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By: Cheryl Roberto, Associate Vice President, Clean Energy

How does Demand Response reduce electricity use? from Environmental Defense Fund

Clean energy resources, like wind, solar, and energy efficiency, have certain key advantages over traditional, fossil fuel-based resources: they don’t require expensive, polluting fuels or large capital investment, consume little to no water, generate negligible carbon emissions, and are easily scalable. To take full advantage of low-carbon, renewable energy sources, we need a power grid with enough flexibility to harness clean energy when it is available and abundant. That’s where demand response, a people-driven solution, comes in.

On a hot summer day, for example, electricity use rapidly increases as people turn on air conditioners to avoid the heat of the late afternoon. A decade ago, the grid operator’s only option is to turn on another fossil fuel power plant to meet the increased need for electricity. But, at any given time, there are thousands of light switches left on, idle water heaters, cycling swimming pool pumps, and forgotten thermostats that people could temporarily turn off or down, if only they were offered the right incentive. If asked, people can adjust their power usage in exchange for a financial reward. We call this “demand response,” and it is increasingly helping to balance the flow of electricity with our energy needs at a given moment.

Demand response diverts money that would generally go to a fossil fuel power plant to homeowners and businesses instead. In this scenario, a utility or demand response provider sends a message for participants to reduce electricity use at key times in exchange for a credit or rebate on their utility bill, in addition to the cost savings they will earn through conservation. Of course, participants always have the option to opt-out with the tap of a button on their smart phone or thermostat.

While demand response might sound unconventional, it is actually a traditional, common-sense economic idea that has not been adequately applied within the electricity sector. In any market, customers are often encouraged to tweak their behaviors in return for a potential reward. When was the last time you were asked to give up your seat on a flight after the airline overbooked the plane? The airlines either offer money or a free plane ticket if you take a later flight.

Demand response can do the same thing for electricity, incentivizing more energy use when inexpensive, carbon-free renewable energy is abundant, and discouraging non-essential energy use when an additional, fossil-fueled power plant may need to be turned on.

Best of all, demand response is more affordable than constructing new power plants. As utilities invest around two trillion dollars over the next two decades to modernize our century-old electric grid, technology and people will play a larger role in deciding how power is produced and used.

Demand response adds a people-driven dynamic to the power grid, transforming our electricity system from a one-way, centralized power network in which customers passively receive electricity, to a more localized, two-way flow of power and information where both parties gain. Plus, we  will all benefit from enhanced reliability on the power grid, as well as curbing energy use during the hottest and coldest months, offsetting the need for expensive, inefficient, and dirty ‘peaker’ plants generally only used to generate power several dozen hours per year during these periods of extreme weather.

If we are going to meet the challenge of climate change, we will have to accelerate the shift to a clean energy economy with innovative, user-friendly technology that puts people in the driver’s seat. Demand response is good for people, businesses, and the environment, and will unlock a future that relies on the intelligent, resilient, and clean energy solutions. Let’s put it to work for us.

This commentary originally appeared on our EDF Voices blog.

Written by Marcia G. Yerman

On Earth Day, April 22, the American Masters series on PBS is presenting A Fierce Green Fire, a documentary which timelines the environmental movement’s past five decades. Beginning in the 1960s, the one-hour film is chock full of backstory that contextualizes where the struggle is today and how it evolved. There is supporting materials online — including a web-exclusive entitled, “Women in the Environmental Movement.”

There is plenty to learn in this depiction of the struggle referenced as “nature versus humanity.” Highlights include the fight against building dams in the Grand Canyon in 1966. A clip shows President Richard Nixon asking, “Shall we make peace with nature?” His efforts led to the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The first images of earth from space instigate a pivotal attitudinal change on how people view the planet. The various “social movements” of the 1960s inform green consciousness. Civil Rights activism builds towards an understanding of the need for environmental justice. The “counter-culture” and anti-war methods yield tactics that will be used by Greenpeace. Heroes protecting ecosystems around the globe step up to fight — sometimes paying with their lives as in the example of Chico Mendes. Throughout, there is the looming shadow of the “industrial actors” — the power of big oil and coal.

Lois Gibbs: The Backstory

Among the individuals on the environmental landscape, Chapter 2’s profile of Lois Gibbs captures the quintessential behavioral shift that was part of the 1970s. Gibbs, a “homemaker,” learned that her community’s children were in mortal danger because the town’s elementary school was built on a toxic dump — 20,000 tons of chemical waste to be exact. Her 7-year-old son was having health problems and she couldn’t find assistance. Gibbs was dismissed by the school’s superintendent as, “One irate, hysterical housewife with a sickly kid.” However, when she started canvassing her neighbors, she learned that her child wasn’t the only one with medical problems. Many houses had horrible smells coming up through the floors. Gibbs mobilized other parents, spearheaded studies, and compiled statistics. Results showed that 56 percent of Love Canal’s children presented with birth defects. Out of twenty-two pregnancies, only four newborns were normal.

New York State Health officials greeted the research Gibbs had collected derisively. Their response was, “It’s useless housewife data.” Gibbs refused to be cowed. She fought with local, state, and even the federal government. She had a standoff with President Carter’s White House, refusing to let EPA representatives (who had been dispatched to investigate claims) leave her home until she was guaranteed relocation for the homeowners of Love Canal. Gibbs won the battle. Her efforts on recognizing the damage that toxic chemicals can have on the human endocrine system paved the way for the EPA’s Superfund program.

Lois Gibbs Interview

I reached out to Gibbs to revisit her story, and to discuss the role of the individual — particularly mothers — in promoting change. In a telephone conversation she described her origins in the environmental space as, “the accidental activist.” Gibbs told me, “I wanted to be the best mom possible. Then I discovered the dump. The government wouldn’t help me, so I decided to do it myself.”

Today, Gibbs is the Executive Director and founder of the Center for Health, Environment & Justice. She pointed out that 80 percent of environmental groups are led by women. “It makes sense, when someone is trying to kill your kids,” she said dryly. Gibbs was proud of not being “reasonable” when it came to the well-being of her children. She identified, “Even after all these years later, the default position for government and big business is to paint women as being emotional.” She noted that new groups of mothers are becoming pro-active in response to the “fracking industry and climate change.”

