Posted by Frances Beinecke in Moving Beyond Oil , Reviving the World's Oceans
Yesterday I arrived in New Orleans to join NRDC’s on-the-ground team and see firsthand the impacts of the massive and still-uncontrolled, still-flowing oil spill from Deepwater Horizon. Quickly we head up and over the wetlands in a helicopter, and the impression I...
Posted by Frances Beinecke in Moving Beyond Oil , Reviving the World's Oceans
This morning, I am traveling to Louisiana to see for myself what the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster has done to this bountiful but deeply stressed region. I am going to meet with local environmental justice groups in New Orleans and...
Posted by Frances Beinecke in Moving Beyond Oil , Reviving the World's Oceans , Solving Global Warming
America has experienced two energy-related disasters in the past month, and though they involved different technologies and occurred in different parts of the country, they had one thing in common: fossil fuels. On April 5, a massive accident at the...
Posted by Frances Beinecke in Moving Beyond Oil , Reviving the World's Oceans , Solving Global Warming
As tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico continues to unfold in painful and unpredictable ways, Americans are wondering what we can do to prevent another offshore oil disaster in the future. I have just sent a letter to President Obama...
Posted by Frances Beinecke in Reviving the World's Oceans , Solving Global Warming
I celebrated Earth Day in a garden this year, the Rose Garden. I was honored to attend a White House reception marking Earth Day’s 40th anniversary, and under beautiful spring skies, we cheered President Obama as he recalled the great...
Posted by Frances Beinecke in Moving Beyond Oil , Reviving the World's Oceans , Solving Global Warming
President Obama traveled to Andrews Air Force Base today to talk about the need to strengthen America’s energy security. I agreed with his emphasis on the need to invest in clean energy. I welcomed his mention of the new clean...
Posted by Frances Beinecke in Reviving the World's Oceans , Solving Global Warming
I was on Capitol Hill yesterday, with my dear friend Sigourney Weaver and Senator Lautenberg, to do a screening of NRDC's new film Acid Test, and to talk about how to protect our oceans from carbon pollution. The timing was just right. We knew that on...
Posted by Frances Beinecke in Reviving the World's Oceans , Solving Global Warming
My good friend and narrator of NRDC's new documentary on ocean acidification, actress Sigourney Weaver, joined me to co-write my blog today to discuss our screening of the film on Capitol Hill, as the Senate prepares to take up the...
Posted by Frances Beinecke in Reviving the World's Oceans , Solving Global Warming
Last summer, when I traveled through the Arctic Ocean as part of the Aspen Commission on Arctic Climate Change, I was moved by the beauty of the sea, from its steel gray waters to its haunting blue sea ice. As...
Posted by Frances Beinecke in Reviving the World's Oceans , Solving Global Warming
In Washington, lawmakers often talk about global warming as something that will affect us sometime in the future. In the Arctic, people don't have that luxury any longer. Life is already changing rapidly for the First Nations people living around...
Posted by Frances Beinecke in Reviving the World's Oceans , Solving Global Warming
A year ago, I traveled by ship through the Arctic Ocean, seeing the effects of global warming first hand. Now I have come to Winnipeg for a meeting of the Aspen Commission on Arctic Climate Change. As I listen to...
Posted by Frances Beinecke in Reviving the World's Oceans , Solving Global Warming
Last week President Obama called for a national ocean policy to protect critical marine ecosystems. At the same time, climate negotiators wrapped up a major international meeting in Bonn. These may seem like two unrelated events--one is about water, after...
Posted by Frances Beinecke in Reviving the World's Oceans , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming
It's been a hard week for polar bears. Last Wednesday, the New York Times reported that scientists and officials from the five Arctic nations concluded that climate change is "the most important long-term threat" to the bears. Now the U.S....
Posted by Frances Beinecke in Reviving the World's Oceans , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
Visiting a gray whale nursery in Laguna San Ignacio, Baja, California last week reminded me of one of the fundamental truths about environmental advocacy: it is great to win victories, but then you have to secure them for the long-term....
Posted by Frances Beinecke in Reviving the World's Oceans , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
I spend most of my working hours sitting in meetings in office buildings. But over the past few days, I came face to face with what those meetings can achieve: wild baby gray whales, whales whose last unspoiled nursery was...
