Came to NRDC in 1981 and spent five years suing the Department of Energy to clean up the radioactive and toxic waste from 50 years of nuclear weapons production. Then married a US diplomat and moved to Moscow, where our first son was born the day that Chernobyl blew up. Frightened by the potential impacts of radioactive exposure on my infant son, I signed up for a meeting with a group of experts brought from Washington by the US Embassy – only to find that they were the same “experts” I had spent years debunking in various lawsuits. My personal and professional lives have been intertwined ever since.
When we moved to Beijing in 1990, I was entranced to find that China was just awakening to the idea that sustainable development was in its own self-interest. Through the UN Development Programme, I was asked to help China develop the world’s first blueprint for sustainable development in the 21st century. I also met with representatives from 70 different Chinese government agencies and NGOs to figure out what they needed to achieve this goal. But all along, I kept thinking about NRDC and how much it had to offer China, particularly in the area of clean energy and energy efficiency. When I returned to NRDC in 1995, I started our China Clean Energy Project (now China Program) and haven’t looked back since. Now we have an office in Beijing and a staff of nearly two dozen people working on issues ranging from industrial efficiency, green buildings and smart growth to open information and environmental health.
Posted January 9, 2012 by Barbara Finamore in Curbing Pollution, Greening China, Health and the Environment
Power plant emissions and air quality standards targeting some of the most harmful impacts of coal are coming under greater scrutiny starting this year in China. As of January 1, new thermal power plants have tougher restrictions on soot, sulfur...continued→
Posted September 15, 2011 by Barbara Finamore in Curbing Pollution, Greening China, Solving Global Warming
China’s State Council recently announced its work plan for energy-savings and major pollutant emissions reductions through 2015 (“Energy Conservation and Emissions Reduction Comprehensive Work Plan for the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) Period”). This key guiding document for realizing China’s energy...continued→
Posted June 7, 2011 by Barbara Finamore in Curbing Pollution, Green Enterprise, Greening China, Living Sustainably, Reviving the World's Oceans, Solving Global Warming
Nearly two decades ago, I helped advise China on a blueprint for national sustainability in the 21st century. The blueprint – known as Agenda 21 – was prepared jointly by more than fifty different government agencies, state-owned enterprises and other...continued→
Posted April 29, 2011 by Barbara Finamore in Greening China, Solving Global Warming
A group of ten senior U.S. Senators visited China this week (the largest delegation of elected U.S. officials ever to visit the country). Their take-away? China is taking the lead on clean energy and giving the U.S. a run for...continued→
Posted March 23, 2011 by Barbara Finamore in Curbing Pollution, Greening China, Solving Global Warming
With the adoption of its Twelfth Five-Year Plan, the Chinese government has cemented key long-term strategies for greening GDP, controlling energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and key pollutants, and capitalizing on the growing low-carbon economy (full Chinese plan). Environment and...continued→
Posted March 5, 2011 by Barbara Finamore in Greening China, Solving Global Warming
China’s annual parliamentary session opened Saturday morning, with 3,000 National People’s Congress members and 2,000 members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) gathered in the Great Hall of the People to hear Premier Wen Jiabao deliver the annual...continued→
Posted March 4, 2011 by Barbara Finamore in Curbing Pollution, Greening China, Solving Global Warming
In a number of high-profile statements over the last week, Chinese officials have signaled that environmental protection and climate change will be at the top of the list when China’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress, and its top...continued→
Posted January 28, 2011 by Barbara Finamore in Greening China, Solving Global Warming
Two days ago here in China, I listened attentively to President Obama’s State of the Union address, where he set forth an ambitious new economic agenda based on innovation and clean energy. Notably, the President proposed a goal of obtaining...continued→
Posted January 22, 2011 by Barbara Finamore in Greening China, Solving Global Warming
President Hu Jintao concluded his visit to the United States Friday, after meeting with President Obama and other top government and business leaders in Washington, D.C., and Chicago. Among the many issues on the agenda for these two leaders, strengthening...continued→
Posted January 18, 2011 by Barbara Finamore in Greening China, Solving Global Warming
Yesterday, before Chinese President Hu Jintao’s plane even hit the tarmac, senior energy experts from both countries gathered to inaugurate the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center (CERC), the latest in a series of initiatives building on the historic November 2009...continued→
Posted January 18, 2011 by Barbara Finamore in Greening China, Solving Global Warming
Today, Chinese President Hu Jintao will be arriving in Washington, D.C., for a three-day U.S. visit. This is the second state-level visit between him and President Obama, including Obama’s visit to Beijing in November 2009, which set forth an ambitious...continued→
Posted December 11, 2010 by Barbara Finamore in Greening China, Solving Global Warming
China and the U.S., the world’s two largest emitters of greenhouse gases, played key roles in the Cancun Agreements, the pact on climate change that nearly all the world’s nations just adopted here in Mexico. Both countries have worked hard...continued→
Posted December 10, 2010 by Barbara Finamore in Greening China, Solving Global Warming
With two days left in the climate negotiations in Cancun, a group of Chinese and American NGOs showed last night what can be done when we roll up our sleeves and work toward common solutions. With representation across all fields...continued→
Posted November 29, 2010 by Barbara Finamore in Greening China, Solving Global Warming
This post was co-authored with NRDC China Energy Efficiency/DSM Project Director Mona Yew and NRDC legal fellow Bruce Ho. As we begin a new round of international climate negotiations in Cancun, China has taken another potentially giant step towards meeting...continued→
Posted October 28, 2010 by Barbara Finamore in Greening China, Solving Global Warming
Last week, the Communist Party of China (CPC) adopted a proposal for drafting the 12th Five Year Plan (2011-2015) that reiterates clean energy development and greenhouse gas emissions reductions as key priorities of the Chinese leadership. (The Chinese version of...continued→
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.
