NRDC Annual Report 2014 by NRDC

2014

A N NUAL R E PORT

OUR

BUILD FUTURE 04 FROM OUR CHAIRMAN 05 FROM OUR PRESIDENT 07 OUR HEALTH 1 7 OUR COMMUNITIES 28 OUR WORLD 41 FINANCIAL STATEMENT 45 EVENTS

I am confident that this storied organization will rise to all the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. 3

FROM OUR CHAIRMAN

This is a pivotal moment in the history of the environmental movement, and the issues that confront us gain urgency with each passing day. Climate change is the greatest environmental threat of our time, making protecting and preserving the quality of our water, food, communities, and landscapes ever more essential. Ensuring that NRDC has the capacity to confront those challenges will require us to be bold and innovative. And this year we have been fortunate to gain a leader who brings us precisely those attributes—our new president, Rhea Suh. With a background that has taken her from prominent environmental foundations to the U.S. Department of the Interior, Rhea has demonstrated the leadership, vision, and values required to lead NRDC through the work ahead. She is the first NRDC president from outside the organization and comes to us with a deep appreciation for NRDC’s history, as well as a galvanizing vision for our future. She understands the powerful role this organization plays in influencing policy and politics.

Rhea has also demonstrated her commitment to broadening the environmental movement, a necessity if we are to achieve our most important goals. She understands that we must build common cause with people whose lives are directly impacted by environmental degradation, and ensure that NRDC is connecting and advocating for the rights of all people to clean air, clean water, and a healthy planet. NRDC has always been adept at defending bedrock protections and advancing inventive solutions. Now, with Rhea’s leadership and the dedication of our trustees, staff, members, and supporters, I am confident this storied organization will rise to all the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

Daniel R. Tishman, Chairman of the Board

FROM OUR PRESIDENT

few months ago, I came to NRDC to take on the job of a lifetime— leading the world’s most effective environmental group in the fight to protect our natural world and build a better future for us all. At the same time, our country was seating a new Congress. In the months since, too many of its members have made it clear that they want to shred the bedrock environmental protections we’ve spent a generation putting in place. Too many have shown that they will put polluter profits first while putting the rest of us at risk. Right now polluters and their friends in Washington, D.C., are doing everything they

“ For every challenge we face, there are also incredible opportunities for progress.”

can to stop our nation—and the world—from taking action against climate change. They’re not concerned that fracking has brought the dangers of the industrial oil patch to our back yards. They’re not concerned that oil trains are exploding in our downtowns and that pipelines are spewing crude into our rivers. They’re not concerned that the pristine Arctic Ocean and the Eastern Seaboard are in the crosshairs of offshore drilling. They’re not concerned that toxic chemicals threaten our water and food. They are willing to mortgage our children’s future by keeping us dependent on the dirty habits of the past. Here’s the thing: We’re not going to let them get away with it. NRDC was founded for just these kinds of challenges. It’s why John Adams helped create this institution 45 years ago. It’s what we mastered under the leadership of Frances Beinecke. It’s what I’m focused on every day as I take up the mantle they’ve passed on to me. We know that for every challenge we face, there are also incredible opportunities for progress.

Think about what we’ve achieved together in just the last few months. After years of fighting the Keystone XL pipeline, we’ve seen President Obama veto legislation that would have forced some of the planet’s dirtiest oil through the breadbasket of America. After the hottest year on record, we’re seeing states move toward a clean energy future by cleaning up power plants—the single-biggest step we’ve ever taken to cut carbon pollution. And after decades of indecision, we’re seeing U.S. leadership build momentum for real global action against climate change when 196 nations gather in Paris this fall. This is the job of a lifetime. Not just for me but for all of us—the 2.4 million members and activists who believe in what NRDC stands for and will do what it takes to advance this great mission. I’m proud to walk forward with you.