Gibbs’s philosophy is that people are not apathetic. Rather, “They don’t know what to do.” She related that when she reached out to other mothers in Love Canal, she was told, “I’ve been waiting for someone to come to my door.” Gibbs continued, “People need something tangible; one specific thing to do.”

Undeterred by climate deniers, Gibbs said, “Constituents have to get new representatives at the local level. It needs to be made an issue in district campaigns. What we don’t have is an engaged community.” Her goal is to tap into solutions that address economic factors and the environment. She gave the example of turning a large, defunct cotton field into a solar farm that creates livelihoods. “It’s important to construct solutions and not be a naysayer,” said Gibbs.

However, she was crystal clear on several issues:

• Her response to the XL Pipeline was, “It’s a horrible idea.”
• The push to incorporate fracking into a national energy plan garnered, “Why are we investing in natural gas?”
• Like Bill McGibben, she see the potential in the divestment stating, “Oil and coal will always resist—until they can’t resist anymore.”

A Fierce Green Fire

In A Fierce Green Fire Paul Hawken underscored a top takeaway about the importance of the grassroots. He said, “Two million organizations are working on social justice and the environment. It’s not going to be top down.”

Gibbs concurred, reiterating, “All politics and solutions are local.” She closed with the advice, “Stay active. That’s what makes a difference.”

A Fierce Green Fire
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
9 – 10 p.m. on PBS (Check local listings)

Photo Credit: Buffalo State College Archives, Courier Express collection


TELL EPA YOU SUPPORT NEW LIMITS ON CARBON POLLUTION




Coast Guard calls BP's spill cleanup claim premature
By Collin Eaton, The Houston Chronicle. April 17, 2014.
“The Coast Guard is crying foul at BP's statement this week announcing the end of active cleanup efforts to remove oil…” (read more)

Coast Guard slams BP for suggesting oil spill cleanup is complete
By Lindsay Abrams, Salon. April 17, 2014.
“Just days before the four-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, BP announced that it’s ending the “active cleanup” of the Louisiana shoreline…” (read more)

Impact of 2010 BP oil spill lingers
By Kate Bradshow, St. Petersburg Tribune. April 18, 2014.
“As the four-year mark of the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster approaches, environmental groups, marine scientists…” (read more)

Fishermen say impacts still linger from BP oil spill (+video)
By Steve Phillips, WLOX TV (Biloxi, Miss.). April 17, 2014.
“Four years after the BP oil spill, the disaster is still unfolding, with many unanswered questions…” (read more)

Oil and Water Mix, Then Emotions Flare
By Ben Kenigsberg, The New York Times (Movie Review). April 17, 2014.
"As the fourth anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill approaches, on April 20…" (read more)

Review: 'Vanishing Pearls' shows fallout after Gulf disasters
By Gary Goldstein, The LA Times. April 17, 2014.
"The decimation of the Gulf Coast oyster industry following the one-two punches…" (read more)

With feral hog damage costs rising, West Bank levee authority to hire contractor within a week
By Andrea Shaw, The Times-Picayune. April 17, 2014.
“The damage caused by feral hogs boring through West Bank levees for grubworms …” (read more)

Houma-born artist turns oil spill tar into art
By Xerxes Wilson, The Houma Courier. April 17, 2014.
While scientists scurry to determine the long-term damage caused by the 2010 BP oil spill…” (read more)

Coast Guard calls BP's spill cleanup claim premature
By Collin Eaton, The Houston Chronicle. April 17, 2014.
“The Coast Guard is crying foul at BP's statement this week announcing the end of active cleanup efforts to remove oil…” (read more)

Coast Guard slams BP for suggesting oil spill cleanup is complete
By Lindsay Abrams, Salon. April 17, 2014.
“Just days before the four-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, BP announced that it’s ending the “active cleanup” of the Louisiana shoreline…” (read more)

Impact of 2010 BP oil spill lingers
By Kate Bradshow, St. Petersburg Tribune. April 18, 2014.
“As the four-year mark of the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster approaches, environmental groups, marine scientists…” (read more)

Fishermen say impacts still linger from BP oil spill (+video)
By Steve Phillips, WLOX TV (Biloxi, Miss.). April 17, 2014.
“Four years after the BP oil spill, the disaster is still unfolding, with many unanswered questions…” (read more)

Oil and Water Mix, Then Emotions Flare
By Ben Kenigsberg, The New York Times (Movie Review). April 17, 2014.
"As the fourth anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill approaches, on April 20…" (read more)

Review: 'Vanishing Pearls' shows fallout after Gulf disasters
By Gary Goldstein, The LA Times. April 17, 2014.
"The decimation of the Gulf Coast oyster industry following the one-two punches…" (read more)

With feral hog damage costs rising, West Bank levee authority to hire contractor within a week
By Andrea Shaw, The Times-Picayune. April 17, 2014.
“The damage caused by feral hogs boring through West Bank levees for grubworms …” (read more)

Houma-born artist turns oil spill tar into art
By Xerxes Wilson, The Houma Courier. April 17, 2014.
While scientists scurry to determine the long-term damage caused by the 2010 BP oil spill…” (read more)

Written by Dr. Karen Lee

“Our children no longer learn how to read the Great Book of Nature from their own direct experience or how to interact creatively with the seasonal transformations of the planet. They seldom learn where their water comes from or where it goes. We no longer coordinate our human celebration with the great liturgy of the heavens.” ~ Thomas Berry

With Earth Day upon us again, I’m thinking about our kids. I’m sure on that fateful day in 1970, marchers thought about their future and their children’s future. But for most kids these days, learning about protecting the Earth is a just another classroom ‘activity’ on April 22nd.

What about how we teach them at home?

In the article, Growing up Free: Inspiring a Love of Nature, the writer states,

“Wise people throughout history have recognized that nature provides intellectual stimulation, aesthetic satisfaction and spiritual solace…If exposure to nature has been a formative experience for so many of our wisest teachers, how can we deprive our children of that instruction?  

I admit, I’m guilty of not providing this: “…their own direct experience of how to interact creatively with the seasonal transformations of the planet.” Living in a NYC suburb, I was protective of my kids…hardly let them out of my sight. I drove them to their friends’ houses for play dates, picked them up from school, and vigilantly watched them outdoors.

But I worked hard to empower my kids to be ecologically conscientious through the way we live — daily interactions and conversations. One mom on a mission said her son was ecologically challenged when he moved away from home. She suggested to start them young. I share her frustration, and with more and more reports about the dire need to act quicker on climate change, we need to educate our kids better and sooner.

