the Dallas–Fort has teamed up with telecom giant AT&T Worth area alone could save 12 billion to develop significant ways to conserve gallons a year—equal to the annual water water. In several projects, we are targeting use of nearly 500,000 homes. water loss from cooling towers atop AT&T’s Says EDF project manager Brendan office buildings and data centers around FitzSimons, “If we’re successful, the next the country. step is to share what we’ve learned with Cooling towers are critical elements other companies. It’s a big opportunity

of air conditioning systems on large for companies to save water—and money S hutterstock buildings. Improving their efficiency can on the water bill.” Cooling towers. Water down the drain.

edf.org solutions FALL 2012 15 saving wildlife in a warming world

e know that climate change Wis already playing havoc with many of the places wild creatures call home. But the science of helping them adapt to these changes is still in its infancy. One way to help wildlife is to expand their habitat. So EDF is partnering with the ranchers, farmers and foresters who manage two-thirds of U.S. land to do just that. Focusing on a variety TEXAS HILL COUNTRY of landscapes, our work aims to The only place on Earth that endangered golden- increase species’ resilience in the cheeked warblers nest is the vanishing cedar-oak woodland of central Texas. If it loses its nesting face of climate change. home, the bird’s fate is uncertain. EDF helped design a program that allows landowners to offset the impacts of development by paying nearby ranchers to restore warbler breeding grounds. The result: more and better habitat.

Mountain West Eastern longleaf Western rivers In the West, booming energy development pine forest As drought and growing urban demand strain threatens wildlife. EDF is creating offset- On the road to recovery, the red-cockaded the Colorado River watershed, EDF is working credit programs that will preserve habitat woodpecker faces new threats to its forest to improve water management and protect for animals like the mule deer. home. EDF is working with industry to flows for the river otter and other rare species. protect the forest and its wildlife.

Photos, clockwise from top: Jan Wegener/Minden Pictures; Darren Bennett/Animals Animals; Martin Lammertink; istockphoto