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== Sewage Sludge ==
In the past, NRDC's founder, [[John H. Adams]] has voiced support for the practice of disposing of [[sewage sludge]] (renamed [[biosolids]]) by using it as fertilizer on farms and gardens. Later, [[NRDC]] came out in favor of stricter regulation of land application of sewage sludge.
=== NRDC Calls for Better Regulation of Sewage Sludge =in 2002/2003 ==
*[[Henry R. Breck]] - Partner, Heronetta Holdings
*[[Boris Bittker]] - Sterling Professor of Law Emeritus, Yale University
*[[Francis W. Hatch]] - Chair, John Merck Fund
Text replacement - "{{#badges:" to "{{Show badges|"
{{#Show badges:|CoalSwarm}}{{#Show badges: | ToxicSludge}}'''Natural Resources Defense Council''' is considered a [[Big Green]] environmental group, one of the largest and most prominent in the world. NRDC describes itself "the nation's most effective environmental action organization. We use law, science and the support of more than 1 million members and online activists to protect the planet's wildlife and wild places and to ensure a safe and healthy environment for all living things. Worth Magazine has named NRDC one of America's 100 best charities, and Charity Navigator has given NRDC four stars (out of a possible four)." <ref>[http://www.nrdc.org/about NRDC website]</ref>It was founded by [[Michael A. McIntosh, Sr.]] It is formally allied with [[350.org]].
As one of the largest environmental groups, NRDC has often been singled out for criticism by industry funded groups such as the [[Center for Consumer Freedom]].
* [[Sandy Creek Plant]]
In 2002, NRDC released a press release titled "This Just In: Sludge May Be Hazardous to Your Health."<ref>[http://www.nrdc.org/media/pressreleases/020703.asp This Just In: Sludge May Be Hazardous to Your Health], Natural Resources Defense Council, July 3, 2002, Accessed May 9, 2011.</ref> The press release states:
:* "Require pollution prevention programs for sludges with detectible amounts of dioxins."<ref>[http://www.nrdc.org/media/pressreleases/031017.asp EPA Will Not Protect Public From Dioxins In Land-Applied Sewage Sludge], Natural Resources Defense Council, October 17, 2003, Accessed May 12, 2011.</ref>
=== NRDC Founder Endorsed EDF Partners with [[Synagro]], The World's Leader in Dumping Sewage Sludge Use in Agriculture =on Farms and Gardens ==In It is interesting to contrast the latter part NRDC position on [[sewage sludge]] with that of the 20th century[[Environmental Defense Fund]]. EDF creates formal corporate partnerships between itself and major corporations, such as the wastewater treatment industry and the [[UCarlyle Group]] with which it partnered in March, 2010. <ref>[http://blogs.wsj.Scom/privateequity/2010/03/18/carlyle-group-teams-up-with-edf/ Carlyle Group Teams Up With EDF], The Wall Street Journal, March 18, 2010. EPA</ref> The Carlyle Group, a private investment corporation, owns [[Synagro]] began to advocate , the use of world's largest company producing [[sewage sludge]] (renamed "[[biosolids]]compost" and ") as fertilizer. NRDC's Founding Director, " often called "[[John H. Adamsbiosolids]], who served as Executive Director " that is dumped on farms and later President until 2006, was quoted on a sewage industry website as follows:gardens.
According to its own guidelines <ref>[https://www.sourcewatch.org/images/3/3b/Corporate_Guidelines.pdf EDF Corporate Funding Guidelines, 2011]</ref>, EDF does not accept direct funding from corporations that are engaged "in any significant activities that are in direct conflict with EDF’s environmental protection objectives or activities." This is misleading, since EDF does aggressively seek funding from employees, board members and investors in such corporations, including its formal corporate partners such as Carlyle Group. And EDF also considers on a case by case basis donations from foundations set up by such corporations.
It would seem that by partnering with [[Synagro]] EDF is in fact endorsing the practices of Synagro in dumping sludge on farms and gardens, and in misleading millions of people by selling its sewage sludge products as "compost" and "natural organic fertilizer."
Such partnerships are extremely lucrative for EDF since it aggressively fundraises among the individuals on the Boards of Directors, in management, and who are investors in its partners. Meanwhile, the corporate partner such as [[Carlyle Group]] can [[greenwash]] itself by pointing to its partnership with one of the world's best funded [[Big Green]] environmental groups.
In the 1970s and 1980s EDF and other major environmental groups including [[Natural Resources Defense Council]] worked closely with the sewage industry and endorsed moves by the [[Environmental Protection Agency]] to rename toxic [[sewage sludge]] as "[[biosolids]]" and dump the waste onto farmland. Until May, 2011, when EDF requested it be removed, the following quote appeared on a sludge industry website showing endorsement of this practice.
:"EDF and NRDC have been steadfast proponents of reusing biosolids of appropriate quality as the best biosolids management alternative. Biosolids can be a valuable natural resource."
:[[Fred Krupp|FRED KRUP]], Executive Director - [[John H. Adams|JOHN ADAMS]] Executive Director
:[[Environmental Defense Fund]] - [[NRDC|Natural Resources Defense Fund]]"<ref>[http://www.biosolidsinstitute.com/quotes/index.shtml Bio Solids - Notable Quotes], Accessed May 6, 2011.</ref>
EDF's [[Sean Crowley]] had the quote taken down, and he points out that there is no date or citation for the quote, which likely came from a consent decree among major environmental groups and the sewage sludge industry. While it is partnered with the world's largest sewage sludge company, [[Synagro]] of Carlyle Group, Crowley claims that EDF has no position what so ever on the practice of using agricultural farms and gardens as waste dumps for [[sewage sludge]].