BEYOND EARTH DAY: 5 WAYS TO TEACH KIDS TO CARE FOR THE PLANET

1. Let your kids get dirty. My kids loved inviting neighborhood kids to our backyard to eat grape tomatoes off the vine, run around without shoes, and splash in the small wading pool.
2. Allow your kids get ‘lost’ in the woods. Provide opportunities to help them become outdoor adventurers and discoverers. Check out these nature activities for the entire family here and here.
3. Introduce your kids to gardening. One activity I used to do with my kids was to share seeds with my neighbors for Earth Day. I printed seed packet patterns on the computer and my kids put the packets together. We went door to door, sharing seed with our neighbors. My kids loved being ‘teachers’ and my neighbors were thrilled to receive free seeds.
4. Use natural supplies when crafting with kids. They will learn to appreciate the materials nature provides for free. This is a perfect opportunity to teach them about reusing and recycling old materials and preserving natural resources.
5. Share a book on Earth Day to celebrate! Here are some suggestions from the EPA.

Whether you give your kids opportunities to experience nature directly or not, you’re their first and best teacher. Let them know that saving the Earth for their future starts with you.

How do you teach your kids about Earth Day?


TELL EPA YOU SUPPORT NEW LIMITS ON CARBON POLLUTION




Imagine a world where homes not only run on clean electricity but also generate, store, and sell it. A world where power companies get paid for conserving energy, not just producing it. Where, when supplies are tight, the power grid gives customers the option of being paid to reduce and even shift their energy use […]

By Cheryl Roberto

istockphoto.com

Imagine a world where homes not only run on clean electricity but also generate, store, and sell it. A world where power companies get paid for conserving energy, not just producing it. Where, when supplies are tight, the power grid gives customers the option of being paid to reduce and even shift their energy use to a different time of day, allowing us to use more renewable energy.

The U.S. is poised to spend around $2 trillion over the next two decades replacing our outdated electric infrastructure. We must make sure those investments are not spent on replacing old, dirty power plants with more of the same. If we’re truly going to unleash the clean energy future, we must invest in renewable energy and a smarter grid that can smooth out the demand for power and reduce harmful air pollution.

Now, more than ever, we need to be smarter about the way electricity is made, moved and used, and EDF is working to bring forth a new, dynamic approach to American energy- one that wastes less and generates more clean, on-site, local energy that puts customers in the driver’s seat.

This is a vision of a smarter, cleaner, more reliable energy system, and it’s the vision that drives the EDF Clean Energy Program. Starting in nine states that make up nearly half of the U.S. energy market, this program aims to transform our country’s outmoded electricity system to clear the way for clean energy.

In true EDF fashion, that means choosing our issues strategically and focusing our efforts where they will make the greatest impact. These decisions are governed primarily at the state level by state Public Utility Commissions (PUCs), so EDF is working with state PUCs, state legislators and other partners to advance clean energy solutions in Texas, California, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York.

How will we get there?

First, we want to ensure the rules of the road  fairly values clean, reliable energy. This means revising a century-old utility business model, which currently measures success by the amount of megawatts sold, to one that rewards utilities for generating and selling energy more wisely, sustainably, and efficiently. The cleanest and cheapest megawatt is the one utilities don’t have to generate, and energy efficiency measures and proven tools like demand response are making smarter, more efficient energy use a practical reality. We’re working to make the “negawatt” profitable for utilities.

Many of the needed changes will require significant upgrades to our aging power grid and a legacy of outdated policies that are stifling energy innovation. Our work with energy research pioneer Pecan Street Inc. in Austin, TX is already yielding remarkable insight for utilities about how a smarter, cleaner grid (and smarter, more engaged customers) can reduce the need for expensive, polluting power plants. And our work with public utility commissions and legislatures in these key states will help eliminate bureaucratic rules that prevent entrepreneurs from entering this market.

Finally, we want to help open the floodgates for investment in residential and commercial clean energy upgrades. Today, homeowners that want to install rooftop solar and facility managers that want to reduce their buildings’ carbon footprint face a similar lack of financing options. Our team is working with the investment community to establish new financing tools, like on-bill repayment (OBR), for projects large and small. EDF’s Investor Confidence Project is making huge strides in how energy efficiency upgrades for commercial buildings are financed, by introducing a system of standardization in how projects are funded, managed, and tracked. These standardized protocols are able to serve as a “recipe book” for ‘investor ready’ energy efficiency projects and the result is a commercial building sector with lower operating costs, higher market value, and a significantly lower carbon footprint.

We think America's greatest contribution to the health of the planet today can be to pioneer an open, vibrant market for clean energy that sparks private capital and technological innovation, creates jobs, and delivers affordable, efficient, clean energy. But we need new rules, new ideas, and new approaches to overcome a century of the carbon-based “business as usual.”

Tracking our progress, looking ahead

Across the country, elected officials and business leaders are achieving some important victories, and our team has been working with them to provide technical and policy assistance.

Just last month, New Jersey’s Office of Clean Energy released a proposal to allocate $2.5 million for incentives that would encourage more energy storage use. In Minnesota, the state PUC established the first statewide program to fairly value investments in rooftop solar electricity generation. In Illinois, Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) proposed an accelerated timetable for completing its deployment of four million smart meters – a key component of a modernized grid. In February, California state senator Kevin de León introduced a bill to establish the first “Green Bank” in California, a bold proposal that would unleash low-cost financing opportunities for clean energy projects throughout the Golden State. And in New York, where Superstorm Sandy knocked out power for millions less than two years ago, the Public Service Commission ordered the state’s largest utility in February to begin implementing one of the most comprehensive storm resiliency plans in the nation.

A lot is happening in the EDF Clean Energy Program’s priority states thanks to public-private partnerships between visionary elected officials, experts in the field, and innovative entrepreneurs, among others. Even still, there is a lot of opposition to progress from the fossil-fuel industry and global warming deniers. But thanks to EDF supporters like you, our team is on the ground where the rubber hits the road (or where good ideas hit roadblocks). Our action plan for 2014 includes increased activity in each of these key states, and we will update you throughout the year on our blog, the Energy Exchange, as our efforts continue to produce results.

This commentary originally appeared on our EDF Voices blog.

