Stand Up New York!

Speak up for clean water, against dirty drilling

Take Action: visit cleanwaternotdirtydrilling.org to send a message to the leader of the New York State Senate -- we need a drilling "time out" in New York to protect drinking water and the communities that rely upon it.

World Bank approves destructive mining project in Indonesia

International coalition condemns MIGA support for Weda Bay Nickel mine

July 14 -- EARTHWORKS has joined Indonesian partners today in condemning the World Bank for approving support of the destructive Weda Bay Nickel project. The mine planned by Eramet, Mitsubishi, and PT Antam would displace Indigenous Peoples, destroy vast areas of tropical forest, and threaten rivers and the ocean with sediment and toxic chemicals. The Bank ignored the coalition letter and calls by an international coalition to not approve the mine and even independent reports critical of the mine.

Read more on the:

• Press release
• Independent technical review of the project by Dr. Robert Moran
• EARTHWORKS supplemental review of biodiversity impacts of the project
• Information from WAHLI and JATAM

EARTHWORKS calls for a moratorium
on hydraulic fracturing in New York

May 25 -- As part of a 20 group coalition, EARTHWORKS called on the New York state legislature to immediately enact a moratorium on all hydraulic fracturing (aka fracking) within the state.

Current state regulations pre-date the current drilling boom, which has made drilling profitable in the Marcellus and Utica shale gas deposits that underly central New York state and much of the central Appalachians. The moratorium would allow the New York legislature -- whose decisions govern fracking in part because of loopholes in federal statutes like the Safe Drinking Water Act -- to fully consider the issue, including a pending study by the Environmental Protection Agency.

• Read the press release, including the list of coalition members.
• Learn more about hydraulic fracturing.
• Tell your Congressional representatives to make the drilling industry follow the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Just in time for Mother's Day --
70 jewelers have pledged to not use dirty gold

May 7 -- Just days before Mother's Day, four additional jewelry companies have announced their concern over destructive gold mining. Robbins Brothers, Meghan Connolly Haupt, D.NEA, and Bario Neal have added their names to the list of Golden Rules jewelers and declared their support for responsible jewelry production.

Mother's Day is one of the top jewelry-giving holidays of the year, and jewelers are increasingly realizing that jewelry customers don't want jewelry that comes at the expense of communities, workers, and the environment.

• Read the 70 sign-on's press release.
• Learn more about the Golden Rules.
• See the list of Golden Rules signatories.

EARTHWORKS hires new Marcellus Shale gas organizer

April 14 -- We're proud to welcome Nadia Steinzor as EARTHWORKS' new organizer for the Marcellus shale region.

Chesapeake Energy estimates that the Marcellus shale has 262 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas reserves. The Marcellus covers a 54,000 square mile region in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland -- roughly an area the size of Florida. Thousands of wells will likely be drilled impacting many land and mineral owners, communities and watersheds. Leasing is occurring at a rapid pace and residents are being approached every day to lease the minerals under their land to gas development companies.

Steinzor's charge is to help reform state oil and gas regulations, educate and support impacted communities and promote EARTHWORKS' federal reform agenda which includes passing the FRAC Act to remove the exemption of fracturing from the Safe Drinking Water Act and achieve full disclosure of the chemicals used in drilling and fracturing fluids.

• Read the full press release.

Zales and Other Jewelers Boost Effort to Protect Alaska's Bristol Bay

Largest US jewelry chain says Bristol Bay watershed not a place for a mine

April 13 -- A wave of a dozen jewelry retailers, including the country's largest jewelry chain, Zale Corporation, have pledged their support for protecting the Bristol Bay watershed from the proposed Pebble mine and any large-scale metals mining.

These jewelers join over a dozen others who have stated their opposition to the Pebble mine, the massive gold and copper mine proposed for the headwaters of Bristol Bay. The mine proposal threatens the world's largest remaining wild sockeye salmon fishery and the communities and livelihoods that depend on it.

Read more about this on the Earthblog.

