It’s really study abroad that brought me to NRDC. On a field course in the cloud forests of Monteverde Costa Rica, a professor described a once abundant animal we had yet to see on our long hikes. The Golden Toad hadn’t been seen in years and was at serious risk of becoming extinct as a result of pollution and climate impacts on the toad’s watery environment. And then we kept hiking, and I kept wondering, “Well, what are we going to do?”
The question has stuck with me, and in the meantime, I studied both biology and international relations, hoping to understand and shape international environmental policy. After school I began to work for the U.S. Government at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on issues related to scientific cooperation with other countries, exchange of environmental data and global systems to monitor the health of the earth’s ecosystems.
Now at NRDC I am keen to take my original question even further and work on critical environmental and health issues for the global community: access to safe drinking water, adaptation to the impacts of climate change. The issue of safe water and sanitation is already a challenge in many parts of the world which will only be exacerbated by climate volatility. Looking ahead water, climate and sustainable development will be a key focus at the proposed Earth Summit in 2012 and I am eager to be working on behalf of NRDC to raise awareness and real action on each issue.
Posted January 26, 2012 by Heather Allen in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment, Living Sustainably, U.S. Law and Policy
In his State of the Union Address on Tuesday night, President Obama spoke about economic equity and fairness. There may be no greater inequity among people than the disparity regarding access to clean and safe drinking water. Nearly 900 million people...continued→
Posted March 24, 2011 by Heather Allen in Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment, Living Sustainably, The Media and the Environment, U.S. Law and Policy
On World Water Day, March 22 2011 people around the world celebrated clean water and explored solutions for the world’s biggest environmental health crisis – the lack of safe water and sanitation. Killing more children each year than AIDS, Malaria and...continued→
Posted March 22, 2011 by Heather Allen in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment, Living Sustainably, U.S. Law and Policy
Today on World Water Day as people around the world celebrated, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Robert Zoellick President of the World Bank signed a broad agreement on water. The room was packed as Clinton presented the case for water...continued→
Posted March 17, 2011 by Heather Allen in Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President of World Bank Robert Zoellick are poised to make new committments on water. Next week on World Water Day, March 22 the World Bank will host a ceremonial signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between...continued→
Posted March 7, 2011 by Heather Allen in Health and the Environment, U.S. Law and Policy
The Senate stands poised to take votes on the Congressional budget which include cuts to key programs that endanger health in America and abroad. My colleagues have blogged on the budget cuts that threaten our clean air and efforts to combat the...continued→
Posted January 12, 2011 by Heather Allen in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice, Green Enterprise, Health and the Environment, Living Sustainably, Solving Global Warming
Preparations for Earth Summit 2012 are heating up. The international Summit to be held in May of 2012 in Rio de Janeiro is anticipated to draw leaders from around the world for a meeting on the future of sustainable development,...continued→
Posted December 11, 2010 by Heather Allen in Health and the Environment, Solving Global Warming
The climate agreement struck in Cancun at 3:30 in the morning today was a significant step forward to reduce global warming emissions and prepare countries to lessen the impacts of climate change. As the Mexican President of COP 16 Patricia...continued→
Posted December 10, 2010 by Heather Allen in Curbing Pollution, Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
The Climate negotiators seem to have demonstrated real compromise on the elements of a Green Climate Fund tonight. The new text has just been issued (5:30 pm Friday December 12th) and it lays out a process to bring forward the...continued→
Posted December 10, 2010 by Heather Allen in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice, Solving Global Warming
Negotiators at the COP 16 Climate Talks in Cancun have been working furiously to refine the final package. Now, as of noon on the final day of the two week meeting we are waiting for the newest version of the...continued→
Posted December 8, 2010 by Heather Allen in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
This morning I fought the desire to hit snooze because I needed to rush to catch not one but two buses to make it to this morning’s meeting at the COP-16 Climate Talks in Cancun. And apparently everyone else woke-up...continued→
Posted December 6, 2010 by Heather Allen in Health and the Environment
In the final weeks of the 2010 Congress there is hope for a new law that would significantly improve U.S. efforts to bring clean water to the World. See our newest analysis of the steps we need to take here...continued→
Posted December 1, 2010 by Heather Allen in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
In the first few days here in Cancun at the Climate Talks, European nations announced a series of projects and funding streams designated to fulfill their Copenhagen Accord commitments to ‘fast start climate finance’ to aid developing countries in reducing emissions...continued→
Posted November 19, 2010 by Heather Allen in Health and the Environment
Today on World Toilet Day NRDC, along with CARE and WaterAid released a report calling for the U.S. Government to take the needed steps to solve the global water and sanitation crisis. The impact of this crisis is far reaching. Disease caused...continued→
Posted November 17, 2010 by Heather Allen in Health and the Environment
This Friday November 19th is World Toilet Day, a time to celebrate the Toilet! People around my office love that I get so excited about World Toilet Day, they smile or make an excellent toilet joke whenever I bring it...continued→
Posted October 15, 2010 by Heather Allen in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice, Green Enterprise, Health and the Environment, Living Sustainably, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
Water has captured our imagination for centuries, but in recent decades it’s been taken for granted by people that have it and it has required too much from people who don’t. The good news is that if we manage water...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.