By Cheryl Roberto

istockphoto.com

Imagine a world where homes not only run on clean electricity but also generate, store, and sell it. A world where power companies get paid for conserving energy, not just producing it. Where, when supplies are tight, the power grid gives customers the option of being paid to reduce and even shift their energy use to a different time of day, allowing us to use more renewable energy.

The U.S. is poised to spend around $2 trillion over the next two decades replacing our outdated electric infrastructure. We must make sure those investments are not spent on replacing old, dirty power plants with more of the same. If we’re truly going to unleash the clean energy future, we must invest in renewable energy and a smarter grid that can smooth out the demand for power and reduce harmful air pollution.

Now, more than ever, we need to be smarter about the way electricity is made, moved and used, and EDF is working to bring forth a new, dynamic approach to American energy- one that wastes less and generates more clean, on-site, local energy that puts customers in the driver’s seat.

This is a vision of a smarter, cleaner, more reliable energy system, and it’s the vision that drives the EDF Clean Energy Program. Starting in nine states that make up nearly half of the U.S. energy market, this program aims to transform our country’s outmoded electricity system to clear the way for clean energy.

In true EDF fashion, that means choosing our issues strategically and focusing our efforts where they will make the greatest impact. These decisions are governed primarily at the state level by state Public Utility Commissions (PUCs), so EDF is working with state PUCs, state legislators and other partners to advance clean energy solutions in Texas, California, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York.

How will we get there?

First, we want to ensure the rules of the road  fairly values clean, reliable energy. This means revising a century-old utility business model, which currently measures success by the amount of megawatts sold, to one that rewards utilities for generating and selling energy more wisely, sustainably, and efficiently. The cleanest and cheapest megawatt is the one utilities don’t have to generate, and energy efficiency measures and proven tools like demand response are making smarter, more efficient energy use a practical reality. We’re working to make the “negawatt” profitable for utilities.

Many of the needed changes will require significant upgrades to our aging power grid and a legacy of outdated policies that are stifling energy innovation. Our work with energy research pioneer Pecan Street Inc. in Austin, TX is already yielding remarkable insight for utilities about how a smarter, cleaner grid (and smarter, more engaged customers) can reduce the need for expensive, polluting power plants. And our work with public utility commissions and legislatures in these key states will help eliminate bureaucratic rules that prevent entrepreneurs from entering this market.

Finally, we want to help open the floodgates for investment in residential and commercial clean energy upgrades. Today, homeowners that want to install rooftop solar and facility managers that want to reduce their buildings’ carbon footprint face a similar lack of financing options. Our team is working with the investment community to establish new financing tools, like on-bill repayment (OBR), for projects large and small. EDF’s Investor Confidence Project is making huge strides in how energy efficiency upgrades for commercial buildings are financed, by introducing a system of standardization in how projects are funded, managed, and tracked. These standardized protocols are able to serve as a “recipe book” for ‘investor ready’ energy efficiency projects and the result is a commercial building sector with lower operating costs, higher market value, and a significantly lower carbon footprint.

We think America's greatest contribution to the health of the planet today can be to pioneer an open, vibrant market for clean energy that sparks private capital and technological innovation, creates jobs, and delivers affordable, efficient, clean energy. But we need new rules, new ideas, and new approaches to overcome a century of the carbon-based “business as usual.”

Tracking our progress, looking ahead

Across the country, elected officials and business leaders are achieving some important victories, and our team has been working with them to provide technical and policy assistance.

Just last month, New Jersey’s Office of Clean Energy released a proposal to allocate $2.5 million for incentives that would encourage more energy storage use. In Minnesota, the state PUC established the first statewide program to fairly value investments in rooftop solar electricity generation. In Illinois, Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) proposed an accelerated timetable for completing its deployment of four million smart meters – a key component of a modernized grid. In February, California state senator Kevin de León introduced a bill to establish the first “Green Bank” in California, a bold proposal that would unleash low-cost financing opportunities for clean energy projects throughout the Golden State. And in New York, where Superstorm Sandy knocked out power for millions less than two years ago, the Public Service Commission ordered the state’s largest utility in February to begin implementing one of the most comprehensive storm resiliency plans in the nation.

A lot is happening in the EDF Clean Energy Program’s priority states thanks to public-private partnerships between visionary elected officials, experts in the field, and innovative entrepreneurs, among others. Even still, there is a lot of opposition to progress from the fossil-fuel industry and global warming deniers. But thanks to EDF supporters like you, our team is on the ground where the rubber hits the road (or where good ideas hit roadblocks). Our action plan for 2014 includes increased activity in each of these key states, and we will update you throughout the year on our blog, the Energy Exchange, as our efforts continue to produce results.

This commentary originally appeared on our EDF Voices blog.

By Cheryl Roberto

istockphoto.com

Imagine a world where homes not only run on clean electricity but also generate, store, and sell it. A world where power companies get paid for conserving energy, not just producing it. Where, when supplies are tight, the power grid gives customers the option of being paid to reduce and even shift their energy use to a different time of day, allowing us to use more renewable energy.

The U.S. is poised to spend around $2 trillion over the next two decades replacing our outdated electric infrastructure. We must make sure those investments are not spent on replacing old, dirty power plants with more of the same. If we’re truly going to unleash the clean energy future, we must invest in renewable energy and a smarter grid that can smooth out the demand for power and reduce harmful air pollution.

Now, more than ever, we need to be smarter about the way electricity is made, moved and used, and EDF is working to bring forth a new, dynamic approach to American energy- one that wastes less and generates more clean, on-site, local energy that puts customers in the driver’s seat.

This is a vision of a smarter, cleaner, more reliable energy system, and it’s the vision that drives the EDF Clean Energy Program. Starting in nine states that make up nearly half of the U.S. energy market, this program aims to transform our country’s outmoded electricity system to clear the way for clean energy.

In true EDF fashion, that means choosing our issues strategically and focusing our efforts where they will make the greatest impact. These decisions are governed primarily at the state level by state Public Utility Commissions (PUCs), so EDF is working with state PUCs, state legislators and other partners to advance clean energy solutions in Texas, California, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York.

How will we get there?

First, we want to ensure the rules of the road  fairly values clean, reliable energy. This means revising a century-old utility business model, which currently measures success by the amount of megawatts sold, to one that rewards utilities for generating and selling energy more wisely, sustainably, and efficiently. The cleanest and cheapest megawatt is the one utilities don’t have to generate, and energy efficiency measures and proven tools like demand response are making smarter, more efficient energy use a practical reality. We’re working to make the “negawatt” profitable for utilities.