Rhea Suh, President of NRDC

from left:

John Adams, Frances Beinecke, Rhea Suh

O U R H E A L T H / Antibiotics

WINNING THE FOOD FIGHT B een in a school cafeteria lately? The ladles of disgusting slop you remem ber from your youth have been replaced by meals that look increasingly healthy—even appetizing. And late last year, six of the largest U.S. school districts announced a change that will provide healthier meals for students, and it may also help bring better food to all our plates. With NRDC’s guidance, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Orlando, Miami, and Dallas—which collectively serve meals to nearly three million students a day—declared they would purchase only antibiotic-free chicken. Why is that such a big deal? Because we have an antibiotics problem in this country, and it’s contributing to what could become one of the most serious health crises of the 21st century. Antibiotics are true miracle drugs, used to treat once-common and widely fatal human

illnesses like pneumonia and tuberculosis. But now they’re beginning to fail, largely because we overuse them in both human medicine and animal agriculture. Livestock operators use these drugs to increase animal growth rates and help the animals survive the crowded, unsani tary conditions on factory farms. As a result, about 80 percent of all antibiotics sold in the United States are for chickens, pigs, and other livestock—not people.

Going to School on Superbugs This antibiotic abuse is contributing to the rise of superbugs, which can’t be easily treated with common drugs and can turn a routine infection into a potentially life-threatening illness. Antibiotic resistance is one of the world’s most pressing health problems, warns the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

By serving only antibiotic-free chicken— or abiding by an “antibiotic stewardship” standard that NRDC helped to develop—the six districts that make up the Urban School Food Alliance have ensured safer and healthier food choices for millions of children across the country, many of whom have limited options at home. “More than two-thirds of the students in these school districts are economically disadvantaged,” says Mark Izeman, director of NRDC’s New York program, “and school meals often represent more than half of the food they consume each day.” The alliance buys more than $552 million worth of food and supplies annually, so its decision to root out antibiotics has created a huge increase in demand for chicken raised without drugs. And that’s just the beginning. The districts also hope to “move the markets

O U R H E A L T H / Antibiotics

to make food more sustainable and healthy for everyone,” says Eric Goldstein, the chief executive of school support services in New York City, who chairs the alliance.

Improving an Entire Industry Even before the alliance’s December announce ment, some giant poultry producers had started distancing themselves from the unnecessary use of antibiotics. Perdue, for example—the nation’s third-largest chicken producer—reported last year that it is now raising 95 percent of its birds without antibiotics that are important to human medicine, while restaurant chains like Chipotle report that they are already serving drug-free meat. NRDC and its allies helped persuade McDonald’s, the largest fast-food chain in the world, to pledge the elimination of routine antibiotic use in its chicken supply chain. NRDC also waged a public-facing campaign to persuade chicken-giant Foster Farms to phase out the use of antibiotics. The top chicken producer in the West and the sixth-largest in the United States, Foster Farms was linked by the CDC to an antibiotic-resistant Salmonella outbreak that sickened hundreds of people in 2013 and 2014. In response, NRDC and other groups have pressed the company to disclose details of its antibiotics use. In November 2015, we commissioned billboards that were posted outside the Foster Farms headquarters, asking if its antibiotics practices were safe. Foster 11

Farms has since reached out to NRDC, and we are now hopeful that the company will commit to sound antibiotic stewardship.

The FDA’s Ongoing Failure to Act The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has also been slow to take effective action—a fact repeatedly highlighted by NRDC. Last year our scientists uncovered records showing that the FDA allowed 30 potentially harmful antibiotics (including 18 rated by its own scientists as “high risk”) to remain on the market as additives in farm-animal feed and water, despite an internal review that raised significant red flags. Instead of taking regulatory action to correct the problem, the FDA has adopted a voluntary guidance system that asks pharmaceutical companies to eliminate the use of antibiotics for “growth promotion”— but still allows many of the same drugs to be used routinely under other label categories. In California, lawmakers came up with an antibiotics proposal that mimicked the FDA’s ineffective guidelines for curbing abuse. At the urging of NRDC and its allies, Governor Jerry Brown vetoed the useless bill, sending legislators back to the drawing board this year. “We need to lift the curtain of secrecy that shrouds the industry’s use of these drugs,” says Jonathan Kaplan, director of NRDC’s Food and Agriculture program, “and eliminate unnecessary antibiotic use so that these precious medicines keep working for the people who need them.”

These schools have ensured safer food choices for millions of American children. 12

FOOD MATTERS O U R H E A L T H / Q&A

NRDC is known for tackling the biggest environmental challenges facing the planet. How does food fit into our work?

In the past 40 years, we’ve made our air and water cleaner, but our food system has gotten dirtier. Food and agriculture affect everything. The system uses more land, more water—and pollutes more water—than any other human activity. It’s a big source of climate pollution. Food has huge impacts on the planet as well as very personal impacts on our health. You are what you eat—everyone knows that.

