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Frances Beinecke, President of NRDC, New York City
I am the president of NRDC. I started here in 1973, just a few years after John Adams and a handful of other wildly dedicated people founded this organization. Back then, there were about a dozen people in the country practicing environmental law, and most of them worked at NRDC. The whole concept of writing laws and public policy to protect the Earth was brand new, and it was thrilling to be a part of it at that early point.
I came to NRDC with a background in environmental studies and a strong desire to help protect the Northeastern forests and wild Western landscapes I loved so much. I started as an intern working to preserve forests through careful land use planning. But when the 1970s oil crisis unleashed a drive to open the Atlantic Ocean to oil and gas drilling, I advocated for stronger safeguards for marine life. I left NRDC for a few years when my three daughters were young, and I came back as the group’s first executive director. In 2006, I became president, and I remain honored and awed to lead this remarkable institution.
And I love my job. First of all, I get to work with some of the best minds in the business. And second, I love that NRDC is all about finding solutions. I am a pragmatic person and an optimist, and I believe that most of the challenges facing the Earth can be solved with the right combination of passion, policy, and technology. With this job, I get to see many of those solutions firsthand--from wind farms off the coast of Denmark to marine reserves around California’s Channel Islands to green buildings in China--and work to bring them to more landscapes and more people.
Recent Posts
Posted February 7, 2012 by Frances Beinecke in Living Sustainably, Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- brundtland, climatechange, delhi, DSDS, energyefficiency, halonen, hyderabad, india, mumbai, pachauri, SEWA, singh, sustainability, sustainabledevelopment, TERI
As I traveled through Mumbai and Delhi over the past few days, I’ve been awed by the rapid growth taking place in Indian cities. Statistics about urbanization abound, but experiencing the dynamic, jammed-packed streets firsthand is much more revealing. Walking...continued→
Posted February 6, 2012 by Frances Beinecke in Green Enterprise
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- ajitrangnekar, efficiency, efficientbuildings, greenbuilding, hitechcity, hyderabad, india, indianschoolofbusiness, LEED
Hyderabad has turned out to be the perfect place to begin my first trip to India. This four-hundred-year-old city is rich in cultural history, but its sleek, gleaming IT sector points the way to India’s future. Hyderabad was one of...continued→
Posted February 1, 2012 by Frances Beinecke in Moving Beyond Oil, Reviving the World's Oceans
- Tags:
- alaska, arctic, arcticdrilling, arcticocean, beaufortsea, chukchisea, coastguard, icebreaker, nationalcommission, offshoredrilling, oilindustry, oilspills, shell
President Obama traveled the country last week calling for clean energy projects that would make our nation more prosperous and secure. Unfortunately, he also recommended energy proposals that will put America at risk. The president directed his administration to open...continued→
Posted January 31, 2012 by Frances Beinecke in Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- boehner, FERC, keystone, keystonexl, policyriders, tarsands, taxbill, terry, transportationbill
House Republicans are once again talking about weighing down the tax relief bill with riders designed to force the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline and block clean air standards. But, even these lawmakers seem to recognize the public won’t...continued→
Posted January 25, 2012 by Frances Beinecke in Health and the Environment, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- army, cleanair, cleaneconomy, cleanenergy, cleanenergystandards, DOD, energyefficiency, fracking, jobs, keystonexl, naturalgas, navy, pnp, renewabletaxcredit, SOTU, stateoftheunion
President Obama confirmed his commitment to clean energy and to environmental and public health protections in his State of the Union Address last night. He celebrated the extraordinary growth of the clean energy economy, and he laid out a plan...continued→
Posted January 24, 2012 by Frances Beinecke in Health and the Environment, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- cleancarstandards, cleaneconomy, cleanenergy, fracking, mercury, obama, obamarecord, obamaspeech, SOTU, stateoftheunion, stormwater, teaparty, waterpollution
