Group items tagged

The Department of Defense is clear-eyed about the challenges climate change poses. "The pressures caused by climate change will influence resource competition while placing additional burdens on economies, societies, and governance institutions around the world," the most recent Quadrennial Defense Review, issued in 2014, states. "These effects are threat multipliers that will aggravate stressors abroad such as poverty, environmental degradation, political instability, and social tensions-conditions that can enable terrorist activity and other forms of violence."

Virginia-based pork producer Smithfield Foods announced plans to reduce its carbon emissions by 25% during the next eight years. This is the largest planned cut by any US-based meat packer, according to the Environmental Defense Fund.

The Environmental Defense Fund's partnership with Wal-Mart has resulted in major sustainability improvements, particularly through its supply chain, writes Diane Regas, EDF's executive director. "The ripple effect of our partnership with Walmart has reached hundreds of influential brands, hundreds of thousands of suppliers and millions of consumers," she writes.

The ability of Europe's aging forests to absorb carbon dioxide is heading towards saturation point, threatening one of the continent's main defenses against global warming, a study showed on Sunday.

"Toxics Across America" (Environmental Defense Fund) analyzes the production, consumption, and trade of 120 hazardous chemicals in the United States-complete with an interactive map showcasing the findings. The report finds that 14 chemicals are produced or imported in quantities exceeding one billion pounds per year, and that 8 chemicals are used in children's products.

A number of biologists have recently made the argument that extinction is part of evolution and that saving species need not be a conservation priority. But this revisionist thinking shows a lack of understanding of evolution and an ignorance of the natural world.

The Environmental Defense Fund launched an advertising campaign to protest the proposed cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency's budget. The ad warns that cutting EPA funding could lead to increased health issues, more pollution and increased levels of lead in drinking water.

Walmart sent a letter to its suppliers outlining its new sustainable chemistry policy, which seeks to curtail the use of substances that are hazardous to human health and the environment. The policy was developed over several years in consultation with the Environmental Defense Fund and other stakeholders.

US commercial buildings can collectively save up to 28 billion gallons of water annually by using a suit of tools produced by AT&T and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), the organizations say.

Brands including Target, Levi's and Gap are teaming up with the Natural Resources Defense Council to make their suppliers' factories in China more sustainable. A pilot project involving 33 factories has already seen coal consumption reduced by 61,000 tons and chemical consumption by 400 tons, and saved the factories a total of $14.7 million.

WASHINGTON - President Obama called out climate change deniers in Congress for being weak on defense, saying it would be "dereliction of duty" for the United States to ignore the national security implications of rising global temperatures.

Leaders of the Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Greenpeace, and 16 other organizations sent an open letter urging the Green Building Initiative (GBI) to strengthen its Green Globes standard or state more explicitly that their standard is less rigorous than LEED or Living Building Challenge ones. The letter also urged GBI to stop attacking the credibility of LEED standards.

Conan O'Brien is working with the state of California and the Natural Resources Defense Council to develop a series of video public service announcements aimed at encouraging state residents to save water. That could be a successful strategy, since it focuses on humorous and upbeat messages rather than shaming people into saving water, writes Alexis Petru.

The US energy landscape is swiftly transitioning away from fossil fuels in favor of renewables, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. "By the close of 2014, the United States was relying on an unprecedented amount of renewable energy from wind turbines, solar panels, and other technologies. We are bearing witness to fundamental change in the energy sector, reflecting the needs and aspirations of all who depend on it," said the report. It added that US carbon emissions have already dropped 10% below 2005 levels

The Southern California Gas Company is attempting to fix a methane leak at one of its energy facilities in Aliso Canyon, California, which is reportedly spewing 110,000 pounds of the gas into the air every hour. The Environmental Defense Fund has called it "one of the biggest leaks we've ever seen reported" and "absolutely uncontained."

The Natural Resources Defense Council and China's Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs released the 2018 Green Supply Chain Corporate Information Transparency Index, which ranks companies across 15 industries on their supply chain transparency, compliance, energy conservation, and environmental protection practices. The top-3 ranked companies were Apple, Dell, and Levi Strauss & Company.

Today, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in the U.S. and the Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs (IPE) in China launched the IPE Green Supply Chain Map, the only tool in the world to openly link leading multinational corporations to their suppliers' environmental performance.

Despite criticism from the administration, several US military leaders plan to continue to push sustainability efforts. The Navy uses gas-electric hybrid warships at sea to reduce fuel usage, and the military produces enough renewable energy to power 286,000 US homes, according to the Department of Defense.

Pulverizing ill-gotten ivory at public "ivory crushes" constitutes an important step toward saving endangered elephants. 

Belize just redefined marine conservation, entrusting its fishermen with a nationwide system of multi-species fishing rights for all its coastal fishing waters.