NRDC Executive Director Peter Lehner discusses the emergence of the organization’s Food and Agriculture program.

How did you come to realize that there was a need for this program? What motivated you to create it? People think about food all the time, so it’s a great way to introduce them to our issues. My family became vegetarian in the ’90s, when I was at NRDC suing feedlots for water pollution and my daughter was learning about the impacts of diet at school. So it’s been at the back of my mind for a while that food is this critical intersection where health and environmental concerns meet. I’m lucky I also see these issues from the point of view of a farmer. I’ve helped run a coffee farm and other farms in Costa Rica for 20 years, so I’m sympathetic to the challenges of farming. It’s tough, and climate change and the commodity markets make it tougher. In the past, NRDC’s food-related work usually focused on getting the worst pesticides out of produce or suing the worst polluters. The idea was to step back and look at the system—to find drivers of polluting behavior and try to change those. If we can change policy incentives, financing opportunities, and market drivers, we can create a more sustainable food system that will benefit both farmers and consumers.

How important is public engagement to reforming the food system?

a big role to play in shaping our food system. Consumers have already helped push chains like Chipotle and Panera to serve more sustainably produced foods, and they’re driving down antibiotics use in the livestock industry. They’re succeeding where the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has failed. The challenge is, How do we reach all these people in a focused and thoughtful way? We have to engage on a scale that is commensurate with the challenge of changing a system that is so fundamental and established.

How have you approached finding funding for this work?

What do you envision for the program in the coming years? It’s very much a work-in-progress, because the possibilities are so numerous. But we’ll certainly continue to work on eliminating incentives and subsidies for farming the wrong crops in the wrong way in the wrong places, as we see in some provisions in the farm bill and elsewhere. We’ll also keep creating opportunities for learning about and financing sustainable practices. We have a lot of work to do to create confidence in different and better approaches to farming. We also envision engaging more in agricultural issues internationally.

People are excited about food, and we’re tapping into that feeling of connection and ownership that food inspires. Rather than a top-down strategy, our approach has been finding partners who can help shape our work. Together, we’ve identified so many different levers to pull, whether it’s on policies like school food purchasing or federal crop insurance, or public campaigns on food waste, or benchmarking practices for farmers. The overall challenge is huge, but there are specific pieces that are winnable, and that makes this work exciting. Reducing food waste or antibiotics in animal feed, improving school lunches, or expanding soil-conservation techniques are real achievements that people can point to and be proud of.

It’s a tremendous opportunity—and a tremendous challenge. Consumers make choices about food three times a day, so the average person has 14

O U R H E A L T H / Progress

Banning Toxic Chemicals in Food Packaging Did you know your takeout might be coming with a side of harmful chemicals? Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why NRDC and our allies have called on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ban long-chain perfluorocarboxylates (PFCs) and perchlorate, toxic chemicals that are used in pizza boxes, sandwich wrappers, and other food packaging. Fourteen recent studies support the FDAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own concerns that PFCs can cause serious harm, from problems with pre- and postnatal development to adult reproduction, while perchlorate has been linked to brain-development concerns. Hold the side of health problems, please.

Perchlorate is easily adsorbed through your mouth and can migrate from the stomach and intestines to the bloodstream.

Pesticides Don’t Belong in Clothing

Safe Housing for All New Yorkers

Antibacterial, odor-fighting shirts might sound like a great idea, but the truth is, their magic comes from a pesticide called nanosilver. Silver is already a highly toxic antimicrobial, especially for sea life, but this smaller, stronger version can penetrate human organs and tissues. As part of an effort to get nanosilver removed from textiles—baby blankets, towels, pillowcases, and clothing—NRDC filed a lawsuit, and ultimately, an appeals court agreed that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency didn’t follow its own rules for determining whether the pesticide is safe to use in products.

Four-hundred thousand people live in the New York City Housing Authority’s lowincome residences, many of which are plagued by pervasive mold and excessive moisture, exacerbating asthma and other health issues. Challenging the city’s failure to provide healthy housing, NRDC and the National Center for Law and Economic Justice took legal action on behalf of those tenants and, in December 2013, reached a settlement that will require the city agency to clean up its act.