Many of the needed changes will require significant upgrades to our aging power grid and a legacy of outdated policies that are stifling energy innovation. Our work with energy research pioneer Pecan Street Inc. in Austin, TX is already yielding remarkable insight for utilities about how a smarter, cleaner grid (and smarter, more engaged customers) can reduce the need for expensive, polluting power plants. And our work with public utility commissions and legislatures in these key states will help eliminate bureaucratic rules that prevent entrepreneurs from entering this market.

Finally, we want to help open the floodgates for investment in residential and commercial clean energy upgrades. Today, homeowners that want to install rooftop solar and facility managers that want to reduce their buildings’ carbon footprint face a similar lack of financing options. Our team is working with the investment community to establish new financing tools, like on-bill repayment (OBR), for projects large and small. EDF’s Investor Confidence Project is making huge strides in how energy efficiency upgrades for commercial buildings are financed, by introducing a system of standardization in how projects are funded, managed, and tracked. These standardized protocols are able to serve as a “recipe book” for ‘investor ready’ energy efficiency projects and the result is a commercial building sector with lower operating costs, higher market value, and a significantly lower carbon footprint.

We think America's greatest contribution to the health of the planet today can be to pioneer an open, vibrant market for clean energy that sparks private capital and technological innovation, creates jobs, and delivers affordable, efficient, clean energy. But we need new rules, new ideas, and new approaches to overcome a century of the carbon-based “business as usual.”

Tracking our progress, looking ahead

Across the country, elected officials and business leaders are achieving some important victories, and our team has been working with them to provide technical and policy assistance.

Just last month, New Jersey’s Office of Clean Energy released a proposal to allocate $2.5 million for incentives that would encourage more energy storage use. In Minnesota, the state PUC established the first statewide program to fairly value investments in rooftop solar electricity generation. In Illinois, Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) proposed an accelerated timetable for completing its deployment of four million smart meters – a key component of a modernized grid. In February, California state senator Kevin de León introduced a bill to establish the first “Green Bank” in California, a bold proposal that would unleash low-cost financing opportunities for clean energy projects throughout the Golden State. And in New York, where Superstorm Sandy knocked out power for millions less than two years ago, the Public Service Commission ordered the state’s largest utility in February to begin implementing one of the most comprehensive storm resiliency plans in the nation.

A lot is happening in the EDF Clean Energy Program’s priority states thanks to public-private partnerships between visionary elected officials, experts in the field, and innovative entrepreneurs, among others. Even still, there is a lot of opposition to progress from the fossil-fuel industry and global warming deniers. But thanks to EDF supporters like you, our team is on the ground where the rubber hits the road (or where good ideas hit roadblocks). Our action plan for 2014 includes increased activity in each of these key states, and we will update you throughout the year on our blog, the Energy Exchange, as our efforts continue to produce results.

This commentary originally appeared on our EDF Voices blog.

Oil and water: Lessons from the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill

For many, April brings the hope of rebirth – new beginnings, springtime, Earth Day. For me, however, April always reminds me of the hopeless feeling in spring 2010, as we all watched – month after month – as huge quantities of oil spewed into the Gulf of Mexico. This Sunday’s anniversary presents an important chance to review what we have learned, and not yet learned, from this tragedy, and what those lessons might mean for the future of the Gulf.

The U.S. was simply not prepared for a challenge of this magnitude. Despite previous spills like Ixtoc (1979), Exxon Valdez (1989), Montara/Timor Sea (2009) and many more, the protection and response systems were not in place to address a large-scale oil catastrophe. It took three months before the well could be sealed. During that time, more than 200 million gallons of crude oil gushed into the Gulf, carried by the currents, creating a widening area of oil pollution.

We came very close to causing an international incident. It was only through the vagaries of the Gulf Loop Current that the best beaches and most valuable coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangrove swamps downcurrent in Florida and Cuba were not slimed with U.S. oil. As it was, oil-based fisheries closures in U.S. waters extended to more than 150 miles of the edge of Cuba’s Exclusive Economic Zone. No one knows how much oil entered Cuban waters. It remains a great irony that we U.S. citizens have been so afraid of Cuban oil development, when U.S.-derived oil very nearly destroyed essential shared resources in Cuban waters in 2010!

Gulf Loop Current conformation on April 25, 2010; Credit: NOAA

Oiled sea birds, sea turtles and marine mammals received abundant press, all around the world. Oil-polluted beaches and marshes were on everyone’s front page. Unfortunately, the natural resources certain to be most damaged received short shrift, because they were both poorly recognized and monitored.

Out-of-sight, and so out-of-mind

A dispassionate scientific review makes clear that the biggest environmental impacts were felt by small and sensitive early life stages, and creatures of the deep. Especially vulnerable elements included tiny floating larvae of local seafood species (including shrimp, crabs, and many shellfish species, spawned offshore and drifting back nearshore where their nurseries occur), and similarly small larvae of species that use the Loop Current as a highway in the sea for transport of their young.

The plight of ancient deepwater corals and other bottom dwellers bathed in erupted oil, and then also rained upon by oil remnants sinking back from the surface, was also largely ignored. Some of those corals take thousands of years to grow.

In addition, oil suffocated large areas of the extraordinarily dense layers of life of the middle zone of the sea – where light does not penetrate, but now widely recognized as one of the sea’s great natural resources. This so-called “deep scattering layer” of life holds much of the ocean’s living mass, and serves as forage for squids and other residents as well as deep-diving tunas, billfishes and marine mammals.

The big impact on the large population of sperm whales in the northern Gulf was not from direct oiling, but from impacts through their food, occurring in the unseen depths. None of these deep resources are well-studied, and none received baseline monitoring beforehand.

In my view, few of the most damaged natural resources are well-known enough to calculate the natural resource damages much less the compensation payments they deserve. It will probably take many years before scientists can look back and guess the degree to which the future populations were damaged by oil pollution exposure.

I believe that it will turn out that use of dispersants on the bottom should never have been approved. Those materials were not only incrementally toxic, but they also greatly expanded the zone of sub-surface toxic exposure, and the complexity of transport-and-fate relationships for oil-derived pollutants, not to mention making recovery on the surface less certain. That such a decision would have to be made in the heat of response clearly illustrates the degree to which those response systems were inadequately prepared.