[[NRDC]], on the other hand, became a critic of sludge dumping in 2002 and 2003, based on the [[dioxin]] contaminants in sewage sludge.
== Officers ==
==Trustees==
Accessed November 2010June 2011: <ref>[http://www.nrdc.org/about/board.asp Board], Natural Resources Defense Council, accessed November 23, 2010.</ref>
*[[Daniel R. Tishman]]; Chair - Chair and CEO, Tishman Construction Corp. of New York
*[[John H. Adams]]; Founding Director - Chair, Open Space Institute
*[[Richard E. Ayres]] - The Ayres Law Group
*[[Anna Scott Carter]] - Consultant, NRDC; Environmentalist
*[[Susan Crown]] - Principal, Henry Crown and Company; Executive, Foundation Chair, Community Activist
*[[Michel Gelobter]] - Founder, CEO, Cooler Inc.
*[[Arjun Gupta]] - Partner and Managaing Partner, Telesoft Partners
*[[Van Jones]] - Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress; Founder and Advisor, Green for All
*[[Philip B. Korsant]] - Managing Member, Korsant Partners
*[[Nicole Lederer]] - Co-Founder, Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2)
*[[Maya LinMichael Lynton]] - Artist; DesignerChairman and CEO, Sony Pictures Entertainment
*[[Shelly B. Malkin]] - Landscape painter; Conservationist
*[[Josephine A. Merck]] - Artist; Founder, Ocean View Foundation
*[[Mary Moran]] - NRDC Global Council Member
*[[Peter A. Morton]] - Chair, Founder, 510 Development Corp.
*[[Wendy Neu]] - Senior Vice President, Hugo Neu Corp; Grassroots community organizer and activist
''Honorary Trustees''
*[[Dean E. Abrahamson]], M.D., Ph.D. - Professor Emeritus, Energy & Environmental Policy, University of Minnesota
*[[Robert O. Blake]] - Senior Fellow, [[World Resources Institute]]; U.S. Ambassador (retired)
*[[Henry R. Breck]] - Partner, Heronetta Management, LP
*[[Joan K. Davidson]] - Former Parks Commissioner, NY State; President Emeritus, The [[J.M. Kaplan Fund]]
*[[Sylvia Earle]], Ph.D. - President, Deep Ocean Exploration and Research, Inc.
*[[James B. Frankel]] - Attorney; Conservationist
*[[Hamilton F. Kean]] - Attorney; Conservationist
*[[Charles E. Koob]] - Partner, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, LLP
*[[Ruben Kraiem - Partner, Covington and Burling
*[[Burks B. Lapham]] - Chair, [[Concern]], Inc.
*[[Jonathan Z. LarsenMaya Lin]] - Journalist Artist; Designer
*[[Michael A. McIntosh, Sr.]] - President, The [[McIntosh Foundation]]
*[[Franklin E. ParkerDaniel Pauly]] - AdvisorDirector, The NJ Field Office Fisheries Centre, University of the Trust for Public Land (retired) British Columbia
*[[Nathaniel P. Reed]] - Businessman; Conservationist
*[[Cruz Reynoso]] - Professor of Law, University of California, Davis
*[[John R. Robinson]] - Attorney
*[[John Sheehan]] - United Steelworkers of America (retired)
*[[David Sive]] - Partner, Sive, Paget & Riesel, P.C. (retired)
*[[Thomas BFrederick A. Terry, Jr. Stoel]] - Stoel Rives (retired) Senior Counsel, Sullivan & Cromwell
*[[Thomas A. Troyer]] - Partner, Caplin & Drysdale
*[[Kirby Walker]] - Independent film/video producer
<ref>[http://www.nrdc.org/about/board.asp NRDC website]</ref>
*[[Theo Spencer]] - senior project manager
*[[Patricia Sullivan]] - Deputy Director
*[[Marcella Eversole]]
*[[Graciela Chichilnisky]] - trustee
*[[Lisa Speer]] - Ocean Program
==External links==
* Jeffrey St. Clair, [http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/04/12/designer-protests-and-vanity-arrests-in-dc/ The Post-Modern Protest Blues, Designer Protests and Vanity Arrests in DC], CounterPunch, April 12, 2013.
* Joann Hari, [http://www.thenation.com/article/wrong-kind-green The wrong kind of green], "The Nation", March 22, 2010.
* John Borowski, "[http://www.counterpunch.org/borowski12292006.html Laurie David and Me: Curb Your Environmentalism]", ''Counterpunch'', December 29, 2006.
* [http://www.nrdc.org/media/pressreleases/020703.asp This Just In: Sludge May Be Hazardous to Your Health], Natural Resources Defense Council, July 3, 2002.
*Dan Bacher, "[http://counterpunch.org/bacher08112011.html Arnold's Environmental Legacy: A Smoking Ruin]", ''Counterpunch'', August 11, 2011.
[[Category:Environment]][[Category: Citizen groups working on coal issues]][[Category: Sludge Proponents]][[Category: Liberal Advocacy Organizations]]