Protecting Families from Toxic Chemicals at Home From your couch to your carpet, many furnishings have been treated with flame-retardant chemicals, which are associated with cancer, infertility, birth defects, and other serious diseases. Some of the highest levels of these chemicals ever measured have been found in the bodies of California’s children. Thanks in part to NRDC’s advocacy, Governor Jerry Brown announced new standards that will reduce California’s exposure to toxic and untested flame retardants, setting a strong precedent for the rest of the country.

Stronger Standards for Soot Emissions From increased asthma and heart attacks to premature death, soot pollution can seriously harm health. Yet industry leaders wanted to overturn the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s updated clean-air standards that tightened the limits on the harmful substance. NRDC and our allies intervened, and in May 2014, a federal appeals court rejected the industry’s challenges. In the weeks surrounding that decision, two other major court cases upheld similar EPA efforts: protections for people who live downwind from power plant smokestacks in other states, and limits on power plant emissions of mercury and other dangerous toxins. 16

O U R C O M M U N I T I E S / Chicago

A DIRTY BATTLE IN CHICAGO’S BACKYARDS W hen the wind kicks up over Chicago’s Calumet River, the area’s residents get nervous. Piles of oil-refinery waste line the banks and, during a particularly bad storm in 2013, clouds of black dust billowed through the streets and darkened the skies of the Southeast Side’s working-class community. Even today, anxious parents hustle kids off baseball fields and back indoors to escape the dust, which manages to infiltrate homes— even with the windows shut. A sticky coating covers many of the houses downwind from the massive mounds of waste, some of which have been piled up to six stories high. The dust is a by-product of refining tar sands oil, a dirty fuel source that is shipped to Midwestern refineries from mining pits in northern Canada. The residue of that refining

process is called petroleum coke, or petcoke. Residents, worried about its impact on their homes and health, have partnered with NRDC to take action and protect themselves. Together, we’re pushing the city, state, and federal governments to impose rules and restrict future growth of petcoke storage facilities—and we’re ready to fight in court to ensure that it happens. “This has to stop,” says Peggy Salazar, director of the Southeast Environmental Task Force, a small, volunteer-led community group working with NRDC. Dirty business, she says, don’t belong next to people’s homes.

The Problem with Petcoke Extracting tar sands bitumen and refining it into oil that can be sold harms the environment in a host of ways—including the fact that producing it causes three times more global-warming

pollution than conventional crude. And for Chicago’s residents, the impact is direct: Tar sands oil is processed in a massive BP refinery just across the state border in Whiting, Indiana, producing petcoke as a by-product— an astounding 6,000 tons every day. The petcoke is then transferred to KCBX Terminals, a company owned by the notorious climate-denying Koch brothers, which stores it a stone’s throw away from homes, schools, and parks on Chicago’s Southeast Side. KCBX Terminals eventually ships the petcoke to countries with less-stringent environmental laws than the United States, where it’s burned as a cheaper, dirtier substitute for coal. The Southeast Side residents who live in the shadows of the petcoke mounds are alarmed. Scientists know that inhaling the sort of dusty material that emanates from the piles (known

O U R C O M M U N I T I E S / Chicago

as particulate matter) can cause a host of health problems, including asthma, respiratory and pulmonary issues, and premature death. And the neighborhood is suffering in other ways, too. Lydia Jordan, a member of the Southeast Side Coalition to Ban Petcoke, said in a January 2015 government meeting that the dirty residue “collects on homes and cars. It prevents people from being able to enjoy outdoor spaces. It impedes economic development. It doesn’t bring in jobs. It precludes other industries and nice things like shops and cafés from moving into the Southeast Side.”

petcoke’s health impacts, and he invoked his visit to the Southeast Side’s piles when speaking out against the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline on the Senate floor. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, attorney general, and former governor, as well as Chicago’s Department of Public Health, have all responded to the issue. Due to this broad public pressure, BP announced in early 2015 that it would stop shipping petcoke to Chicago. The following day, KCBX made several concessions of its own. The city’s last petcoke storage operator vowed to shutter one of its Southeast Side facilities

by mid-2015 and remove the dust mounds from the other, transforming the space into a rail-toboat transfer station. But the fight isn’t over. Southeast Side residents want to see petcoke’s negative impacts eliminated, not just lessened or pushed out to another community. “These are not the investments that make a great city,” says Henry Henderson, NRDC’s Midwest program director. “These are the investments that marginalize the community and the city. Chicago cannot be a city that puts petcoke over people.”