The fact that we were a mere razor’s edge away from much worse impacts – including those downcurrent in Cuba and Florida – clearly illustrates the folly in our nation’s unwillingness to engage with Cuba in managing shared resources.

If our “oil history” reveals one thing it is that spills and even gushers will occur again, and that we must be prepared. Perhaps the best single result of Deepwater Horizon – from the ocean perspective – it that we are now talking and planning for such responses. Many other good things are also happening in the Gulf now – sustainable commercial fisheries for red snapper and other reef fishes, the “Gulf Wild” safe seafood program, new momentum to rebuild the Mississippi Delta, and others.

At the end of the day, much more needs to be done for nature and for the people of the Gulf so that this mighty ecosystem can be safe for the future.

Join us to save ecosystems dupham April 18, 2014 - 11:26

See comments

I have a friend who works in the aviation training field. He once told me that almost every safety feature you see in any aircraft today was the direct result of a catastrophic failure brought on by the inability to see said failure before it became critical, or a complete lack of understanding/acceptance of what risks actually existed.

This made complete sense to me, and the more I thought about the more I could see this is how we apply ourselves in every area of mechanical and technical development.

Rick Maher August 16, 2018 at 9:59 am

Oil and water: Lessons from the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill

For many, April brings the hope of rebirth – new beginnings, springtime, Earth Day. For me, however, April always reminds me of the hopeless feeling in spring 2010, as we all watched – month after month – as huge quantities of oil spewed into the Gulf of Mexico. This Sunday’s anniversary presents an important chance to review what we have learned, and not yet learned, from this tragedy, and what those lessons might mean for the future of the Gulf.

The U.S. was simply not prepared for a challenge of this magnitude. Despite previous spills like Ixtoc (1979), Exxon Valdez (1989), Montara/Timor Sea (2009) and many more, the protection and response systems were not in place to address a large-scale oil catastrophe. It took three months before the well could be sealed. During that time, more than 200 million gallons of crude oil gushed into the Gulf, carried by the currents, creating a widening area of oil pollution.

We came very close to causing an international incident. It was only through the vagaries of the Gulf Loop Current that the best beaches and most valuable coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangrove swamps downcurrent in Florida and Cuba were not slimed with U.S. oil. As it was, oil-based fisheries closures in U.S. waters extended to more than 150 miles of the edge of Cuba’s Exclusive Economic Zone. No one knows how much oil entered Cuban waters. It remains a great irony that we U.S. citizens have been so afraid of Cuban oil development, when U.S.-derived oil very nearly destroyed essential shared resources in Cuban waters in 2010!

Gulf Loop Current conformation on April 25, 2010; Credit: NOAA

Oiled sea birds, sea turtles and marine mammals received abundant press, all around the world. Oil-polluted beaches and marshes were on everyone’s front page. Unfortunately, the natural resources certain to be most damaged received short shrift, because they were both poorly recognized and monitored.

Out-of-sight, and so out-of-mind

A dispassionate scientific review makes clear that the biggest environmental impacts were felt by small and sensitive early life stages, and creatures of the deep. Especially vulnerable elements included tiny floating larvae of local seafood species (including shrimp, crabs, and many shellfish species, spawned offshore and drifting back nearshore where their nurseries occur), and similarly small larvae of species that use the Loop Current as a highway in the sea for transport of their young.

The plight of ancient deepwater corals and other bottom dwellers bathed in erupted oil, and then also rained upon by oil remnants sinking back from the surface, was also largely ignored. Some of those corals take thousands of years to grow.

In addition, oil suffocated large areas of the extraordinarily dense layers of life of the middle zone of the sea – where light does not penetrate, but now widely recognized as one of the sea’s great natural resources. This so-called “deep scattering layer” of life holds much of the ocean’s living mass, and serves as forage for squids and other residents as well as deep-diving tunas, billfishes and marine mammals.

The big impact on the large population of sperm whales in the northern Gulf was not from direct oiling, but from impacts through their food, occurring in the unseen depths. None of these deep resources are well-studied, and none received baseline monitoring beforehand.

In my view, few of the most damaged natural resources are well-known enough to calculate the natural resource damages much less the compensation payments they deserve. It will probably take many years before scientists can look back and guess the degree to which the future populations were damaged by oil pollution exposure.

I believe that it will turn out that use of dispersants on the bottom should never have been approved. Those materials were not only incrementally toxic, but they also greatly expanded the zone of sub-surface toxic exposure, and the complexity of transport-and-fate relationships for oil-derived pollutants, not to mention making recovery on the surface less certain. That such a decision would have to be made in the heat of response clearly illustrates the degree to which those response systems were inadequately prepared.

The fact that we were a mere razor’s edge away from much worse impacts – including those downcurrent in Cuba and Florida – clearly illustrates the folly in our nation’s unwillingness to engage with Cuba in managing shared resources.

If our “oil history” reveals one thing it is that spills and even gushers will occur again, and that we must be prepared. Perhaps the best single result of Deepwater Horizon – from the ocean perspective – it that we are now talking and planning for such responses. Many other good things are also happening in the Gulf now – sustainable commercial fisheries for red snapper and other reef fishes, the “Gulf Wild” safe seafood program, new momentum to rebuild the Mississippi Delta, and others.

At the end of the day, much more needs to be done for nature and for the people of the Gulf so that this mighty ecosystem can be safe for the future.

Join us to save ecosystems dupham April 18, 2014 - 11:26

See comments

I have a friend who works in the aviation training field. He once told me that almost every safety feature you see in any aircraft today was the direct result of a catastrophic failure brought on by the inability to see said failure before it became critical, or a complete lack of understanding/acceptance of what risks actually existed.

This made complete sense to me, and the more I thought about the more I could see this is how we apply ourselves in every area of mechanical and technical development.

