Key achievements from our past
We have a 50-year track record of creating innovative solutions to tough environmental challenges. Here are some of the big wins we scored over the years.
2012: Bipartisan win scores billions for recovery along the Gulf Coast
Working across the aisle, we helped secure legislation that guaranteed funding for coastal restoration after the BP oil spill.
2006: California passes law to rein in climate pollution
We helped policymakers create legislation that sets an economy-wide cap on greenhouse gases, sparking a clean energy economic boom.
1995: New program gives landowners an incentive to protect vulnerable wildlife
Because of our unique incentive system called Safe Harbor, the owners of 4 million acres nationwide welcome 63 rare species to their land.
1991: McDonald's reduces waste — and saves money
In forming the first corporate partnership, we showed that an environmental group and a Fortune 500 company can get results together.
1990: Acid rain pollution is slashed using the power of the marketplace
Our proposal, written into the 1990 Clean Air Act, required that overall sulfur emissions be cut in half, but let each company decide how to do it.
1985: Switching to unleaded gasoline saves hundreds of thousands of lives
After we helped convince federal regulators to end the use of leaded gasoline, blood lead levels in U.S. children plummeted.
1970: Hunted whales are given lasting protection
We led the fight to bring whales onto the U.S. endangered species list, an important win that secured that helped many whale populations to recover.
1967: DDT is banned, ushering in the modern environmental movement
Alarmed by the devastating effects of the pesticide DDT on wildlife, a group of scientists sue to get it banned — and win. Soon after, EDF is officially incorporated.