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Frances Beinecke's Blog

Issues: Reviving the World's Oceans

Lawmakers Watch NRDC's film ACID TEST on Capitol Hill

September 30, 2009

Posted by Frances Beinecke in Reviving the World's Oceans , Solving Global Warming

Tags:
acidification, acidtest, carbonemissions, energyandclimate2009, globalwarming, oceanacidification, oceans

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...

Sigourney Weaver & I take ACID TEST, our new documentary, to Capitol Hill

September 28, 2009

Posted by Frances Beinecke in Reviving the World's Oceans , Solving Global Warming

Tags:
ACES, acidtest, capitolhill, cleanenergy, climatebill, energyandclimate2009, oceanacidification, sigourneyweaver

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...

ACID TEST: Protecting Our Oceans' Economic Vitality from Global Warming

August 12, 2009

Posted by Frances Beinecke in Reviving the World's Oceans , Solving Global Warming

Tags:
acidification, acidtest, arctic, arcticocean, coral, energyandclimate2009, fisheries, fishermen, globalwarming, jobs, oceans

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...

Arctic People Talk about Life on the Frontlines of Climate Change

July 29, 2009

Posted by Frances Beinecke in Reviving the World's Oceans , Solving Global Warming

Tags:
arctic, arcticcommision, arcticocean, climatechange, firstnation, globalwarming, oceans, oceansgovernance, oildrilling, sciencereserve, sealevelrise

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...

Notes from the North: Climate Change Is Accelerating

July 22, 2009

Posted by Frances Beinecke in Reviving the World's Oceans , Solving Global Warming

Tags:
ACES, alaska, arctic, arcticcommision, arcticocean, energyandclimate2009, globalwarming, NOAA, oceans, oceansgovernance

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...

New Film Captures Link between Imperiled Oceans and Climate Change

June 16, 2009

Posted by Frances Beinecke in Reviving the World's Oceans , Solving Global Warming

Tags:
acidification, acidtest, bonn, energyandclimate2009, globalwarming, oceans, oceansgovernance, planetgreen, simplesteps

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...

Take Action During a Bad Week for Polar Bears

March 27, 2009

Posted by Frances Beinecke in Reviving the World's Oceans , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming

Tags:
arctic, arcticcommision, arcticocean, globalwarming, lubchenco, polarbears

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....

Baja, California, Gray Whales, and 11 Million BioGems Messages

February 23, 2009

Posted by Frances Beinecke in Reviving the World's Oceans , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places

Tags:
baja, biogems, graywhales, lagunasanignacio, marinelife, sustainabledevelopment, whales

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....

What Successful Environmental Activism Looks Like: Wild Baby Whales

February 19, 2009

Posted by Frances Beinecke in Reviving the World's Oceans , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places

Tags:
baja, biogems, lagunasanignacio, mexico, oceans, whales, wildlife

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...

Richardson Appointment: Good News for Oceans

December 3, 2008

Posted by Frances Beinecke in Moving Beyond Oil , Reviving the World's Oceans , Solving Global Warming

Tags:
acidification, commercedepartment, fisheries, global, greentransition, marinelife, oceans, oceansgovernance, offshoredrilling, richardson, warming

Most people don't realize it, but the Secretary of Commerce has enormous influence over America's ocean resources. That's why I welcome the news that President-elect Obama is tapping Governor Bill Richardson for this position. He is well known for his...

The WCC: Why Barcelona Will Be More Inspiring than Washington

October 3, 2008

Posted by Frances Beinecke in Reviving the World's Oceans , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming

Tags:
arcticcommision, aspeninstitute, barcelona08, borealforest, bottomtrawling, globalwarming, hydroelectricdam, illegallogging, IUCN, mexico, oceansgovernance, patagoniacoast, tahuamanu, uppergulfof, vaquitamarina, WCC, worldconservationcongress

In a few days I will be heading to Barcelona to attend the World Conservation Congress, the most important conservation event in the world. For me it will be a welcome relief from the tired energy debates that have consumed...

Fact or Fiction in the Energy Debate

August 14, 2008

Posted by Frances Beinecke in Moving Beyond Oil , Reviving the World's Oceans , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming

Tags:
arcticnationalwildliferefuge, energycrisis, energyefficiency, gasprices, offshoredrilling, oildrilling

In the past few days, the editorial pages of the New York Times have identified an alarming trend in the current energy debate. Increasingly, candidates and their surrogates are peddling delusions and fraudulent claims about how we can drive down...

Distraction, Misleading Energy Claims, and the Washington Post

August 13, 2008

Posted by Frances Beinecke in Moving Beyond Oil , Reviving the World's Oceans , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming

Tags:
arcticnationalwildliferefuge, energyefficiency, gasprices, offshoredrilling, oiladdiction, oildrilling, oilleases, oilspills, outercontinentalshelf, renewabletaxcredit, washingtonpost

The Washington Post just ran an editorial highlighting an ad the NRDC Action Fund printed in the paper. The ad, which featured a drawing of President Bush holding a bottle of elixir, said the claim that offshore drilling will drive...

Why World Energy Ministers Went to Jidda, Not Pensacola

June 25, 2008

Posted by Frances Beinecke in Moving Beyond Oil , Reviving the World's Oceans , Solving Global Warming

Tags:
biofuels, gasprices, moveamericabeyondoil, offshoredrilling, offshoredrillingmoratorium, oilcrisis, oilspills, pluginhybrids

Over the weekend, Crown Prince Abdullah, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and energy ministers from around the world gathered in Jidda, Saudi Arabia in a desperate effort to tackle the worst energy crisis we have seen in decades. They did...