Rick Maher August 16, 2018 at 9:59 am

Recently, I traveled to Belize to see how TURF-reserves (territorial use rights for fishing co-located with no-take zones) are performing and learn about plans to expand them nationwide. The Mesoamerican Reef, the largest in the Atlantic Ocean, spans the Belizean coastline and is rich in biodiversity and a crucial source of income for thousands of […]

Recently, I traveled to Belize to see how TURF-reserves (territorial use rights for fishing co-located with no-take zones) are performing and learn about plans to expand them nationwide. The Mesoamerican Reef, the largest in the Atlantic Ocean, spans the Belizean coastline and is rich in biodiversity and a crucial source of income for thousands of […]

Recently, I traveled to Belize to see how TURF-reserves (territorial use rights for fishing co-located with no-take zones) are performing and learn about plans to expand them nationwide. The Mesoamerican Reef, the largest in the Atlantic Ocean, spans the Belizean coastline and is rich in biodiversity and a crucial source of income for thousands of […]

Written by Moms Clean Air Force

This was written by Hugh McDiarmid for Michigan Distilled:

Should a property owner know if a contractor is placing a four-foot thick bed of toxic industrial waste below their businesses’ new parking lot? Should a homeowner know if the same industrial waste is going underneath the road in front of their home? Should you be informed if industrial byproducts are present on a parcel of property you are buying?

Not under bills being considered in the Michigan legislature that allow for expanded use of industrial byproducts  – like fly ash from coal-fired power plant smokestacks, foundry sands, and sludge from pulp and paper mills.

Under these bills, no permission would be needed from property owners before industrial byproducts can be used as construction fill or for road beds or in parking lots. Current owners would be left in the dark, and future owners may never know of the liability inherent in the properties they purchase. In many cases, that fill should permanently alter what that property can be used for in the future to protect public health.

The Michigan Environmental Council supports the reuse of industrial by-products when protection of public health can be assured and use of the materials is monitored and tracked in a way that reasonably controls public exposure.  That is not the case with House bills 5400, 5401 and 5402.

A vote in the House Natural Resources Committee is currently scheduled on the legislation this Thursday, April 17. Please contact your local legislator and ask them to oppose HB 5400 through 5402 until these concerns can be addressed. 

Our number one concern is the failure of the bills to require people who use these materials to get permission from property owners. The bills allow impairment of property rights, without permission from the landowner or compensation for the restrictions on the future uses of the property.

Other issues include:

The bills allow materials that may contaminate drinking water

HB 5400 establishes a standard for materials that allows them to leach at 20 times the allowed drinking water standard just four feet above the water table. However, the proponents offer no scientific study that shows that those elevated levels will not result in contamination of drinking water aquifers that may render them unusable. In practice, the determining factor will be the nature of the soil that separates the industrial byproducts from the groundwater. In sandy soil, contaminates will move fairly quickly to lower levels, and soil with greater clay content will significantly slow the process. Michigan has a wide variety of soil types which the bill fails to take into account.

There has been much discussion by the bill proponents of the Wisconsin program which much of the Michigan program is modeled after. However, the Wisconsin standards are 2 to 4 times stricter than those proposed for Michigan, providing significantly more protection for drinking water aquifers in the future.

The bills allow the use of fly ash from coal plants which will soon contain significantly higher levels of mercury

New rules at the state and federal levels require coal plants to remove 90% of the mercury from smokestack emissions starting in 2015. That mercury will mainly be captured in the fly ash. Mercury is a neurotoxin that bioaccumulates in the environment. Michigan currently restricts the consumption of fish from all inland lakes due to excessive levels of mercury. One out of every six women in Michigan already has elevated mercury levels in their blood that could impair future offspring.

This legislation will take the mercury which we are capturing from power plants and allow utilities to spread it across the state in road beds and under parking lots. Those roads and parking lots will eventually crumble. Some will be rebuilt, others will be left for future generations to figure out how to repurpose. The placement of industrial byproducts at those sites will make their redevelopment more challenging and be a burden on local units of government. Fly ash from coal plants should be excluded from use as construction fill or for road beds.

The bills exempt the generators and users from any future liability, leaving taxpayers stuck with the bill

The legislation exempts both the company or person that generates the waste and the person who uses it from further liability if contamination of a drinking water aquifer occurs. In the case of one category, up to 4 feet of materials can be used for fill at construction sites (such as below parking lots). If problems arise, the current owner will be responsible to protect the public from exposure. If that person is bankrupt, the burden will fall to the local unit of government or the State of Michigan to address.

The Wisconsin program establishes a public participation process for any project using more than 30,000 cubic feet of industrial byproducts. These provisions make sense based on the significant impact that could be caused by this much material and to here from those residents who live in the area and have the greatest chance to be directly impacted by the use of the byproducts.

JOIN MCAF

April 17, 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Erin Greeson, National Audubon Society, 503.913.8978, egreeson@audubon.org
Emily Guidry Schatzel, National Wildlife Federation, 225.253.9781, schatzele@nwf.org
Elizabeth Skree, Environmental Defense Fund, 202.553.2543, eskree@edf.org

Gulf Oil Disaster’s Impacts to Wildlife and Habitat Still Unaddressed Four Years Later

Leading Conservation Groups Highlight New Findings, Need for Restoration

(New Orleans, LA—April 17, 2014) Four years after the Gulf oil disaster began, killing 11 men and spewing 4.1 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, leading national and local conservation organizations working on Mississippi River Delta and Gulf Coast restoration – Environmental Defense Fund, National Audubon Society, National Wildlife Federation, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana and Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation – released the following statement:

“Four years after the worst oil spill in U.S. history, Gulf recovery remains elusive. We must hope for a measure of justice for communities, wildlife and habitats. However, the urgent need for restoration is still unfulfilled.

“Reports from the field and laboratory continue to raise the alarm. New scientific studies show how the oil disaster’s impacts are permeating the food chain – from small microorganisms like zooplankton to large mammals like sperm whales and dolphins. Louisiana wetlands suffocated by BP’s oil have eroded more quickly than those the oil spared. Areas that once provided valuable mangrove habitat for thousands of nesting birds and other animals have shrunk or disappeared. Islands that were thriving rookeries for birds and wildlife are now gray and lifeless. The stark truth of visible damage in areas like Barataria Bay, Louisiana, speaks for itself. This week, BP declared active clean up complete in Louisiana, but volumes of BP oil continue to surface, from miles of oiled coastline to a monster-sized 40,000-pound tar mat.

“While BP denies clear science, the facts present the truth: the Gulf is still hurting, and BP’s to blame. Four years after the largest oil spill in U.S. history, the oil giant has yet to pay a penny of its Clean Water Act fines for polluting the Gulf.

