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Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, Director International Program, Washington, D.C.
For over 20 years, I have worked with partners from too many countries to count as an environmental advocate. I started off working for IUCN's Environmental Law Center in Germany - working mostly in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Then I moved to the Environmental Law Institute where I worked with partners in Eastern Europe and Latin America. And now for over a decade, I have been with NRDC working first in Canada on wildlands, energy and climate issues and more recently directing our international work around the world while focusing my personal advocacy on fighting expansion of tar sands extraction in Canada. I am inspired by the incredible hard work and dedication I see every day to protect the environment. And sometimes I am discouraged that we are still fighting so many of the battles that were on the table when I started this work. But that is the nature of environmental work - it is a continual effort to make the world a better place for us, for our children and for those who come after.
Recent Posts
Posted April 4, 2013 by Susan Casey-Lefkowitz in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment, Moving Beyond Oil, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places, Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- china, climatechange, dirtyfuels, international, keystonexl, mlk, oilsands, oilspill, tarsands, yearwood
Image from Hip Hop Caucus On this important anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, Rev. Lennox Yearwood of the Hip Hop Caucus will issue a critical call for climate action and justice at the Historically Black...continued→
Posted March 11, 2013 by Susan Casey-Lefkowitz in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places, Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- biogems, dirtyfuels, international, keystonexl, oilsands, seis, tarsands
A deeper dive into the State Department draft environmental review shows that the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is not needed. The energy security argument for the pipeline, always dubious, has evaporated to the point where even the State Department...continued→
Posted March 9, 2013 by Susan Casey-Lefkowitz in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places, Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- biogems, dirtyfuels, jobs, keystonexl, oilsands, tarsands
The State Department draft environmental review of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline shows how TransCanada, the American Petroleum Institute and other proponents of the pipeline have been vastly overstating the number of jobs that will be created by this...continued→
Posted March 4, 2013 by Susan Casey-Lefkowitz in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places, Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- biogems, dirtyfuels, international, keystonexl, oilsands, seis, statedepartment, tarsands
Andy Stevenson is a Finance Advisor for NRDC The State Department issued its draft environmental review of the Keystone XL pipeline on Friday. While this report was mainly an environmental review, the State Department's final conclusion that "approval or denial of the...continued→
Posted March 1, 2013 by Susan Casey-Lefkowitz in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places, Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- biogems, climate, dirtyfuels, international, keystonexl, statedepartment, tarsands
The State Department released its draft environmental review of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that would take tar sands from Canada to the US Gulf Coast for export. Past reviews severely underestimated the very serious harm to our climate, health,...continued→
Posted February 17, 2013 by Susan Casey-Lefkowitz in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice, Moving Beyond Oil, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places, Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- biogems, canada, dirtyfuels, forwardonclimate, international, keystonexl, tarsands
On February 17, more than 35,000 braved the icy temperatures to take a message of hope for our climate to the President’s doorstep. Marching in a human pipeline around the White House, people from across America and Canada also...continued→
Posted February 13, 2013 by Susan Casey-Lefkowitz in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice, Moving Beyond Oil, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places, Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- biogems, civildisobedience, dirtyfuels, forwardonclimate, international, keystonexl, obama, sotu, tarsands
Last night, in the State of the Union, the President showed that America is prepared to lead to limit climate change and carbon pollution. Today, 48 environmental, civil rights, science and community leaders put themselves on the line, engaging...continued→
Posted February 7, 2013 by Susan Casey-Lefkowitz in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
- Tags:
- biogems, canada, greatbear, international, spiritbear
Shortly after I started working at NRDC in 2000, my first trip was to the remote Great Bear Rainforest on the coast of British Columbia, Canada. I was awed by the ecological splendor of its towering ancient red cedars...continued→
Posted January 17, 2013 by Susan Casey-Lefkowitz in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places, Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- biogems, climatechange, dirtyfuels, international, keystonexl
New research confirms what we have heard time and again from the industry itself: the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline will be a direct cause of an increase in tar sands oil development. More tar sands oil taken...continued→
Posted January 7, 2013 by Susan Casey-Lefkowitz in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places, Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- biogems, climatechange, dirtyfuels, international, keystonexl, obama, tarsands
Today, nearly 70 environmental and health organizations sent a letter to President Obama asking him to step up and be a strong climate leader. The deepening climate crisis is without question. What we do to solve it is the challenge....continued→
Posted December 21, 2012 by Susan Casey-Lefkowitz in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places, Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- biogems, climatechange, international, keystonexl, oil, oilsands, tarsands
December is traditionally a time to reflect on the past year’s events. Looking back I see wildfires sweeping across the west, droughts plaguing our breadbasket, a first time “derecho” storm taking out east coast electricity amidst soaring temperatures, and...continued→
Posted November 2, 2012 by Susan Casey-Lefkowitz in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- climate, climatechange, dirtyfuels, hurricanesandy, international, keystonexl, tarsands
This week, my brother, his wife and young baby were trapped without electricity in their Hoboken apartment. My sister is still in the dark in Allentown. Hurricane Sandy brought destruction and chaos to our shores and our thoughts are with...continued→
Posted October 31, 2012 by Susan Casey-Lefkowitz in Curbing Pollution, Green Enterprise, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- andhrapradesh, dirtyfuels, ecbc, energyefficiency, greenbuildings, india, international
With the costs of climate change increasing daily, we need the savings to be gained from energy efficiency more than ever. In India, the state of Andhra Pradesh just announced landmark energy efficiency standards that will adopt the national Energy...continued→
Posted July 23, 2012 by Susan Casey-Lefkowitz in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice, Moving Beyond Oil, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places, Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- biogems, dirtyfuels, kalamazoo, keystonexl, northerngateway, oilsands, pipelines, tarsands, trailbreaker
We have long heard threats from the tar sands oil interests that if America won’t allow tar sands pipelines to cross our communities, they’ll just send the oil across Canada to Asia instead. But Canadian communities don’t like the...continued→
Posted July 7, 2012 by Susan Casey-Lefkowitz in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places, Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- biogems, climatechange, dirtyfuels, fossilfuelsubsidies, keystonexl, oilsands, tarsands
With 2012 being another year of violent storms, wildfires, floods and extreme heat, we can argue whether this is a preview or the main feature, but no one wants to see the full climate change show. Some still debate...continued→