Taking Aggressive Action When residents began speaking out against the petcoke piles in 2013, the news media—and, eventually, politicians—took note. Chicago’s mayor responded by banning new storage facilities in the city while imposing stricter regulations on existing ones, including an order for companies to cover up their petcoke piles by 2016, so that the dust doesn’t blow into nearby neighborhoods. If the companies don’t comply, they will have to pack up. In April 2014, NRDC and the Southeast Environmental Task Force filed a notice of intent to sue KCBX and its owners, the billionaire Koch brothers, to force them to address some of the petcoke piles’ hazards. Meanwhile, Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois has declared his support for a federal study on 21

The petcoke is stored a stone’s throw away from homes, schools, and parks.

O U R C O M M U N I T I E S / Q&A

CONNEC COMMUNI Shelley Poticha, director of NRDCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Urban Solutions program, discusses building a better future where we live.

Why is NRDC focusing on cities? We’re not going to be able to solve problems like climate change unless we look at how cities are built and make it possible for people who live and work in urban areas to thrive while decreasing their environmental footprint. So our big goal is to protect the planet while making our cities and communities livable and affordable at the same time.

TING TIES

How does your work intersect with NRDC’s expertise?

What communities have you worked with?

We’re building on decades of experience in urban policy and the technical aspects of making cities as climate-friendly and resilient as possible. Working in close collaboration with community partners, we’re turning that expertise into a set of problem-solving strategies that take our advocacy efforts and legal work to a new level, helping accelerate change on the ground.

One example is Little Tokyo in Los Angeles. It’s under enormous development pressures, and as Southern California’s last major Japanese community, the residents were worried about losing their culture. They wanted Little Tokyo to be the emblem of sustainable revitalization. My team has helped to facilitate discussions around building a vision and strategy that are now being taken to the mayor’s office. NRDC was able to make use of our vast networks in the region to attract smart and sustainable investment into the community. This project is now providing a model for how the City of Los Angeles can grow more sustainably.

Why is it important to work alongside partners at the community level? Cities are very complex places with a wide range of stakeholders. NRDC has technical expertise in a lot of areas, but there is a lot we don’t know about cities. We rely on the knowledge of people who live and work in these places. We’ve committed to allocating grants to our partners that are equal to 25 percent of our overall budget. This is to ensure that the change we’re driving is long-lasting. We want to see our partners’ capacities grow and ensure that residents are the champions and problem solvers of their own communities.

What is your vision for our cities? I want to see affordable multifamily buildings that are as energy-efficient as any other building in a community—that will help the poorest people in those areas to save money. I would also really like to see more cities making it possible for people to live without cars. Particularly for people who are low-income, the price of admission to the job market should not be car ownership. And I’d like to see more communities adopt strategies that support access to local, healthy food so that people can improve their well-being. With our deep technical bench, as well as the community partnerships and networks we’ve built, NRDC is well-positioned to drive these kinds of changes.

O U R C O M M U N I T I E S / Progress

Cable, Satellite, and Phone Companies Partner to Slash Energy Use Approximately 160 million TV set-top boxes in homes across America use about $3 billion worth of electricity every yearâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;much of it when the box is turned off, according to an NRDC report. In December 2013, after a yearlong negotiation with NRDC and other advocates, cable, satellite, and phone companies agreed to use more efficient equipment, which will lower electricity bills by $1 billion annually and prevent the emission of five million metric tons of carbon pollution each year.

Solar Power to Schools In a first-of-its-kind initiative for NRDC, we launched a crowdfunding campaign to help schools purchase and install rooftop solar systems. In addition to the environmental benefits, students also get a firsthand look at how solar energy works and why science, engineering, and math are important. Solar can also help schools cut energy costs, savings that can then be funneled into other, underfunded programs. During our monthlong online campaign, we raised enough funds to assist a handful of pilot schools, which will help pave the way for solar on more schools across the nation.

Reducing Carbon Pollution from Power Plants To protect future generations from climate change, we must start cutting carbon pollution today. In 2012, NRDC devised a groundbreaking strategy that would put the first-ever national limits on carbon pollution from power plants. In June 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed limits inspired by our innova tive plan. Once implemented, they will reduce carbon pollution from power plants more than a quarter by 2020, and 30 percent by 2030, from 2005 levels. The standards represent one of the most important steps the United States has taken to slow climate change, and they will save billions of dollars and thousands of lives.

