Frances Beinecke's Blog: The Media and the Environment

Celebrating Green Leaders with Some SNL Humor

2009-03-31T21:28:02Z

Last night, in New York City, NRDC's held its 11th Annual Forces for Nature benefit, where we honor those who have made significant contributions to environmental causes. This year's benefit, which was hosted by 30 Rock star Alec Baldwin - a 15 year member of NRDC - honored fashion designer Stella McCartney and Discovery Communications CEO David Zaslav for their outstanding environmental leadership in the fashion and media arenas.

Stella is an industry-leader in creating organic, ethically responsible fashion clothing and skincare products. And under David's leadership, Discovery Communications, with its 25-year tradition of embracing "green" as a corporate value, created Planet Green, the first 24-hour network dedicated to celebrating and examining eco-friendly living and our clean energy future.

Stella and David were also honored because they understand that environmental stewardship can and should play a role in the work they do and the products they produce. Their business acumen and environmental commitment go hand-in-hand.

While last night was a celebration of environmental accomplishments, it was also a time to look toward the future. As I told the crowd last night, these are remarkable times. Yes, we are in the midst of grave economic challenges. But we are also presented with enormous opportunities.

At long last, we have a president who shares our priorities for the environment. We have a cabinet that is putting good land and public health policies in place. And we have a Congress that is poised to take action on global warming and clean energy. In fact, just today, the Waxman-Markey discussion draft was released. It lays out a new direction for America's clean energy future and is the first move by this Congress to enact comprehensive energy and climate legislation.

The discussion draft also reaffirms to those seeking a clean energy future that we have cause for hope and optimism.

And with that optimism, allow me to share some humor from last evening. Serving up the entertainment was Saturday Night Live star and head writer, Seth Meyers, who was good enough to join us and offer an NRDC version of Weekend Update. They say environmentalists don't have a sense of humor, but I sure enjoyed it. Take a look:

Nickelodeon Honors DiCaprio for Inspiring Young Activists

2009-03-26T16:48:56Z

Nickelodeon just announced that Leonardo DiCaprio will receive the first-ever Big Green Help Award during Saturday's broadcast of the Kids Choice Awards. I have known Leo for almost 10 years, and I am delighted that his environmental advocacy will be recognized this way.

Efforts to solve global warming don't often get air time next to performances by the Jonas Brothers, appearances by Zac Efron, and explosions of green slime.

But it is appropriate that Leo's work to curb climate change gets recognized in an event seen by millions of kids. After all, theirs is the generation that will feel the brunt of global warming unless we do something to stop it now.

And Leo, who is an NRDC trustee, is helping do that. Leo has taken on the issue of global warming in a way that is absolutely critical to getting a whole new generation of activists inspired and involved.

He has been committed to this issue starting early on with Vice President Gore. He remained tenaciously focused on it during the dark days of the Bush era, and his 2007 award-winning documentary, The 11th Hour, showed audiences not only the dangers of unchecked climate change, but also the role people could play in stopping it.

Now the Obama administration is proposing a national law to limit global warming pollution, but Congress will only pass it if there is a groundswell of support from the American people. That is exactly what Leo is helping to build, and I am very grateful for his efforts.

I understand that Cameron Diaz will be handing the award to Leo on Saturday. She too deserves to be singled out for her environmental leadership. As an NRDC member, she has drawn national attention to the urgent need to save endangered wild landscapes.

But there is one other party that deserves acknowledgment here: Nickelodeon. I applaud the network for putting environmental action front and center in the programming of their most profitable and visible arm.

Like Leo, the network is alerting a whole new generation to the value of taking care of our planet. A Big Help indeed.

In Memory of a Toxics Warrior

2008-12-22T22:11:46Z

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. He was an aggressive litigator, fighting against exposure to toxic chemicals and for improved health -- for all of us, but with particular focus on those working on farms and in factories, people living in poverty, all who needed the public interest bar to represent them against the pesticide and chemical industry. Al was a great champion of California's Prop 65, using it relentlessly to go after chemical industry abuses.

