Activism

"The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) on Thursday announced president Frances Beinecke will retire at the end of 2014.

"In issuing its annual report on refinery accidents and pollution releases Tuesday, the Louisiana Bucket Brigade took a slightly different approach by urging refinery workers, employees and people living around the facilities to report what they see, hear and smell. ...

"Just about the only local voice for protecting Baikal is facing possible shutdown at the hands of the Russian government. ...

"Aside from Walmart itself, there is no louder and more enthusiastic cheerleader for the retail giant’s sustainability campaign than Environmental Defense Fund. A quick perusal of the news over the last few weeks finds EDF issuing a press release about Walmart’s green leadership, praising its environmental boldness in a Fortune interview, backing its solar claims in a Fast Company article, and headlining a live chat about Walmart hosted by The Guardian."

"FRANKFORT, Ky. -- A group of Catholic nuns who successfully redirected the route of a proposed pipeline off their land are joining other religious leaders who say their faith has prompted them to oppose the ongoing project."

"Tea Party Republicans succeeded in grinding the federal government to a halt, and they are the biggest holdouts in the face of overwhelming evidence that climate change is happening. Mainstream Republicans, however, are much less likely to reject the fact that the planet is getting hotter."

"The State Department has agreed to begin providing an environmental group with records of communications with various outside lobbying firms and other parties seeking approval of the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline."

"AMSTERDAM -- Russia will not accept an international arbitration process under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea at which The Netherlands is seeking the release of the Dutch-flagged Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise and its crew."

"MOSCOW -- Russia's main investigative agency said Wednesday that it has dropped piracy charges against jailed Greenpeace activists and charged them instead with hooliganism, which means the detainees could still spend years in prison."

"The U.S. House voted to authorize commercial navigation, flood control and environmental restoration projects, work that could cost taxpayers as much as $8.2 billion over the next decade."