Frances Beinecke

Today, NRDC announces the winners of the 2012 Growing Green Awards. These awards celebrate the farmers, business owners, and bold thinkers who are transforming America's food system. Each one of them has pioneered ways to produce food that nourishes our families and restores our water, air, and soil...

Natural gas development is spreading like wildfire across the country. Energy companies have drilled more than 75,000 wells in the past five years, many of them on farmlands, near public schools, and in people's backyards. These wells release benzene and other chemicals known to cause cancer. Yet energy companies aren't...

Most people want their homes to be a safe haven where their families can grow and thrive. Yet for thousands of Americans who find themselves living next to natural gas drilling sites, that sense of safety is becoming harder to preserve.

A new study by researchers from the...

Since the Environmental Protection Agency announced the first-ever national limits on the carbon pollution from new power plants on Tuesday, medical and public health organizations have been praising this new safeguard.

Thanks to the new standard, energy companies will be required to capture and store carbon emissions in any...

The Environmental Protection Agency has just proposed the first-ever national standards to limit dangerous carbon pollution from new power plants. These historic safeguards are critical to ensuring a cleaner future for American communities: no longer will new electric plants be able to endanger our health with unchecked carbon...

In a time of soaring gas prices and record-breaking temperatures, Americans are looking for energy solutions that save money, reduce dangerous pollution and strengthen our country.

Yet instead of offering targeted policies, many leaders are suggesting an "all of the above" approach to energy development. The idea is that...

In a major victory for public health and the environment, the Senate defeated three dirty amendments on Thursday. One would have forced the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline for tar sands oil. One would have delayed the cleanup of the second largest source of toxic industrial air pollution. And...

This week the Senate is likely to vote on an amendment that would force approval for the Keystone XL pipeline. President Obama already rejected the dirty tar sands pipeline because it needed a more thorough safety and environmental review.

Yet instead of allowing engineers, public...

The Environmental Protection Agency recently created the first-ever national standards to limit mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants. Mercury is a potent toxin that interferes with the human nervous system. Reducing this hazard will be a major public health breakthrough.

Mercury is most commonly recognized as a...

President Obama had good reason to stand tall as he touted his commitment to clean energy and to environmental and public health protections in his Jan. 24 State-of-the-Union address and as he unveiled his 2013 budget on Monday.

During his administration, America has made historic progress toward curbing harmful pollutions...

People from across the nation have come together in their opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline for dirty tar sands oil. Over the course of just 24 hours, Americans sent more than 800,000 messages to their senators condemning an effort to revive this dirty tar sands pipeline.

Whenever I talk with parents of young children about my work, they often ask me about mercury pollution. They know it can harm children and pregnant women and they know it is pervasive, but they are unsure how to keep their families safe.

Today, that job just got easier....

At the insistence of Republican lawmakers, the tax bill moving through Congress includes a provision requiring President Obama to make a fast-track decision on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline in 60 days.

This is political opportunism at its most cynical. The Keystone rider has nothing to do with tax...

Once again Congress is facing hard deadlines for must-pass legislation. And once again, GOP leaders are holding up the process with anti-environmental riders. Instead of working to complete funding bills and tax provisions, these lawmakers are pitching an ideological battle with their designated foe: environmental safeguards.

No other issue has...

President Obama has delivered another victory for clean energy innovation. Today his administration moved forward with new standards for cars, SUVs, and pick-up trucks that will almost double vehicle miles per gallon to 54.5 mpg by 2025.

These new standards demonstrate the president's commitment to a clean energy future....

President Obama took a stand for the people of Nebraska today, and Americans everywhere, when his administration stood up to Big Oil to say we won't put our people, waters and croplands at risk for the sake of pipeline profits and dirty fuels.

That kind of leadership takes courage, and...

Senate Republicans have opened a new front in the war against public health and environmental safeguards. They released a so-called jobs plan that calls for removing standards that protect Americans from smog, arsenic, lead, mercury, and other hazardous pollutants.

What the proposal shows is that Republican leaders have no...

This week House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is firing the opening salvo in his fall campaign to dismantle public health safeguards and increase air pollution. He is holding a floor vote on the TRAIN Act to block the Environmental Protection Agency from updating two life-saving standards.

This...

Today the Obama administration made a decision that will endanger the health of tens of thousands of Americans. Its choice to delay stronger standards for smog lets polluters off the hook and leaves Americans with sicker family members and higher medical costs.

Smog standards exist because smog is dangerous...

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's memo outlining the GOP jobs plan was certainly timely. Our economy is facing towering challenges that call for bold, constructive ideas. Too bad Cantor's proposed solutions are nothing more than a repackaged anti-government screed that seeks to help the pollution industry...