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Oklahoma: reports of poisoned air from natural gas operations causing illnesses

Amy Mall – Senior Policy Analyst: Posted May 2, 2011 in Health and the Environment

Tags:: cleanair, fracking, gasdrilling, hydraulicfracturing, hydrofracking, naturalgas, oilandgas

Thomas House is a disabled veteran who lives in the rural countryside outside of Oklahoma City. He moved there in 1995 after he was disabled in the first Gulf War and retired from the Air Force. He loved the peace,...continued→ | comments

NRDC's CMI and Greenprint Foundation Announce Collaboration on Working towards Energy Efficient Real Estate

Radhika Khosla – Welch Environmental Innovation Fellow: Posted May 2, 2011 in Green Enterprise, Living Sustainably, Solving Global Warming

Tags:: buildings, CMI, energyefficiency, greenbuilding, Greenprint, markettransformation, realestate

As part of NRDC's Center for Market Innovation (CMI) and with a background of having worked on energy efficiency in buildings, I can say with confidence that we now recognize well that the built environment holds a particularly important place...continued→ | comments

NRDC fact sheet lays out biomass basics, campaign calls for action to tell EPA our forests aren't fuel

Sasha Lyutse – Policy Analyst: Posted May 2, 2011 in Curbing Pollution, Solving Global Warming

Tags:: bioenergy, biomass, biopower, CAA, carbon, carbonsequestration, cleanairact, epa, forests, renewableenergy, trees, wood

Today NRDC and our partners are calling on all concerned citizens to learn about the risks of using the wrong types of biomass for energy and to tell EPA not to allow power companies to use the worst types of...continued→ | comments

Scott Brown's League of Women Voters Problem

Pete Altman – Climate Campaign Director: Posted May 2, 2011 in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment, Solving Global Warming

Tags:: cleanairact, epa, LWV, pnp, pollution

U.S. Senator Scott Brown, R-MA, is learning the hard way: When you vote against kid's health, you have to expect a backlash. Back in late January, I wrote about the American Lung Association data showing that that over 130,000 kids...continued→ | comments (1)

Industry group grabs "Forests Not Fuel" URLs to push "Forests ARE Fuel" agenda

Melissa Waage – Campaign Director: Posted May 2, 2011 in Curbing Pollution, Solving Global Warming

Tags:: bioenergy, biomass, carbon, cleanair, cleanairact, cleanenergy, climatechange, EPA, forestprotection, renewableenergy, trees, wood

A funny thing happened when a forest industry group got wind of NRDC's new Forests Not Fuel campaign to expose the risks of burning our forests for energy. The group--the National Alliance of Forest Owners, or NAFO--snapped up all the relevant "forestsnotfuel"...continued→ | comments

Drill Our Way to Price Stability? Not Likely.

Brian Siu – Policy Analyst: Posted May 2, 2011 in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Reviving the World's Oceans, U.S. Law and Policy

Tags:: deepwaterhorizon, gasoline, gasprices, gulfspill, OCS, offshoredrilling, oildependence, oildrilling, oilprices, oilsavings, outercontinentalshelf, PNP, transportation

Once again we find ourselves amidst $4 per gallon gasoline with the Drill Baby Drill chorus promising that opening all of our coasts to drilling will provide price relief. Instead of taking the time to increase safety standards and environmental...continued→ | comments

Asian Carp have Spawned Water Ninjas on the Illinois River

Josh Mogerman – Senior Media Associate: Posted May 2, 2011 in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places

Tags:: asiancarp, biogems, illinoisriver, invasivespecies, ninjas

It has come to this. The Asian carp infestation in Peoria has some intrepid water skiers taking to the Illinois River in spiked body armor with wolverine claws and samurai swords to take the fight to the invasive species. This...continued→ | comments

Love forests? Learn to love fighting for stricter biomass regs

Nathanael Greene – Director of Renewable Energy Policy: Posted May 2, 2011 in Living Sustainably, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places, Solving Global Warming

Tags:: biofuels, biomass, biomess, biopower, forests, renewableenergy, wood

Today NRDC, Friends of the Earth, The Wilderness Society and a host of other groups listed below are participating in a social media push to draw attention to the risks of biomass energy. We hope this will help our readers...continued→ | comments (2)

Casting Oil Upon the Waters: The House Drilling Bills

David Goldston – Director, Government Affairs: Posted May 2, 2011 in U.S. Law and Policy

Tags:: deepwaterhorizon, gulfspill, hastings, HR1229, HR1230, HR1231, offshoredrilling

This week, the House could vote on three bills to expand offshore oil and gas drilling. It is remarkable enough that the House would take up such measures before Congress has done a thing to make drilling safer. But what...continued→ | comments (3)

Housing preference analysis: we have too much large-lot housing, too little urban housing to meet demand

Kaid Benfield – Director, Sustainable Communities & Smart Growth: Posted May 2, 2011 in Living Sustainably

Tags:: housing, markettransformation, smartgrowth, sprawl, sustainablecommunities

The chart above comes from Arthur C. (Chris) Nelson of the University of Utah, as reported by Rob Steuteville in his New Urban Network blog. It compares three estimates of American consumer housing preferences – from Nelson’s own research,...continued→ | comments