“Restoration of the Mississippi River Delta ecosystem must happen to repair natural resources on which local economies depend. Solutions are ready and within reach. But restoration work cannot begin in earnest until BP is held accountable to the full extent of the law. We urge swift resolution to this crisis. It is past-due and justice demands it.”

Background:

Since the BP oil disaster began four years ago, ongoing findings deliver truths omitted by BP’s ads: the oil disaster’s negative effects are increasingly clear, present and far from resolved. Over the past year alone, new research has surfaced:

• A new infographic depicts ongoing impacts of the Gulf oil disaster four years later.
• A study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) detailed how exposure to BP oil can lead to abnormalities including irregular heartbeats and heart attacks in Atlantic bluefin tuna and amberjack.
• A new NOAA study revealed that dolphins exposed to BP oil had increased health problems, including adrenal problems, severe lung disease and reproductive issues.
• A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences definitively linked a community of damaged deep water corals near the Macondo well to the BP oil spill.
• A Louisiana State University researcher found that the BP oil spill is still killing Louisiana coastal insects.
• Visible tar balls and tar mats continue to surface, including a 40,000-pound tar mat discovered off the coast of a Louisiana barrier island in June 2013.

###

WHO WE ARE: The Restore the Mississippi River Delta coalition is working to protect people, wildlife and jobs by reconnecting the river with its wetlands. As our region faces the crisis of threatening land loss, we offer science-based solutions through a comprehensive approach to restoration. Comprised of conservation, policy, science and outreach experts from Environmental Defense Fund, National Audubon Society, National Wildlife Federation, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana and Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, we are located in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Washington, D.C.; and around the United States. See more at www.mississippiriverdelta.org.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Erin Greeson, National Audubon Society, 503.913.8978, egreeson@audubon.org
Emily Guidry Schatzel, National Wildlife Federation, 225.253.9781, schatzele@nwf.org
Elizabeth Skree, Environmental Defense Fund, 202.553.2543, eskree@edf.org

Gulf Oil Disaster’s Impacts to Wildlife and Habitat Still Unaddressed Four Years Later

Leading Conservation Groups Highlight New Findings, Need for Restoration

(New Orleans, LA—April 17, 2014) Four years after the Gulf oil disaster began, killing 11 men and spewing 4.1 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, leading national and local conservation organizations working on Mississippi River Delta and Gulf Coast restoration – Environmental Defense Fund, National Audubon Society, National Wildlife Federation, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana and Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation – released the following statement:

“Four years after the worst oil spill in U.S. history, Gulf recovery remains elusive. We must hope for a measure of justice for communities, wildlife and habitats. However, the urgent need for restoration is still unfulfilled.

“Reports from the field and laboratory continue to raise the alarm. New scientific studies show how the oil disaster’s impacts are permeating the food chain – from small microorganisms like zooplankton to large mammals like sperm whales and dolphins. Louisiana wetlands suffocated by BP’s oil have eroded more quickly than those the oil spared. Areas that once provided valuable mangrove habitat for thousands of nesting birds and other animals have shrunk or disappeared. Islands that were thriving rookeries for birds and wildlife are now gray and lifeless. The stark truth of visible damage in areas like Barataria Bay, Louisiana, speaks for itself. This week, BP declared active clean up complete in Louisiana, but volumes of BP oil continue to surface, from miles of oiled coastline to a monster-sized 40,000-pound tar mat.

“While BP denies clear science, the facts present the truth: the Gulf is still hurting, and BP’s to blame. Four years after the largest oil spill in U.S. history, the oil giant has yet to pay a penny of its Clean Water Act fines for polluting the Gulf.

“Restoration of the Mississippi River Delta ecosystem must happen to repair natural resources on which local economies depend. Solutions are ready and within reach. But restoration work cannot begin in earnest until BP is held accountable to the full extent of the law. We urge swift resolution to this crisis. It is past-due and justice demands it.”

Background:

Since the BP oil disaster began four years ago, ongoing findings deliver truths omitted by BP’s ads: the oil disaster’s negative effects are increasingly clear, present and far from resolved. Over the past year alone, new research has surfaced:

• A new infographic depicts ongoing impacts of the Gulf oil disaster four years later.
• A study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) detailed how exposure to BP oil can lead to abnormalities including irregular heartbeats and heart attacks in Atlantic bluefin tuna and amberjack.
• A new NOAA study revealed that dolphins exposed to BP oil had increased health problems, including adrenal problems, severe lung disease and reproductive issues.
• A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences definitively linked a community of damaged deep water corals near the Macondo well to the BP oil spill.
• A Louisiana State University researcher found that the BP oil spill is still killing Louisiana coastal insects.
• Visible tar balls and tar mats continue to surface, including a 40,000-pound tar mat discovered off the coast of a Louisiana barrier island in June 2013.

###

WHO WE ARE: The Restore the Mississippi River Delta coalition is working to protect people, wildlife and jobs by reconnecting the river with its wetlands. As our region faces the crisis of threatening land loss, we offer science-based solutions through a comprehensive approach to restoration. Comprised of conservation, policy, science and outreach experts from Environmental Defense Fund, National Audubon Society, National Wildlife Federation, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana and Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, we are located in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Washington, D.C.; and around the United States. See more at www.mississippiriverdelta.org.

This Sunday, April 20, 2014, marks the 4-year anniversary of the BP oil spill. Four years after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded releasing 4.1 million barrels of oil into the Gulf and killing 11 workers, new research continues to show that the effects of the spill are more far reaching than most had ever imagined. As BP continues to run misleading ads suggesting the Gulf is fine, and as they continue to argue the extent of their liability in court, the Gulf continues to wait for full restoration. #4yearslater BP must be held fully accountable for their actions in one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S history.

4 years after one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history, the Gulf is still hurting from the BP oil spill. New research has made it clear that the full impacts of the spill may not be realized for years or even decades to come.

This Sunday, April 20, 2014, marks the 4-year anniversary of the BP oil spill. Four years after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded releasing 4.1 million barrels of oil into the Gulf and killing 11 workers, new research continues to show that the effects of the spill are more far reaching than most had ever imagined. As BP continues to run misleading ads suggesting the Gulf is fine, and as they continue to argue the extent of their liability in court, the Gulf continues to wait for full restoration. #4yearslater BP must be held fully accountable for their actions in one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S history.

4 years after one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history, the Gulf is still hurting from the BP oil spill. New research has made it clear that the full impacts of the spill may not be realized for years or even decades to come.