SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIF. January 25, 2023 – Today, technical staff at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) refused a request by Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) to resume reviewing a 2009 license renewal application the company formally withdrew from NRC consideration in 2018. The staff’s decision affirmed recent arguments in the petition by San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace […]
Friends of the Earth
Posted inUS
Court Finds Massive Offshore Oil Lease Sale in Gulf Based on Faulty Legal Analysis
Washington, D.C — Today, The D.C. District Court invalidated the Department of Interior’s decision to offer 80 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas leasing, marking a pivotal victory in the fight to defend Gulf communities and the planet from the worsening climate crisis. The Court held that Interior failed to […]
Posted inEnviro
Global insect collapse driven by industrial farming, says new Insect Atlas
Brussels, June 9, 2020 – Insects are in decline across the world because of industrial farming and heavy pesticide use which are threatening food production, according to the Insect Atlas released today by Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung and Friends of the Earth Europe. Insects keep the planet’s ecological system running, and ensure our food supply – 75% of our […]
Posted inUS
New report reveals Big Oil’s COVID lobby bonanza
WASHINGTON May 12, 2020 – A new report from Friends of the Earth reveals the extent of Big Oil’s lobbying for coronavirus aid. A review of over 130 lobby filings from the first quarter of 2020 shows significant lobbying for tax cuts, royalty relief, and stimulus aid, all using COVID-19 as a pretext. Friends of the […]
Posted inUS
New Report: Big Oil’s Money Pit to Reap Stimulus Billions
WASHINGTON, April 15, 2020 –The Federal Reserve just announced $750 billion in corporate debt-buying as part of funding made available through the stimulus. Big Oil companies stand to reap yet another billion dollar bailout. As small businesses across America struggle and unemployment skyrockets, a new analysis from Friends of the Earth documents the billions in taxpayer funded […]
Posted inUS
250+ groups call on House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis to heed Green New Deal
WASHINGTON, D.C. November 22, 2019 – More than 250 groups today sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis Chair Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) demanding the committee take additional proactive steps in line with a Green New Deal to avert climate catastrophe. In the letter, the groups […]
Posted inWorld
Civil Society Groups Oppose “Hateful Rhetoric, Violence, Intimidation and Persecution” by Bolsonaro Government
January 1, 2019 – Forty-six environmental groups, academic organizations, human rights organizations, labor unions, faith-based groups and other civil society organizations have vowed to oppose any “hateful rhetoric and acts of violence, intimidation or persecution” by the incoming government of Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, as they proclaim in an open statement today. The groups, which […]
Posted inCalifornia
New Law Seals Deal in Closure of Diablo Canyon Nuclear Reactors
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. Sept. 20, 2018 — Gov. Brown yesterday signed legislation into law implementing the final pieces of a deal to close the last nuclear power reactors in California at Diablo Canyon In response to the new law, Damon Moglen, Senior Strategic Advisor at Friends of the Earth, issued the following statement: This settlement, […]
Posted inCalifornia
CA becomes first state to require plant-based food options in its state healthcare facilities and prisons
Berkeley, Calif. Sept. 19, 2018 – Governor Jerry Brown on Tuesday afternoon signed into law S.B. 1138, legislation to require that state-licensed healthcare facilities and state prisons provide plant-based food options to patients and currently incarcerated individuals. Friends of the Earth sponsored the legislation. Friends of the Earth applauds State Senator Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) for […]
Posted inEnviro
Honeybee Death Survey Masks True Scale of U.S. Pollinator Crisis
WASHINGTON, May 23, 2018 – The Bee Informed Partnership today released results of its annual survey of honeybee colony losses. Beekeepers reported 40.1 percent bee colony losses between April 2017 and April 2018. However, these numbers only represent 6.6 percent of the nation’s honeybee colonies and do not account for losses of native or solitary […]
Posted inEnviro
Friends of the Earth calls on Congress to fire Scott Pruitt in ‘Corrupt’ ad on ‘Fox & Friends’
WASHINGTON, D.C. April 23, 2018 – In anticipation of Scott Pruitt’s first Congressional testimony in months, a new ad airing this week from Friends of the Earth calls on Congress to fire Pruitt. “Scott Pruitt is the most corrupt administrator in the history of the EPA,” said Lukas Ross, Climate and Energy Campaigner at Friends […]
Posted inCalifornia
Is California Selling Climate Illusions?
June 29, 2017 – California Governor Jerry Brown has aggressively positioned himself as a global climate leader to fill the vacuum created by the arrival of an ignorant climate change denier in the White House. But not all that glitters is green. The Governor has spent the last months promoting the expansion of complicated market-based carbon trading […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Erich Pica: Indigenous and environmental activists will fight Trump pipeline decisions
WASHINGTON, D.C. Jan. 24, 2017 – Today the Trump administration approved construction of the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines. Friends of the Earth President Erich Pica issued the following response: Donald Trump has made it clear that his America does not include the millions of Americans who fought to protect our land, water, […]
Posted inCalifornia
New Cap-and-Trade Legislation Answers Call of Fossil Fuel Industry to Continue With Business as Usual
Jan. 16, 2017 – Legislation was introduced last week in the California Assembly (AB 151) that intends to firmly establish Cap-and-Trade as the future cornerstone policy to deliver the State’s legally mandated emissions reductions. But thorough academic review of the “market-based compliance mechanism” as implemented in California so far shows that Cap-and-Trade does not work […]
Posted inWorld
COP fails to rise to the challenge of protecting biodiversity, says FOEI
Dec. 20, 2016 – The stakes for the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 13) were high, as biodiversity is being lost at alarming rates, and urgent action is needed. Friends of the Earth International is highly disappointed that the results do not rise up to the challenge, as they […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Ben Schreiber: Groups demand ExxonMobil be debarred for misleading American public about climate change
WASHINGTON, D.C. Dec. 15, 2016– Yesterday the Waterkeeper Alliance petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency asking it to debar ExxonMobil for its effort to intentionally mislead the American public about climate change. The petition comes in the wake of an exposé by Inside Climate News into ExxonMobil’s knowledge of climate change. ExxonMobil is currently being investigated by […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Friends of the Earth International: We stand in solidarity with the water protectors at Standing Rock
LAMPUNG, Indonesia, Dec. 2, 2016 – Here follows a collective statement by the Friends of the Earth International network on Standing Rock: We, Friends of the Earth International, the largest federation of grassroots environmental justice organizations from 75 countries, gathered at our Biennial General Meeting 2016 held in Lampung, Indonesia. Friends of the Earth International lends […]
Posted inWorld
Trade and investment agreements block progress on agroecology and food sovereignty
Oct. 17, 2016 – On World Food Day, a new report from Friends of the Earth International finds that current strategies to raise investment in agriculture are most likely blocking rather than aiding the achievement of food security and food sovereignty. One key reason is that trade and investment agreements focus on attracting agribusiness investments […]
Posted inWorld
G20 lacks action but energy revolution still possible since the money is there
Sept. 7, 2016 – At the G20 leaders summit held over the weekend in China, climate change and tax avoidance were centre stage. The United States and China ratified the Paris Climate agreement. However, as the treaty lacks concrete demands for action, more concrete measures are needed. Climate change and tax evasion are symptoms of […]
Posted inUS
House votes to silence public opposition to oil and gas lease sales
WASHINGTON, D.C. September 7, 2016 – The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that will shield offshore oil and gas lease sales from public scrutiny. House Resolution 5577: Innovation in Offshore Leasing Act, sponsored by Representatives Garret Graves (R-La.) and Alan Lowenthal (D-Ca.) would require the Bureau of Ocean Management to conduct an Internet-based […]