Flowers for cellphones

April 13th and 14th, take your old phone to Farragut Sqaure for recycling -- win a prize

Apr 9 -- On Tuesday April 13 and Wednesday April 14, Councilman Jack Evans and the Golden Triangle will host 'Flower for Phones' with onsite support from the non-profit EARTHWORKS from 11:00am to 2:00pm in Farragut Square Park and Golden Triangle Park.

The 'Flowers for Phones' project encourages people to drop off used cell phones to be recycled. In exchange, participants will receive a yellow flower to plant and a chance to win prizes from Golden Triangle BID merchants including Public Bar, the St. Gregory Hotel, Spezie, and others.

• Read more about the event at the Golden Triangle website
• Recycle your cellphone online for free

Remembering Stewart Udall

March 26 -- This past Saturday Stewart Udall, arguably our nation's greatest Secretary of the Interior, died at age 90.

Secretary Udall cofounded EARTHWORKS, and served as our board chair for a decade -- providing guidance and leadership in our efforts to protect communities and the environment from the destructive impacts of mineral development in the U.S. and worldwide.

On EARTHblog, a number of EARTHWORKers -- past and present -- have shared their remembrances of Secretary Udall. We were fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with him.

• Phil Hocker, EARTHWORKS cofounder (pictured to Stewart Udall's left) and president through 1997
• Michael McCloskey, EARTHWORKS cofounder (and board chair from 1997 to 2001), and Sierra Club executive director (1969-1987)
• Jim Lyon, EARTHWORKS Vice President for Policy in the early 1990's and current Vice President of Conservation Policy at the National Wildlife Federation.
• Cathy Carlson, EARTHWORKS current Policy Advisor and longtime advocate for clean water and healthy communities
• Karin Sheldon, Chair of EARTHWORKS Board of Directors from 2001-2010 and current Executive Director of Western Resource Advocates.
• Stephen D'Esposito, EARTHWORKS' second president from 1997-2008 and current President of RESOLVE.

EARTHWORKS launches Texas Oil & Gas Accountability Project
Releases best practices guide for Texas shale gas industry

Feb 24 -- EARTHWORKS formally launched the Texas Oil & Gas Accountability Project (OGAP), a new citizens' group that will work to ensure that Texas' burgeoning Barnett shale gas industry operates while respecting the environment and the rights of its neighbors.

Simultaneously, the new watchdog group released its best practices platform: DRILL-RIGHT TEXAS: Best Oil & Gas Development Practices for Texas.

For more information:

• Read the press release.
• Download DRILL-RIGHT TEXAS
• Go to the Texas OGAP webpage
• Read the EARTHblog post about the launch.

Leading Jewelry Retailers Act on Pledge To Shun "Dirty Gold"

February 10-- Dozens of the nation's leading jewelry retailers are taking innovative steps to provide consumers with gold jewelry made in a more environmentally and socially responsible way.

Tarnished Gold: Assessing the Jewelry Industry's Progress on Ethical Sourcing of Metals, evaluates progress jewelers have made in pursuit of cleaner sources of precious metals -- and finds signs of hope as well as shortfalls.

CORRECTION (2/11): The scorecard and grade for Jostens has been corrected to reflect their signing of the Bristol Bay Protection Pledge.

For more information:

• Read the press release.
• Download the report
• Read No Dirty Gold fact sheets on mining impacts and the jewelry industry.

EARTHWORKS announces Jennifer Krill as new executive director

January 13 -- Starting February 1st, Ms. Krill will lead EARTHWORKS in its third decade of achievement as the only national environmental advocacy organization focused exclusively on the environmental and social issues surrounding mineral extraction.

Ms. Krill comes to EARTHWORKS from a distinguished eleven-year tenure at Rainforest Action Network (RAN), where she led several campaigns and served as Program Director. Her strengths as a strategist, corporate campaigner and fundraiser will reinforce and strengthen EARTHWORKS programs, such as the groundbreaking No Dirty Gold campaign and the pioneering Oil and Gas Accountability Project.

For more information:

• Read the press release.