Posted by Frances Beinecke in Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably
Last week brought welcome news to anyone concerned about the prevalence of toxic chemicals in our everyday lives. Senator Frank Lautenberg introduced legislation and Congressmen Bobby Rush and Henry Waxman unveiled draft legislation to reform the grossly inadequate Toxic Substances...
Posted by Frances Beinecke in Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably
I don’t remember exactly what I did on the first Earth Day 40 years ago, but I remember exactly how I felt: deeply relieved. You have to realize, the spring of 1970 was a tumultuous time. I was a junior at...
Posted by Frances Beinecke in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment , Moving Beyond Oil , Solving Global Warming
Climate change is already having "pervasive, wide-ranging" effects on "nearly every aspect of our society," a task force representing more than 20 federal agencies reported Tuesday. "These impacts will influence how and where we live and work as well as...
Posted by Frances Beinecke in Health and the Environment
I was humbled recently to learn that I was receiving a Hidden Heroes Award from the Andrew Goodman Foundation. This Sunday, I will be honored to accept the award at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem....
Posted by Frances Beinecke in Health and the Environment , Solving Global Warming , Solving Global Warming
Six years ago, the only people I talked to about global warming were other environmentalists. Now it is the top of the agenda for everyone from corporate CEOs to national security hawks. Last week, another sector joined in the growing...
Posted by Frances Beinecke in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably , Moving Beyond Oil
Tomorrow night NRDC will do something it has never done before: give out the inaugural Growing Green Awards to leaders in the sustainable food movement. Selected by a panel chaired by Michael Pollan, the best-selling author of the Omnivore's Dilemma,...
Posted by Frances Beinecke in Health and the Environment
Last week, the American Lung Association came out with its annual State of the Air report, and concluded that six out of every ten Americans live in communities with unhealthy air. I read these results not only as the head...
Posted by Frances Beinecke in Health and the Environment
SC Johnson, the maker of some of the world's most popular household cleaning products, has just announced two bold steps that will help consumers make healthier choices. First, the company will provide ingredient information for all of its air care and...
Posted by Frances Beinecke in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment
Over the past year, I have noticed a disturbing trend. More and more people approach me to say that they or someone they love has dangerously high levels of mercury in their system. When actor Jeremy Piven recently bowed out...
Posted by Frances Beinecke in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment
President Obama has deftly used his time in office to make bold statements on everything from Guantanamo to global warming. In two weeks, he will have another opportunity to send a message to the world that the United States is...
Posted by Frances Beinecke in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment , Solving Global Warming
Americans have been assaulted on the airwaves with ads about so-called "clean coal." What happened in East Tennessee, where a breach of a coal ash pond at a power plant send a billion gallons of toxic sludge into nearby communities,...
Posted by Frances Beinecke in Environmental Justice , Health and the Environment , The Media and the Environment , U.S. Law and Policy
It is with great sadness that I write about the passing of our dear friend and colleague Al Meyerhoff. A leader in NRDC's San Francisco office from 1981 to 1998, Al was a potent force for NRDC and the environment....
Posted by Frances Beinecke in Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably
I had breast cancer almost ten years ago, and I found chemotherapy to be more trying than I could have imagined. I prefer to leave it in the past, but recent reports brought it all back and triggered an alarming...
Posted by Frances Beinecke in Health and the Environment
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I am a breast cancer survivor, and in the years immediately after my diagnosis, I sometimes found the annual proliferation of pink ribbons difficult--it was hard to be reminded of cancer every time...
Posted by Frances Beinecke in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency registered its discontent with NRDC. Why? Because it claims we are overstepping by asking a public agency to share more public information. Maybe you don’t view the behavior of honeybees as a matter of...