The annual State of the Union Address is a time for taking stock. Tonight President Obama will assess our nation's progress on a range of urgent issues, but today I want to look closely at one critical indicator of America's...continued→
Posted January 20, 2012 by Frances Beinecke in Health and the Environment
- Tags:
- antibiotics, bacteria, CDC, farming, FDA, food, foodsafety, livestock, superbugs
Over the past several weeks, the Food and Drug Administration has been in the news for its stance on antibiotic use in farm animals. Yet instead of making good on its 1977 promise to limit these drugs in livestock, the...continued→
Posted January 18, 2012 by Frances Beinecke in Moving Beyond Oil, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places, Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- canada, jobs, keystone, keystonexl, nebraska, november6, ogallala, oil, oiladdiction, oilindustry, tarsands, texas
The Obama Administration has rejected the Keystone XL pipeline for tar sands oil. This decision puts the health and safety of the American people above the interests of Big Oil. And it confirms President Obama’s commitment to combating the threats...continued→
Posted January 15, 2012 by Frances Beinecke in Reviving the World's Oceans, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
- Tags:
- arctic, arcticdrilling, commercedepartment, fisheries, interior, interiordepartment, marinelife, NOAA, oceans, oceansgovernance, offshoredrilling, oil
President Obama has announced a plan to move the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration out of the Commerce Department and into the Department of the Interior. While streamlining government to better serve the American people is a worthy undertaking, this...continued→
Posted January 12, 2012 by Frances Beinecke in Reviving the World's Oceans
- Tags:
- BP, fisheries, fishermen, nationaloceanpolicy, oceanacidification, oceans, offshoredrilling, oilspillcommission
Many Americans are familiar with the pleasures of swimming, fishing, and beachcombing along our ocean waters. But few people know how much the oceans contribute to our national economy. In 2009, ocean-related tourism and recreation alone generated more than 1.8...continued→
Posted January 11, 2012 by Frances Beinecke in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment
- Tags:
- cleanair, cleanairact, cleanwateract, EPA, jobs, MACT, mercury, obama, polluters, teaparty
President Obama sent a strong message to the Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday when he told agency staffers he will “stand with you every inch of the way as you carry out your mission to make sure that we've got...continued→
Posted December 21, 2011 by Frances Beinecke in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment
- Tags:
- airpollution, asthma, cancer, cardiacdisease, cleanairact, coal, coalfiredpowerplants, lead, MACT, mercury, mercuryinfish, powerplants, utilities
Whenever I talk with parents of young children about my work, they often ask me about mercury pollution. They know it can harm children and pregnant women and they know it is pervasive, but they are unsure how to keep...continued→
Posted December 20, 2011 by Frances Beinecke in Living Sustainably
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- costarica, greengifts, greenlifestyles, greenliving, holidays, kyrasedgwick, lauriedavid, rainforest, sustainability, tonyshalhoub, wolves
As the holidays draw closer, the pace of the season tends to accelerate. Between traveling, cooking, shopping, and party planning, most of us get caught up in a hectic swirl of festivity. I welcome the holiday cheer, but while we...continued→
Posted December 18, 2011 by Frances Beinecke in Moving Beyond Oil, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places, Solving Global Warming, U.S. Law and Policy
- Tags:
- carbonemissions, carbonpollution, cleancarstandards, climatechange, farmers, keystone, keystonexl, lowcarbonfuelstandard, nebraska, oil, oilindustry, pipeline, policyriders, riders, tarsands
At the insistence of Republican lawmakers, the tax bill moving through Congress includes a provision requiring President Obama to make a fast-track decision on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline in 60 days. This is political opportunism at its most...continued→
Posted December 16, 2011 by Frances Beinecke in Health and the Environment, U.S. Law and Policy
- Tags:
- airpollution, alaska, arctic, efficiency, lightbulbs, mercury, murkowski, pnp, policyriders, riders, spendingbill, upton
Over the past few weeks, Republican lawmakers have been trying to stuff the must-pass government spending bill with policy riders designed to weaken environmental safeguards. But thanks to President Obama and Democratic leaders, dozens of the worst anti-environmental have been...continued→