Empowering People to Protect Themselves from Fracking

Setting the Standard for New Appliance Efficiency

Residents across the country have had little defense against companies that sweep into their neighborhoods and drill for oil and natural gas. As an October 2014 NRDC report revealed, nearly 5.5 million Californians, including a disproportionate number of minorities, live within a mile of an oil or gas well. Fracking pollution has been linked to health problems—and residents should be able to decide if they want it in their backyards. Through NRDC’s Community Fracking Defense Campaign, we helped New York towns like Dryden and Middlefield fight (and win) legal battles, and we’re continuing to empower other affected areas.

From water faucets to WiFi routers, our homes are filled with energy-hogging appliances. California has once again set the bar for efficiency with plans to establish new standards for 15 product categories. Aside from saving the state up to $2 billion in electricity bills every year, the shift could also spur manufacturers to sell these upgraded versions across the nation and sometimes around the world. In order to ensure the program is as effective as possible, NRDC will help California finalize the new standards, and retailers or manufacturers that don’t meet these standards will be fined.

10 Cities Unite to Cut Carbon Pollution Buildings account for more than half of the carbon pollution in most U.S. cities. Through our groundbreaking City Energy Project, a joint initiative with the Institute for Market Transformation, NRDC is helping 10 cities boost their energy efficiency by, among other things, retrofitting old buildings. Together, these places—Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Orlando, Philadelphia, and Salt Lake City—could lower energy bills by $1 billion annually and cut five to seven tons of carbon emissions every year.

Senate Rejects Fast-Track Approval of Keystone XL Big Oil’s ongoing lobbying efforts are fierce, but in November 2014, the U.S. Senate stood up to polluters and voted down an effort to approve the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, which NRDC has been fighting to stop for years. The bill would have overridden environmental law and turned Congress into a permitting authority—giving a green light to the pipeline all in a single strike. NRDC applauded the Senate for rejecting the misguided bill, a move that set the stage for President Obama to veto another approval effort in early 2015. We continue to urge the president to reject this dirty pipeline outright once and for all. 26

O U R W O R L D / China

CHINA COMMITS TO CLEANING UP I n the weeks before hosting the AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation summit in November 2014, Beijing went to great lengths to clean up its notoriously dirty air. Officials ordered factories and schools closed, shut down construction sites across the city, and issued a partial ban on driving—all in a desperate attempt to reduce air pollution by 40 percent before the arrival of leaders from more than 20 countries, including the United States. That plan didn’t work as hoped, but something even better emerged from the meeting. In a major shift away from short-term, quick-fix solutions, China committed to a bold long-term plan to curb its dangerous pollution problem. On November 12, President Xi Jinping, in a joint agreement with President Obama, pledged to stop the growth of the country’s carbon pollution by around 2030. That’s huge, considering that China

accounts for nearly 30 percent of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. On the heels of that historic announcement, China made another groundbreaking move—one that will prove vital to meeting its 2030 target: It released its first national plan to limit coal use, the main source of carbon pollution and the nation’s largest contributor to global climate change. China, which currently uses nearly as much coal as the rest of the world combined, pledged to cap its consumption at 4.2 billion tons by 2020—a direct reflection of the strategy that NRDC has promoted over the past few years as the organization’s work in China has expanded and borne fruit. The plan debuted immediately after NRDC and partners convened a major coal-cap workshop in Beijing. The two-day event brought together more than 450 Chinese and international participants and highlighted initial research results on the

topic, including an NRDC paper finding that coal consumption is responsible for up to 60 percent of the pollution behind China’s crippling smog.

Confronting Its Coal Problem “Putting a lid on coal is the single-most important step China can take to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions,” says Barbara Finamore, NRDC’s Asia director. She adds that an “ambitious yet achievable cap can help peak its emissions even earlier than the 2030 date announced.” Indeed, China’s coal consumption is already dropping. Last year, it decreased for the first time in 14 years, and carbon emissions fell for the first time this century—a clear signal that the country is serious about cleaning up its act (and refuting criticisms that it plans to “do nothing” before 2030). The health of the country, and the world, stands to benefit greatly from these commitments.

