Environmental Defense Action Fund

1875 Connecticut Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20009
www.environmentaldefense.org

Phone : (800) 591-1919
Email : See 'Contact Us' section of website
Members: 500000

Fred Krupp,President

Founded in 1967 as the Environmental Defense Fund, we tackle the most serious environmental problems with:

Strong Science: Advancing policy through breakthrough research

Scientists founded Environmental Defense 40 years ago. Ever since, our biologists, chemists, engineers and physicists have used science to cut through logjams.

In 1998, for instance, atmospheric physicist Dr. Michael Oppenheimer — then our climate director and now science adviser — published a paper in Nature warning that human-caused global warming might so accelerate polar melting that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could begin to collapse. Such an event ultimately would raise sea levels 20 feet.

Oppenheimer’s focus on "tipping points" that could destabilize the climate fundamentally altered the thinking of scientists and policymakers.

"Oppenheimer got the whole scientific community focused on critical thresholds like melting ice sheets," says our science adviser Dr. William Chameides. "What we needed to do became clear: Develop emissions targets that can prevent the globe from reaching these points of no return."

Innovative Markets: Mobilizing the energy of entrepreneurs

"The greatest green success story of the past decade is probably America’s innovative scheme to cut emissions of sulfur dioxide.” — The Economist

Market competition has always been one of the most powerful engines of American innovation. Environmental Defense long ago found ways to harness that engine for environmental progress.

We persuaded the first President Bush to cap sulfur dioxide emissions in the Clean Air Act. Our market solution allowed power plants that went beyond their required reductions to bank or sell excess quota, demonstrating that air pollution could be reduced more quickly and at lower cost than predicted.

Our design of a cap-and-trade mechanism is now the centerpiece of international plans to reduce global warming pollution.

Other markets we helped establish have aided endangered wildlife, given farmers an incentive to conserve water and rebuilt fisheries, reviving local communities that depend on fishing. Such markets could not exist without strong laws, however. That’s why our staff works on both sides of the aisle in Congress to make sure we have laws and polices that protect the environment.

Our Approach: Building strategic partnerships to drive environmental solutions

We do not accept money from our partners

Our partnership work is funded by generous individuals and foundations. This ensures our independence and credibility. See also:

• Who supports our work
• Our policy on corporate donations
• Common questions about our policy

We are proponents of a new form of environmentalism — one that weds markets and social goals — to create powerful change.

Our Strategy:

• Define new best practices - By working with business leaders, we develop our projects to be trendsetters.
• Green the supply chain - To up the demand for environmentally preferable products and raw materials, we partner with companies with substantial purchasing power.
• Transform industry - Working with market leaders, we are creating "ripple effects," motivating other companies in the same sector to make similar environmental improvements.
• Factor the environment into business - Creating tools that businesses can use is a priority of our projects.
• Demonstrate the business benefits of environmentalism - Our projects have both environmental benefits and strong business rationales. Conservation often applies to both the environment and costs.

Setting the pace for greening business

Environmental Defense pioneered the corporate partnership model and we've proven its worth with measurable financial and environmental results across industries and business disciplines.

We do not enlist companies to enact conservation strategies or grow corporate philanthropic programs. Instead, our partnerships are strategically designed to simultaneously provide business benefits, produce environmental results and pave the way for transformational industry change. We accept no payments from our corporate partners. The environment is our only client, and businesses our partners in pursuit of common aims.

Effective Laws and Policies: Defending and shaping environmental protections

"Everyone has the right to breathe healthy air, but more than half of all Americans live in areas that don't meet clean-air standards. We're working to change that, so kids and adults can breathe easier." — Vickie Patton

A generation ago, Environmental Defense helped launch the modern environmental era by using the courts in an unusual way for the times, ultimately winning a ban on DDT, the pesticide Rachel Carson warned about in Silent Spring. 

These days, we still go to court when necessary, but increasingly we partner with businesses, landowners, fishermen and others who have a stake in solving environmental problems, forging solutions that make sense for all. We're more likely to sit down with decision-makers to shape effective policies and laws.