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Rebecca Hammer, Project Attorney, Water Program, Washington, DC
I grew up in coastal central Florida, and like all other young girls in the Sunshine State, I wanted to become a dolphin trainer when I grew up. This early career aspiration was only one indication of my love for nature and all the critters that live in it. Whether I was climbing trees, swimming in alligator-filled lakes, or collecting seashells at the beach, I developed a strong connection with the environment when I was young -- a connection that has stuck with me ever since. These days, I don't get to spend quite as much time outdoors. I do some occasional camping, even though my dog is vaguely terrified of nature (particularly its scary sounds), and I've got a life goal of visiting all our National Parks (I'm up to 18 so far). But I love that even at my desk-bound day job I'm helping to protect the environment by working at NRDC. The path from Tampa, to Boston (for college and law school at Harvard), to D.C. has been a fairly circuitous one, but now I am thrilled to be here, first as a two-year legal fellow and now as a full-time staff attorney in the NRDC water program. It's not dolphin training, but it's still pretty great.
Recent Posts
Posted December 16, 2011 by Rebecca Hammer in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment, Living Sustainably
- Tags:
- greeninfrastructure, greenstreets, highways, lowimpactdevelopment, runoff, stormwater, stormwaterrunoff, transportation, water, waterpollution
Yesterday the Obama administration announced the new round of TIGER grants, some of which will be used to fund pollution-preventing green infrastructure projects. Federal agencies award TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grants on a competitive basis to transportation projects...continued→
Posted November 18, 2011 by Rebecca Hammer in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment
- Tags:
- greeninfrastructure, greenroofs, lowimpactdevelopment, rooftopstorivers, water, waterpollution, waterprogram
My colleagues in the NRDC Water Program have been talking a lot this week about our new report, Rooftops to Rivers II, which shows how communities across the country are using green infrastructure techniques to stop water pollution. That’s because...continued→
Posted November 17, 2011 by Rebecca Hammer in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment
- Tags:
- greeninfrastructure, greenroofs, lowimpactdevelopment, rooftopstorivers, washingtondc, water, waterpollution, waterprogram
As two of my colleagues revealed yesterday, NRDC has just released a new report called Rooftops to Rivers II showing how communities across the country are using green infrastructure techniques to stop water pollution. The report provides case studies for...continued→
Posted October 5, 2011 by Rebecca Hammer in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment
- Tags:
- DC, EPA, greeninfrastructure, lowimpactdevelopment, stormwater, stormwaterrunoff, washingtondc, water, waterpollution
Today the Environmental Protection Agency is issuing Washington, D.C. a new stormwater permit that has the potential to make our nation’s capital a cleaner, greener city. Every time it rains, gross stuff like dirt, oil, toxic chemicals, heavy metals, bacteria,...continued→
Posted May 6, 2011 by Rebecca Hammer in Curbing Pollution
- Tags:
- greeninfrastructure, highways, lowimpactdevelopment, runoff, stormwater, transportation, water, waterpollution
When most people think about the environmental impacts of roads and highways, they usually think of things like air pollution and noise from vehicles, or wildlife being hit by cars. What many people don’t realize is that the roads themselves...continued→
Posted May 5, 2011 by Rebecca Hammer in Curbing Pollution
- Tags:
- anacostiariver, DC, federalgovernment, greeninfrastructure, stormwater, washingtondc, water, waterpollution
On Monday morning, I headed down to the beautiful new Yards Park on the Anacostia River along with a bunch of my colleagues and a few local and federal officials. We weren’t there to admire the park or the view...continued→
Posted February 17, 2011 by Rebecca Hammer in Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- adaptation, climate, climateandwater, climatechange, droughts, floods, globalwarming, water
If you’re like me, you probably know someone who views this winter’s crazy blizzards as evidence that global warming obviously doesn’t exist. If you do, you might want to show that person the two studies appearing in this week’s Nature...continued→
Posted December 27, 2010 by Rebecca Hammer in Curbing Pollution
- Tags:
- federalgovernment, legislation, runoff, stormwater, washingtondc, water, waterpollution
America's rivers, lakes, and streams got an early Christmas present from Congress last week. Before adjourning for the year, the House and Senate passed a bill that requires federal agencies to comply with local stormwater fees that are used to treat and...continued→
Posted December 21, 2010 by Rebecca Hammer in Living Sustainably, Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- census2010, climate, climateandwater, climatechange, globalwarming, population, sustainability, water, watersupply
The 2010 U.S. Census results, released today, provide us with lots of new information about how America has grown in the past ten years. In particular, we can see that a great deal of that growth has taken place in...continued→
Posted July 8, 2010 by Rebecca Hammer in Curbing Pollution, Living Sustainably
- Tags:
- greeninfrastructure, legislation, lowimpactdevelopment, stormwater, water, waterpollution, watersupply
Last week, the Senate introduced a bill I’ve been working on that will provide tools to help communities clean up their waterways and make them more resilient to droughts, water shortages and floods at the same time. That bill -- sponsored by...continued→
Posted May 5, 2010 by Rebecca Hammer in Curbing Pollution
- Tags:
- anacostiariver, DC, EPA, greeninfrastructure, lowimpactdevelopment, ms4, stormwater, stormwaterrunoff, water, waterpollution, waterprogram
Two weeks ago, on the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, EPA released a draft stormwater permit for Washington, DC that gives us hope about the future of the District’s waters. This region has some of the dirtiest urban rivers in...continued→
Posted April 22, 2010 by Rebecca Hammer in Curbing Pollution
- Tags:
- 40earthday, anacostiariver, chesapeakebay, DC, EPA, greeninfrastructure, greenroofs, ms4, permeablepavement, potomacriver, rainbarrels, raingardens, runoff, stormwater, stormwaterrunoff, washingtondc, water, waterpollution, waterprogram
On the 40th anniversary of Earth Day – an occasion that gave way to historic environmental progress like the creation of the Clean Water Act – we’re excited about news that a new initiative will help control water pollution in...continued→
Posted December 4, 2009 by Rebecca Hammer in Curbing Pollution
- Tags:
- greeninfrastructure, legislation, lowimpactdevelopment, water, waterpollution, watersupply
When I first started learning about a practice called “green infrastructure” during my first weeks at NRDC, I found that a certain word kept popping up to describe it: multi-beneficial. I was amazed by the range of positive effects provided...continued→
Posted December 3, 2009 by Rebecca Hammer in Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- adaptation, climateandwater, climatechange, cop15, copenhagen, globalwarming, water
The Copenhagen climate negotiations are coming up, and it can be a bit daunting to think about all those delegates from around the world trying to reach an agreement when there are so many diverse ideas about what we should...continued→
Posted October 16, 2009 by Rebecca Hammer in Curbing Pollution
- Tags:
- california, californiawater, greeninfrastructure, lowimpactdevelopment, water, waterrecycling, watersupply
Ever think that it's a waste for all the fresh water falling as rain to be swept immediately away to the ocean and other water bodies, becoming polluted and unusable along the way - all while parts of the country...continued→
