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The Light Bulb War: Ideologues Fight for Your Right to Buy Inferior Products

Peter Lehner
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House Republicans are preparing to make war on light bulbs once again, attempting to block efficiency standards that will save consumers $100 a year on energy bills and are already creating thousands of jobs across the country. If ideologues in...continued | comments

Growing Green Awards: Winners Produce Food that Nourishes People and the Planet

Frances Beinecke
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Today NRDC announces the winners of the 2012 Growing Green Awards. These awards celebrate the farmers, business owners, and bold thinkers who are transforming America’s food system. Each one of them has pioneered ways to produce food that nourishes our...continued | comments

Greener Washdays Ahead

Ed Osann
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In the years ahead, new clothes washers and dishwashers sold throughout the US will be dramatically more energy- and water-efficient, and that’s great news for consumers.  Today’s announcement of new efficiency standards by the Department of Energy (see here for...continued | comments

Ahmedabad to Atlanta: Partnership Advances Innovative Project to Protect Communities Against Extreme Heat in India

Meredith Connolly
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Co-authored with Kathy Tran, Master of Public Health, Global Environmental Health, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health Our innovative heat adaptation project in Ahmedabad, the largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat, gained important momentum last week.  Dr....continued | comments

Kathy Tran Guest Blog: Ahmedabad to Atlanta - Partnership Advances Innovative Project to Protect Communities Against Extreme Heat in India

Anjali Jaiswal
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Guest Blog by Kathy Tran, Master of Public Health, Global Environmental Health, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health Our innovative heat adaptation project in Ahmedabad, the largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat, gained important momentum last week. ...continued | comments

Extreme Rain Storms Double in Midwest: Time to Act

Theo Spencer
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NRDC released a report today along with the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization using new analysis that shows rain storms that dump more than three inches in a day have doubled over the last 50 years. Those storms are linked to...continued | comments

Concerns about the health risks of fracking continue to grow

Amy Mall
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According to a recent article in Inside EPA (subscription only), the National Research Council (NRC) is preparing to undertake a preliminary review of the potential human and environmental risks of shale gas development, in particular hydraulic fracturing. The article quotes an NRC senior scholar...continued | comments

New Standards for Clothes Washers and Dishwashers Great News for Consumers

Meg Waltner
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Clothes washers and dishwashers meeting new energy efficiency standards announced today will continue to wash clothes and dishes well, without washing away hard earned cash. The standards issued by DOE today will require clothes washers to use up to 35...continued | comments

Citizen participation in the design of sustainable communities

Kaid Benfield
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     (Illustration courtesy of Julie Stuart, Making Ideas Visible) Today’s post is guest-authored by my friend and frequent collaborator, Lee Epstein.  Lee is an attorney and land use planner working for sustainability in the mid-Atlantic region. First, a confession: I...continued | comments (1)

Update: Illinois Shark Fin Ban Clears General Assembly

Josh Mogerman
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The effort to ban trade in shark fins is going swimmingly in Illinois! Nick Magrisso just reported from the Statehouse that the Senate has voted overwhelmingly to approve a measure that would ban the sale, trade, distribution or possession...continued | comments

Los Angeles Explores Innovative Model to Address Environmental Injustice

Adrian Martinez
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I am very excited today to stand in solidarity with community advocates and businesses seeking to address the severe, disproportionate impact of pollution on three of the most overburdened communities in Los Angeles—Wilmington, Pacoima and Boyle Heights.  The Policy is...continued | comments

Congress considering terrible bills to speed up oil and gas destruction of public wildlands

Amy Mall
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A suite of bad bills is scheduled to be considered in the House Natural Resources Committee tomorrow, and NRDC opposes all of them. Here are the details from my colleague Bobby McEnaney on the four worst:  H.R. 4383 – This draconian bill is designed...continued | comments

NRDC continues to fight for the survival of Alaska's Cook Inlet Belugas

Taryn Kiekow
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Cook Inlet beluga whales – they’re beautiful. Melodious.  Highly intelligent. And critically endangered.  There are only 284 of them left on the planet.  Yet the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) recently issued a permit that authorizes Apache Alaska Corporation to...continued | comments (1)

Senator Lugar Will Be Missed

Dan Lashof
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Next year, for the first time since 1977, the U.S. Senate will convene without Richard Lugar. Over at the NRDC Action Fund there is a discussion of the political implications of Lugar’s defeat and Nate Silver has a great statistical...continued | comments

Getting Transportation Back on Track

Rob Perks
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President Obama signed a declaration making this National Transportation Week. “Our roads, rails, runways and shipyards have formed the foundation for a thriving global marketplace, and our transportation networks have enabled our first responders and service members to react with speed and...continued | comments

Voices Against Tar Sands: What Americans closest to the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline are saying

Anthony Swift
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In the national debate surrounding tar sands expansion and projects like TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, the powerful voices of Americans on the front lines are often lost in the noise. And it’s easy to see why -...continued | comments

New Fracking Standards Are a Good Start, but Industry Tries to Water them Down

Frances Beinecke
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Natural gas fracking has been in the news a lot in the past few weeks. The Obama Administration took initial steps to limit air and water pollution from fracking. Even though these measures are not yet strong enough to protect...continued | comments (1)

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Switchboard is the staff blog of the Natural Resources Defense Council, the nation’s most effective environmental group. For more about our work, including in-depth policy documents, action alerts and ways you can contribute, visit NRDC.org.

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