Posted by Peter Lehner in U.S. Law and Policy
President Obama and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson today appointed Judith Enck as the head of EPA's key region two office, the office that handles environmental issues in New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and seven Tribal...
Posted by Peter Lehner in Curbing Pollution , U.S. Law and Policy
It's been a good couple of weeks for the clean air advocates. First the federal appeals court in New York decided that a group of states and others could bring a nuisance case seeking to require the country's largest global...
Posted by Peter Lehner in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably , The Media and the Environment , U.S. Law and Policy
During eight years as chief of the Environmental Protection Bureau in the New York State Attorney General's Office, I had the political backing necessary to take on large corporate polluters. Such support is crucial to enforce the hard-won standards contained...
Posted by Peter Lehner in Curbing Pollution , Moving Beyond Oil , Solving Global Warming , U.S. Law and Policy
A ferocious storm provided an electrifying backdrop for the recent kick-off of the Made in America Jobs Tour, the first of 22 rallies across the country to promote the job creating potential of a new clean energy economy. This tour...
Posted by Peter Lehner in Curbing Pollution , Living Sustainably , Solving Global Warming , U.S. Law and Policy
President Obama reached across the political aisle when he selected Representative Ray LaHood, a Republican from Illinois, as his Transportation Secretary. The appointment was met by some skepticism: LaHood's resume on transportation issues was decried as very thin. But Secretary...
Posted by Peter Lehner in Green Enterprise , Moving Beyond Oil , Solving Global Warming , U.S. Law and Policy
According to an assessment by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the world is going to invest more than $16 trillion in energy by 2030. There are two ways that we can invest this money: a smart way and a dumb...
Posted by Peter Lehner in Curbing Pollution , Environmental Justice , Living Sustainably , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , U.S. Law and Policy
As a lawyer, I've written about environmental harms quite often. Yet as I recently flew over several of the larger mountaintop mines in eastern Kentucky, I struggled to find the words to describe the devastation. The scars where trees, topsoil...
Posted by Peter Lehner in Curbing Pollution , Solving Global Warming , U.S. Law and Policy
My colleagues and I at NRDC were pleased at President-elect Obama's recent announcement that Lisa Jackson will head the Environmental Protection Agency. Lisa has been a strong, honest and knowledgeable voice for the environment as Commissioner of the New Jersey...
Posted by Peter Lehner in U.S. Law and Policy
The holiday season is typically a time when we all reflect on the people and groups who do good, and how we can all -- in our own small way -- make a difference. In the environmental sector, nonprofits like...
Posted by Peter Lehner in Living Sustainably , Solving Global Warming , U.S. Law and Policy
On Friday, I took the train to DC to join a panel discussion on energy efficiency at the National Press Club. NRDC is working with a broad coalition of energy groups that are calling on Congress to use part of...
Posted by Peter Lehner in Curbing Pollution , Solving Global Warming , U.S. Law and Policy
NRDC recently won a case in federal court that held accountable a major utility that tried to snooker the American public. This decision upheld a core purpose of much of NRDC's litigation, vindicating, in turn, a core principle of our...
Posted by Peter Lehner in U.S. Law and Policy
This holiday season, I'm celebrating by expressing my gratitude to one of the environmental movement's great trailblazers - Peter Berle. I encourage others to show their appreciation for great environmental leaders of today by nominating them for a new award...
Posted by Peter Lehner
We need a lot more environmental information to begin to address the lack of public understanding of environmental harms.This may seem obvious, but it isn’t. At a meeting a few years ago, I was shocked to find the head of...
Posted by Peter Lehner
Twenty years ago, Dr. James E. Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, told the Senate that man-made greenhouse gas emissions were responsible for warming the climate. Yesterday, Hansen returned to the House to deliver a simple message....
Posted by Peter Lehner in Green Enterprise , Solving Global Warming , U.S. Law and Policy
When I walk into our New York office every morning, I know I work with people devoted to the environment. In my colleague’s offices, there are pictures of all of their favorite mountains, rivers and oceans. In mine, I have...
