This post is by Lisa Moore, Ph.D., a scientist in the Climate and Air program at Environmental Defense Fund. You can meet Lisa at the Netroots Nation conference, July 17-20.

Congress and producer groups are pressuring the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to release millions of acres from Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) contracts and open them up to crop production. Supporters say this move would increase production and bring down food prices.

Wrong! Ripping up conservation lands would not make a big dent in commodity supplies or prices, but it would waste billions of taxpayer dollars that have been invested in conservation on these lands.

It also would be a tragedy for wildlife, water quality, and climate.

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This post is by Tom Olson, a consulting attorney for the Climate and Air Campaign at Environmental Defense Fund.

Last Friday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finally released its Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking - EPA's answer to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that greenhouse gases fall within the Clean Air Act's definition of "pollutant".

There are a number of differences between the final document and the leaked May 30th draft. (See this post from a Georgetown Law professor praising the draft's balance and expertise.) Most significantly, EPA chief Stephen Johnson prefaced the document with a series of denunciations by White House officials. And then, adopting the views of the White House, he disparaged the work of his own staff.

The final version also included some disturbing changes to the analysis itself.

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This post is by Sheryl Canter, an online writer and editorial manager at Environmental Defense Fund.

People tend to do things the way they've always done unless something forces them to change - even if the new way is better and cheaper. So Hawaii has taken action to spur people along. From an article in the L.A. Times:

California last year passed legislation offering homeowners and businesses $250 million in incentives to install 200,000 solar water systems over the next 10 years.

But Hawaii Thursday took far bolder action, becoming the first state in the nation to require all new homes built after January 1, 2010 to be equipped with solar or other energy-efficient hot water systems.

The article goes on to say that Hawaii's switch to solar hot water will save homeowners money, and prevent the emission of more than 10,000 tons of greenhouse gases per year.

Rod Fujita, Ph.D., is a scientist in the Oceans program at Environmental Defense Fund.

Coral reefs aren't just pretty places for scuba divers (although they do bring in billions of tourist dollars). These rich ecosystems supply the inhabitants of coral reef countries with the fish that they depend on as their main source of protein. Coral reefs, like rainforests, are also treasure troves of biodiversity that may hold the keys to fighting diseases like cancer and arthritis. Human wellbeing is tightly bound to the health of coral reefs.

Unfortunately, coral reefs are in trouble, and climate change plays a major role.

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This post is by Nat Keohane, Ph.D., director of economic policy and analysis at Environmental Defense Fund.

A few weeks ago, it came out that the White House is excising major portions of an EPA document on regulating greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. The document - a draft Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking - is EPA's answer to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that greenhouse gases fall squarely within the act's definition of "pollutant".

The 252-page draft document [PDF] was leaked. In it, EPA projects that controlling greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light trucks would result in substantial net savings to Americans - as high as $2 trillion in net present value over the next few decades.

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This post is by Sheryl Canter, an online writer and editorial manager at Environmental Defense Fund.

Fareed Zakaria has a great editorial in today's Washington Post. It describes how the U.S. economy would be revitalized by a carbon cap that spurs clean energy development. Here's an excerpt:

Washington's inaction also stands in contrast to intense activity in the private sector, fascinatingly described in Fred Krupp and Miriam Horn's new book, "Earth: The Sequel." Krupp heads the Environmental Defense Fund, but this is not a gloomy global warming tirade. It's an optimistic account of the progress being made by American industry in renewable energy. The authors explore every new technology, from solar to wind to geothermal, and introduce the men and women who are inventing the future.

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This post is by Sheryl Canter, an online writer and editorial manager at Environmental Defense Fund.

The June 2008 issue of Treasury and Risk lists Gwen Ruta, vice president for Corporate Partnerships at Environmental Defense Fund, as one of the year's 100 most influential people in finance, along with movers and shakers like Al Gore and Carl Icahn:

Gwen Ruta, Director of Corporate Partnerships, Environmental Defense Fund
Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts put the nonprofit group on the corporate map when it asked EDF to assess the environmental performance of its U.S. companies. It's Ruta's job to help business partners create best practices when it comes to protecting the earth.

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This post is by Andy Darrell, vice president for Living Cities at Environmental Defense Fund.

The high cost of gas has pushed retail gas purchases down 2 to 3 percent. What are people doing instead? Taking public transportation!

The first quarter report from the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) found that use of public transportation is skyrocketing in tandem with gas prices. Last year 10.3 billion trips were taken on U.S. public transportation — the highest in 50 years. Ridership on streetcars, trolleys, commuter rails, subways, and buses are all up. Even Amtrak ridership is soaring.

This shift presents an historic opportunity.

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This post is by Sheryl Canter, an online writer and editorial manager at Environmental Defense Fund.

According to a poll conducted in June by the Pew Research Center, soaring gas prices have caused a significant shift in American attitudes in just four months. American priorities, they say, have shifted strongly towards energy exploration and drilling, and away from conservation.

Is environmentalism dead, or is this result mainly due to how Pew framed the survey questions? I think the latter.

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This post is by Jackie Roberts, director of sustainable technologies at Environmental Defense Fund.

Shifting to a low-carbon economy means creating renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. This will take a lot of work, but in a good sense. We'll see increased investment, new businesses, and new products to manufacture — the creation of many new jobs.

The ball won't start rolling in earnest until the U.S. passes cap-and-trade legislation, but movement has already started. For example, check out this map we created of green businesses and their suppliers in Ohio:

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