On Easter Weekend, A Cross Bears Witness to the Rise in Turtle Deaths

Rocky Kistner – Communications Associate: Posted May 1, 2011 in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment, Moving Beyond Oil

Tags:: bp, disaster, gulfspill, oil, turtles

On the day before Easter, Shirley Tillman and her husband were driving on the beach road of Pass Christian, MS, when she spotted something odd. There by the shoreline was a small wooden cross, a lone monument someone had planted in the sand. She told...continued→ | comments (2)

Learning More About How Early Warning Systems Save Lives in Ahmedabad, India

Anjali Jaiswal – Senior Attorney: Posted April 30, 2011 in Health and the Environment, Solving Global Warming

Tags:: climateadaptation, climatechange, globalwarming, heat, heatwaves, India, publichealth, resilience

It’s getting hotter as summer rolls around, and because of climate change summers are expected to get hotter each year. In some places, like Ahmedabad, India, as temperatures spike to 115° F (46°C), hospital emergency rooms are inundated with an...continued→ | comments

A New Study Finds Solar and Efficiency Drastically Increase Home Value

Pierre Bull – Policy Analyst: Posted April 29, 2011 in Green Enterprise, Solving Global Warming

Tags:: CA, energyefficiency, homes, PV, residential, solar

Early 2011 has not been kind to the U.S. residential real estate market. The NY Times reiterated this week: Real Estate Remains in Distress as U.S. Home Prices Fall Again. Not good news if you’re hoping to sell. Unless you’ve...continued→ | comments

Follow the Evidence and Save the Frogs

Andrew Wetzler – Director, Land & Wildlife Program: Posted April 29, 2011 in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places

Tags:: atrazine, EPA, frog, frogs, savethefrogs, toxic, toxicchemicals

In Tuesday’s Huffington Post Jon Entine, a visiting fellow with the conservative American Enterprise Institute, attacks the link between the decline of frogs globally and pesticide use. As Jon rightly notes, worldwide the biggest problem facing frogs today is...continued→ | comments

Let them eat meat

Louisa Willcox – Senior Wildlife Advocate: Posted April 29, 2011 in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places

Tags:: greateryellowstone, grizzly, grizzlybears, grizzlyconflicts, grizzlyhunters, grizzlymortality, whitebarkpine, yellowstone, yellowstonegrizzlies, yellowstonegrizzly

So what foods are Yellowstone grizzly bears turning to as whitebark pine, formerly a major staple, dies off? The simple answer, made in spades at last week’s Yellowstone grizzly bear subcommittee meetings, was that bears would eat more meat—largely...continued→ | comments (1)

U.S. Senators See Clean Energy in China First-Hand - Barbara Finamore (April 29, 2011)
NRDC in the News 4/29: Fracking, drilling subsidies, clean energy investing, more... - NRDC News (April 29, 2011)
Congratulations to the Tri-State Transportation Campaign! - Rich Kassel (April 29, 2011)
Frogs Failing: "Save the Frogs Day" is no celebration - Josh Mogerman (April 29, 2011)
Chamber of Commerce and Auto Dealer Group Lose Last-Gasp Lawsuit to Stop Clean Cars - David Doniger (April 29, 2011)
Name that fish! The power of social networking to scientific discovery - Sylvia Fallon (April 29, 2011)
Keep Your District Moving: How the Federal Transportation Budget Affects Maryland District 1 - Deron Lovaas (April 29, 2011)
Better Life: Kansas data center demonstrates efficiencies possible in our computer grid - Dale Bryk (April 29, 2011)
AEP Polluter Bill: Tens of Thousands of American Deaths is "Cost-Effective"? - Pete Altman (April 29, 2011)
One of Arctic's 13 Most Vulnerable Places Would be Open to Drilling Under Pending House Bill - Chuck Clusen (April 29, 2011)
How Melbourne sets an example for urban livability - Kaid Benfield (April 29, 2011)
Gulf Women Show Their Panties and Fight for Their Future - Rocky Kistner (April 28, 2011)
NRDC in the News: Lightbulb efficiency, protections for air and water, rising gas prices and more.... - NRDC News (April 28, 2011)
How to Honor the Lives of Oil Industry Workers - David Pettit (April 28, 2011)
Efficiency Here, Efficiency Now = Pay Less - Deron Lovaas (April 28, 2011)
The Oil-Price Rocket: What Factors Fuel It? - Deron Lovaas (April 28, 2011)
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Once Again Raises Alarm Bells on Global Warming - Jake Schmidt (April 28, 2011)
Save the Frogs - ban atrazine and other frog-toxic pesticides - Jennifer Sass (April 28, 2011)
Parks for people, and people for parks - Kaid Benfield (April 28, 2011)
Can You Top This: Now AEI Blogger Says We Got Clean Cars without Clean Car Standards - David Doniger (April 28, 2011)

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Switchboard is the staff blog of the Natural Resources Defense Council, the nation’s most effective environmental group. For more about our work, including in-depth policy documents, action alerts and ways you can contribute, visit NRDC.org.

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