Al was not only a great litigator, he was an immensely effective communicator and writer, penning off op-eds a mile a minute. He championed our outreach beyond the environmental community to labor and health organizations, to Hollywood, to those involved in progressive politics. While at NRDC, he testified before Congress more than 50 times.

He was more than hugely accomplished, he was also great fun. He was irreverent, funny and always ready to have a good time. He regaled us with stories, challenged us with new strategies, identified people we should get to know and work with. At a dinner he hosted last winter in Los Angeles, Al spoke with such passion and pride about all that NRDC does.

Al represented the very best of NRDC. I will really miss him. We all will.

Ecological Accounting: A New Measure of Economic Health

2008-05-13T17:13:53Z

My day-to-day work life focuses on relatively concrete notions: passing global warming legislation, getting more energy efficient appliances into the hands of consumers, pushing automakers to produce more efficient cars. These are the tools I believe we must use to protect our environment. But every once in a while, I take a step back and apprehend just how transformative the change has to be if we are really going to restore the Earth. Reading Gus Speth’s new book was one of those moments.

Gus was a member of the original crew who had the quixotic notion that we could open the first the first American law firm that would hold polluters accountable in court. That was NRDC, and I think we have done pretty well for ourselves. But Gus didn’t stop there. He went on to found World Resources Institute and become the dean of Yale’s School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.

Perhaps one of Gus’ most important roles is as philosopher and provocateur. In his new book, The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, the Environment, and Crossing from Crisis to Sustainability, he calls for nothing less than replacing capitalism with something more sensitive to the natural world.

His list of environmental indicators is grim--the Earth is clearly in dire condition. The world’s economic growth is exploding so rapidly that is outpacing the gains we have made in protecting the environment.

What does he recommend? Nothing short of changing American-style consumer culture:

First and foremost, he says we have to cap global warming emissions. If we don’t, if we keep doing what we are doing, the planet won’t be able to sustain us any longer.

But second, we have to question our devotion to economic growth above all other values. As he calls it, we must rethink “our pathetic capitulation to consumerism.” This unquestioning drive toward more and more creates a paradox: we have achieved abundance but it is teetering on extinction.

Gus’s book reminds me that fighting to protect the planet is not just about policy and proposals and legislation. It’s about what we value, what is meaningful to us, what brings us peace and long-lasting health.

I recommend you read his book--and so do many reviewers. You may not agree with his conclusions, but you will be inspired to reflect on what it is you value and what you will do to support those values.

Keeping Green Alive in 08

2008-02-13T18:15:05Z

Last year was a momentous one for the environment. Green issues screamed across the headlines, as every company, every magazine cover, every state, every politician wanted to get on the green bandwagon. As someone who joined this movement in the early 1970s --back when there were only about a dozen environmental lawyers in the entire country--I found this immensely gratifying. For the first time in almost 40 years, we were mainstream news. Now that 2008 is off and running, our challenge will be to keep that momentum going in a crowded field. It is clear that two issues will dominate this year: the election and the economy. How can the environmental movement compete? By being a movement and more. Political movements have enormous force--just think of the Civil Rights Movement. But the change really comes when the cause that motivates the movement goes mainstream. That’s when it’s about welcoming people to the cause who have a personal concern about the environment--whether they want to be a part of the movement or not. You shouldn’t have to sign your name on the dotted line to join in the effort to protect the Earth. People can join in our fight even if they are motivated by just one issue. Maybe it is a mother concerned about toxins in her baby’s bottle. Maybe it is a fly fisherman worried about his favorite rivers running too warm to sustain cold-water trout. Maybe it is Wal-Mart shopper who is persuaded to buy energy saving compact florescent light bulbs for the first time. Perhaps none of these people view themselves as members of the environmental movement, but they all have a role to play in advocating for the safeguards that matter to them. I have deep respect and gratitude for the people who have dedicated their lives to the movement. We have come this far thanks to leaders like Rachel Carson, Al Gore, and Bill McKibben. But increasingly the green voice is coming from a broader spectrum of people concerned about themselves, their families, their communities. It is every-day people who are making green practices more embedded into mainstream culture. Earth friendly actions are becoming less aligned with being a card-carrying environmentalist, and that commitment will ensure that the fate of the planet remains a primary concern.