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In 2022, Rosa applied for the Water Leadership Institute. Her motivation? To actively address severe water challenges impacting her family in El Nido in Merced County. Located in California’s breadbasket, Merced County is a scene of abundance with lush fields, orchards, and prospering dairy farms. Yet, beneath this scene lies a harsh reality. Rosa’s family …

What does it mean for hydrogen to be clean? And will the emerging hydrogen economy be able to deliver the meaningful climate benefits it promises? The U.S Treasury is about to make a series of decisions that will determine the answer to these questions for the U.S region, and potentially others around the world who …

By Helen Spence-Jackson and Thorfinn Stainforth The European Commission has just proposed a new 2040 climate target of -90% greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from 1990 levels. At the same time a recent official scientific report shows that there is still a lot of hard work and policy setting to do to reach it. While reaching …

A new report from EDF and Sustainable Public Affairs showcases case studies on how EU companies are acting on climate goals while growing profits.

What’s New Earlier this week EDF submitted comments that urged EPA to finalize the strongest possible improvements to the Lead and Copper Rule (LCRI). An estimated 9.2 million lead service lines (LSLs) are still connected to homes and buildings throughout the country. EPA’s proposal is a critical step to protect Americans from the harmful of …

  A new survey of agricultural lenders in the upper Midwest reveals important insights about their perceptions and support for farmers’ conservation efforts. As the first of its kind, the survey can inform agricultural lending institutions’ climate and sustainability strategy development. Farmers rely on agricultural lending institutions for loans to cover equipment, land and operating …

Climate change-driven events—like heat waves, droughts, floods, and fires—cause damage to communities’ and individuals’ health and safety. But these events also threaten the financial well-being of communities across the U.S. through their impact on markets and local economies. These risks are increasingly visible in the housing and mortgage markets. In this three-part series, we’ll be …

Lenders’ conservation knowledge and challenges can inform how lending institution executives can support farmers in conservation decisions.

A new survey of agricultural lenders in the upper Midwest reveals important insights about their perceptions and support for farmers’ conservation efforts. As the first of its kind, the survey can inform agricultural lending institutions’ climate and sustainability strategy development. Farmers rely on agricultural lending institutions for loans to cover equipment, land and operating expenses.

By Adam Peltz and Meg Coleman New Mexico’s legislators have a remarkable opportunity in the coming days to protect New Mexico families, businesses and the environment by revising the antiquated Oil and Gas Act with House Bill 133.  What’s currently at stake is who will pay for the billions of dollars-worth of well plugging and …

Environmental Defense Fund works with major food companies for the same reason we engage with other sectors: We follow the emissions. 

In the fight against the climate crisis, high-integrity jurisdictional REDD+ is intended to be transformational, giving forest communities and governments the ability to tap into the voluntary carbon market to access climate finance needed to ensure that large areas of tropical forests remain intact.

By Fred Krupp, Manish Bapna and Armond Cohen Originally published in themessenger.com, December 2023 (no longer in circulation).  It’s a make-or-break moment for hydrogen’s role in our clean energy future. Hailed for its potential to flexibly deliver energy without polluting the climate, hydrogen could be a valuable climate solution if we get it right. That’s why the …

By Liora Fiksel, Project Manager, Healthy Communities, and Lisa Lefferts, Environmental Health Consultant What’s Happening? On December 21, 2023, FDA filed a food-additive petition and a color-additive petition submitted by EDF and partners that asks FDA to revoke its approval for four carcinogenic chemicals approved for use in food. There is broad agreement that benzene,

Climate change-driven events—like heat waves, droughts, floods, and fires—cause damage to communities’ and individuals’ health and safety. But these events also threaten the financial well-being of communities across the U.S. through their impact on markets and local economies. Nowhere is this more visible recently than in the property insurance market.  In this three-part series, we’ll …

Stakeholders across the climate space need urgent help to cut through the noise on natural climate solutions crediting. The NCS Crediting Handbook aims to meet this need by clearly laying out how high-quality NCS crediting can work—for credit sellers, for credit buyers, and as part of an effective and ethical global climate response.

Following the Sackett v. EPA Supreme Court decision in May 2023, millions of acres of wetlands across the U.S. lost critical federal protections they once had under the Clean Water Act The post Our Nation’s wetlands are at risk. So is our ability to manage flooding. first appeared on Growing Returns.

A high-integrity carbon market can play a significant role in reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. But carbon mitigation should not be the only ‘win’ that comes from the purchase of high-quality carbon credits. Benefits-sharing and social safeguards deliver the durability and longevity we need for any achieved emissions reductions.

By Casey Horan As the first blog in this series details, shorter interconnection timelines can be key to accelerating electric vehicle deployments and achieving decarbonization goals.  Luckily, there are currently available policy and technical solutions states can use to achieve timely interconnection, including: (1) hybrid interconnection; (2) flexible interconnection; and (3) ramped connection.   The …

Embarking on a field trip can often feel like stepping into a storybook, especially when the narrative and scenery revolve around transforming landscapes. This feeling was palpable last November when the Environmental Defense Fund organized a trip to Merced and Stanislaus Counties in California. The journey wasn’t just a tour; it was a vivid illustration …

By Maricel Maffini, PhD, Consultant, and Tom Neltner, JD What Happened In December 2023, FDA’s scientists published a new study showing that when pregnant rats ingest a form of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substance (PFAS) called 6:2 fluorotelomer alcohol (6:2 FTOH) their bodies break it down into other PFAS that reach the fetuses and biopersist …

Last week, EPA proposed details for how it will administer Congress’s methane waste emissions charge for excessive oil and gas pollution, passed as part of the Inflation Reduction Act’s Methane Emissions Reduction Program in 2022.   The waste charge is a fee on excessive methane pollution that applies to the largest polluting facilities in the oil …

In leading climate states, you’ll find trailblazing projects that are benefiting people’s lives and cutting costly pollution right now. In Washington, young people ride the ferry across Puget sound and buses around the state for free. In California, low-income residents get money-saving home energy efficiency upgrades at no cost. And in New York, businesses and …

66% of WEF Global Risk Perception Survey respondents identified extreme weather as “most likely to present a material crisis on a global scale in 2024.”

Billion-dollar natural disasters now happen every 3 weeks on average, vs. every 4 months in 1980s. Climate change could cost the global economy $5 trillion over a 5-year period.