Since the early 1990s, my work has focused on cleaning up our transportation system — cutting pollution from anything with a tailpipe, from cars, trucks and buses to the largest ocean-going ships.
Of all my projects at NRDC, I’m most proud of our Dump Dirty Diesels campaign, which helped create a model to clean up NYC Transit's buses, using cleaner fuels and improved pollution control technologies. That campaign helped create new federal rules to clean up all diesel engines, and also led to our work to create the Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles, which is reducing vehicle pollution in developing countries around the world.
After more than 20 years at NRDC, I’m now working as an environmental consultant at Gladstein, Neandross & Associates, where I continue to work with NRDC to clean up dirty diesel engines in New York, Washington, Mexico, and wherever else we find them.
Posted October 19, 2012 by Rich Kassel in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
Yes, the company that brought you the Prius has been quietly working to undermine a multi-year effort to harmonize Mexico’s fuel economy standards with the US standards. If this is not a man-bites-dog story, I don’t know what is. Here’s...continued→
Posted August 1, 2012 by Rich Kassel in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment
Today, after a bi-partisan, multi-stakeholder effort that spanned two administrations, the North American Emission Control Area (ECA) goes into effect. The ECA was adopted by the International Maritime Organization, which governs international shipping, in March 2010. (I wrote about it...continued→
Posted June 20, 2012 by Rich Kassel in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment, Reviving the World's Oceans
Today, the Interior Appropriations committee of the House of Representatives will vote on a bill that includes a rider that could undermine years of work to clean up dirty ships and improve the health of the millions of people who...continued→
Posted February 16, 2012 by Rich Kassel in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment, Solving Global Warming, The Media and the Environment
Just this morning, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton unveiled a new international program to cut black carbon, methane, hydroflourocarbons and other short-lived pollutants that add to global warming. (Teaser alert: a historical note about Secretary Clinton's longstanding leadership on...continued→
Posted January 27, 2012 by Rich Kassel in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment, U.S. Law and Policy
Margo Oge, EPA’s Director of Office of Transportation and Air Quality, has confirmed what I wrote in my Tier 3 post last week, which described the agency’s possible approach in its upcoming proposal to create a new rule to reduce emissions...continued→
Posted January 18, 2012 by Rich Kassel in Curbing Pollution, Greening China, Health and the Environment, Solving Global Warming
My colleague, Dan Lashof, just posted a great summary of the study, published in Science this week, that explained how cutting soot and smog pollution could help reduce the impacts of global warming in the short-term, while improving human health and...continued→
Posted January 17, 2012 by Rich Kassel in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment, The Media and the Environment, U.S. Law and Policy
Last week, I wrote about the need to move Tier 3 forward, which followed up on a letter that the leaders of NRDC, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Sierra Club, and the Union of Concerned Scientists sent to EPA Administrator...continued→
Posted January 12, 2012 by Rich Kassel in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment, The Media and the Environment, U.S. Law and Policy
This is a post about an EPA proposal that hasn’t been proposed. It’s a post about a proposal that environmentalists, state air regulators, and industry stakeholders have been waiting a year and a half to see. And, it’s a post...continued→
Posted December 16, 2011 by Rich Kassel in The Media and the Environment
Are you watching the family next door trick out their front lawn with holiday lights and inflatable lawn Santas, and wondering whether you can top them? In the spirit of the not writing something serious today (NRDC’s holiday party is...continued→
Posted November 30, 2011 by Rich Kassel in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment
Earlier this week, the Teamsters, Public Citizen, and the Sierra Club filed their latest lawsuit (read more here) in their longstanding dispute about whether Mexican and U.S. trucks should be able to deliver goods in each other’s countries. NRDC is...continued→
Posted October 27, 2011 by Rich Kassel in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment
NRDC Executive Director Peter Lehner and Director of Global Strategy & Advocacy Jacob Scherr joined UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner at the United Nations today to declare victory in the decades-long campaign to eliminate leaded gasoline worldwide. At the event,...continued→
Posted October 22, 2011 by Rich Kassel in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment
One of the great things about working on international vehicle issues is that my work takes me to fascinating places. This week, I’ll be in Nairobi, where I will be attending the Ninth General Partners Meeting of the Partnership for...continued→
Posted October 19, 2011 by Rich Kassel in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment
Yesterday, I wrote about how Maersk was leading the pack in greening its shipping fleet, by switching to low-sulfur fuels and investing in energy-efficient vessels, far in advance of regulatory mandates to do so. I also wrote about how their...continued→
Posted October 18, 2011 by Rich Kassel
Today's online edition of OnEarth, NRDC's award-winning magazine, includes an interview with Jacob Sterling, who leads the climate and environmental initiatives at Maersk, the global shipping fleet. It's part of a continuing series, "Meet the Change-Makers," that highlights business leaders...continued→
Posted September 28, 2011 by Rich Kassel in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment
1.34 million urban dwellers face premature deaths every year, according to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO). According to an AP report in Forbes and elsewhere, cities in Iran, India, Pakistan and Mongolia top the list of...continued→
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