Coal currently provides two-thirds of China’s energy and is responsible for more than half of its air pollution. That pollution causes more than a million premature deaths in the country every year—which accounts for about 40 percent of air-pollution mortality worldwide. Meanwhile, a drastic cut in coal, and in carbon emissions more generally, significantly improves the chance of keeping global warming below the internationally accepted two-degree Celsius guideline, helping to stave off the gravest effects of climate change, including extreme weather and sea-level rise.

A Focus on Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency Last year’s monumental commitments aren’t all that China is doing to change its ways. During his joint announcement with President Obama, 31

President Xi also agreed to generate 20 percent of the country’s electricity from renewable sources by 2030. Solar power is already being added at a breakneck pace—after installing 10.6 solar gigawatts in 2014, China is well on its way toward meeting its goal of installing more than three times that by the end of 2015. Efficiency is another important element of the overall energy efforts. As part of the joint agreement that took place in November, Presidents Xi and Obama expanded funding for the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center (of which NRDC is a member) to support the development of building efficiency and other clean energy technologies. Cities like Shanghai are already blazing the trail. As part of an innovative pilot program that NRDC helped develop, customers voluntarily

“Poor regulation at Chinese ports is allowing one container ship to pollute as much as 500,000 trucks in a single day.” David Pettit Director of NRDC’s Southern California Air program

reduce electricity use upon request to help alleviate stress on power grids. The program has been so successful that it’s now serving as a model for other cities across China.

Cutting Pollution at the Source China’s coal and carbon targets provide the necessary framework for reducing pollution, but tackling the problem at its source is also critical. Seven of the ten busiest shipping ports in the world are in this country, yet unlike at other ports, emissions here are largely unregulated. As David Pettit, director of NRDC’s Southern California Air program, notes, “Poor regulation at Chinese ports is allowing one container ship to pollute as much as 500,000 trucks in a single day.” Ships passing through most of China’s ports are allowed to use the dirtiest diesel fuel, which

contains dangerously high levels of sulfur, a huge threat to public health. Guided by successful cleanup efforts at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in California, where diesel emissions have dropped by 80 percent from a dozen years ago, NRDC is helping develop regulations and solutions for tackling the same problem at ports in China’s Pearl River Delta— an indispensable part of the country’s overall battle against dirty air, health problems, and, ultimately, climate change. With these commitments, China is sending a strong signal to the rest of the planet that it is making changes to reduce carbon pollution— a very different, and much brighter, picture for negotiators to consider as the world prepares for the next round of global climate talks in Paris at the end of 2015.

CHINA STRENGTHENS BEDROCK ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION LAW In a major step forward for China’s nascent environmental movement, the government enacted a series of important amendments that strengthen the nation’s Environmental Protection Law. The amendments, which took effect on January 1, 2015, include key provisions that empower environmentalprotection efforts, such as allowing daily cumulative penalties for pollution violations and permitting NGOs to sue on behalf of the public interest. NRDC advocated for years for these provisions, which provide powerful new tools for both the government and the public to cut pollution, as well as strong legal support for all our efforts. NRDC will continue to work with key stakeholders on China’s Air Law amendments and on enforcing the new Environmental Protection Law.

EMPOWER INDIA O U R W O R L D / Q&A

What are some of India’s best opportunities to tackle climate change?

Anjali Jaiswal, director of NRDC’s India Initiative, discusses harnessing the power of clean energy in the country.

Renewable energy has tremendous potential. Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently announced a solar energy target of 100 gigawatts by 2022—a fivefold increase from the previous goal and the largest of any country. This move will help the nation meet its soaring energy needs and limit carbon pollution while also opening the door to expand the solar market globally. Another big opportunity is energy efficiency. Eighty percent of the buildings and other infrastructure that will exist in India in 2030 have yet to be built, so there’s a chance to maximize efficiency and avoid costly retrofits. And millions of people are purchasing lighting, fans, and electronics like TVs and air conditioners for the first time, creating a major market for the newest, most efficient products.

ING How has NRDC’s role evolved since launching the India Initiative?

In less than five years, we’ve established the organization as a major player in the country’s clean energy market through our partnerships. We’ve been able to bring our considerable advocacy expertise to the table and bolster the ability of local nongovernmental organizations to create effective change.

