Friends of the Earth (US)
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Friends of the Earth (US) is an environmental organization that lobbies for protection of the environment and champions a healthy and just world. The head of Friends of the Earth (US) is Brent Blackwelder, who in November 2004 was chosen as "one of the top environmental stewards" in the country by the magazine Vanity Fair. Friends of the Earth (US) meets the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance Standards for Charity Accountability. The evaluation process involves rigorous scrutiny of a charity’s governance, effectiveness, finances and solicitations and informational materials. The Wise Giving Alliance is the nation’s most experienced charity evaluator.
[edit] Programs
Friends of the Earth (US) has three three program fields around which its work revolves. These are:
- The Domestic Program, which seeks to eliminate subsidies for environmentally destructive activities that damage public health and natural resources at taxpayers expense; global warming; chemical and biotechnological safety issues; and transportation reform.
- The International Program is working to ensure that environmental concerns are a part of the emerging global system of trade and is using tools like shareholder resolutions to drive for more corporate accountability.
- The Bluewater Program is leading efforts to reduce environmental harm from commercial shipping, cruise ships, ferries, cars and trucks, snowmobiles and jetskis.
[edit] Recent achievements
- The ferry service to Alcatraz in San Francisco will be carried out in 2-4 years by an environmentally friendly Green Ferry, thanks to the efforts of our Bluewater Program.
- Friends of the Earth won a federal appeals court victory in April 2006 against the EPA and the Washington area sewer authority to require daily limits on storm water runoff into the Anacostia River. The court said that ‘daily’ means what it says and not seasonally or annually. The court asked what you would think of a doctor who promised a daily visit and then showed up once a year. The decision could be an important precedent for cities across the country because other courts have allowed EPA and local sewer authorities to get away with a lax interpretation of ‘daily.’
- Friends of the Earth co-sponsored a new film The Great Warming [(http://www.thegreatwarming.com)] designed to involve and engage religious congregations on the issue of climate change.
- Friends of the Earth (alongside other groups)in 2005 successfully convinced the city council of Washington, D.C. to ban the passage of trains loaded with toxic chemicals such as chlorine through city neighborhoods. According to the U.S. Naval Research Labs, one chlorine tank car breach could kill 100,000 people in ½ hour. While the ban is in litigation, Friends of the Earth and its allies are working in coalition with groups in other cities to achieve the rerouting of trains with dangerous chemicals around large populated cities.
- Friends of the Earth released a report in the summer of 2006 providing information on the presence of nanotechnology in everyday products such as sunscreens that received widespread coverage in the media nationwide. The Food and Drug Administration has announced that it plans a meeting in October to discuss the new kinds of nanotechnology being developed for use in the products it regulates, including drugs and cosmetics.