What recent milestones are you most proud of? Last year, we helped enact comprehensive new energy codes in the fast-growing states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, which will reduce energy consumption in commercial buildings by as much as 60 percent. We were involved from the beginning, working with experts in academia to produce case studies on building efficiency. We also consulted with real estate developers, utilities, research institutions, and state governments in the actual code design. We collaborated with public-health institutions to establish India’s first-ever early-warning system for heat waves in the city of Ahmedabad. We’re now working to launch similar initiatives in the states of Gujarat and Orissa, as well as at the national level. As climate change drives up temperatures in India, heat waves are becoming increasingly dire, especially for children, the elderly, and the poorest communities.

affordable clean energy in rural areas like the desert salt pans of the western regions, where we’re helping women workers escape poverty by replacing expensive and dirty diesel pumps with more efficient and less costly solarpowered ones.

What are you excited about for the future? India’s new solar energy target has the potential to create a million jobs and dramatically cut climate change pollution. To help meet this goal, we’ll be working with our partners to develop innovative financing solutions and scale up the market for renewable energy. Meanwhile, we’re excited to continue expanding access to

O U R W O R L D / Progress

Pesticides and Bees: It’s an Emergency– and We’re on It Scientific evidence is mounting that neonicotinoid pesticides, or neonics, are toxic to bees and linked to colony collapse disorder. (Some neonics are even thousands of times more toxic to bees than DDT.) In response, NRDC filed an emergency petition with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requesting an immediate one-year review of neonics’ impact on bees to determine if their use should be prohibited on bee-pollinated crops and ornamental plants, including shrubs and plants sold to consumers as “bee-friendly.” The problem is complex but urgent, and we’re pushing for important first steps to fix the damage already done before it’s too late.

Protecting Elephants from the Ivory Trade

Protecting California’s Waterways

Silencing Underwater Ocean Noise

With 30,000 forest elephants killed for their tusks every year, these animals could be gone within a decade. In August 2014, NRDC pushed two of America’s largest ivory markets, New York and New Jersey, to ban ivory sales and establish harsher penalties for traffickers. NRDC is continuing to fight for elephants, with plans to take state-level bans to California, the second-biggest ivory market in the United States, while working to strengthen federal ivory restrictions.

Water was the clear winner in two separate federal appeals cases brought by NRDC and our partners. By ruling to protect the threatened delta smelt—a tiny bellwether fish species that signals the health of the San Francisco Bay-Delta—the court solidified the restoration of this large, vital estuary. And following a six-year legal battle in Southern California, a federal appeals court found Los Angeles County liable for the untreated storm water polluting the Los Angeles and San Gabriel rivers, which flow into Southern California’s beaches and threaten the health of millions. The U.S. Supreme Court solidified this victory in May 2014 when it denied L.A. County’s request to review the appeal.

Marine mammals, such as whales and dolphins, rely on their sense of hearing to perform all of life’s most basic functions— navigating, securing food, and finding a mate—but an increasingly noisy ocean is putting their very survival at risk. After five years of intensive work with NRDC and a broader coalition, the International Maritime Organization released guidelines for reducing underwater noise from commercial ships around the world—an important step toward making the oceans quieter and safer for sea creatures.

Save the Monarch Butterfly Thanks to the heavy use of the weed-killer glyphosate (marketed as Roundup), which kills off the milkweed that these pollinators need to survive, monarch populations have plummeted by more than 90 percent in 20 years. So NRDC petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to perform an urgent review of glyphosate’s impacts and restrict the chemical’s use. In October 2014, when the EPA approved Enlist Duo—a mix of glyphosate and an older, also toxic, herbicide—we immediately sued. We’re also developing butterfly “highways” by planting milkweed along migration routes, and NRDC’s artist-in-residence is helping build awareness in the Midwest by distributing biodegradable balloons filled with native milkweed seeds and instructions on how to disperse them.

Saving Alaska’s Pristine, Wild Places Bristol Bay, whose untouched waters are home to the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery, is being threatened by 10 billion tons of contaminated mining waste. With local partners, NRDC has been working for years to protect the area from destruction. Finally, in 2014, mining heavyweight Rio Tinto announced its divestment from the proposed Pebble Mine project, and NRDC helped compel the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to propose new rules that would block the massive mine.

Shutting Down Chile’s HidroAysén Dam Project The people of Chile and members of NRDC stood up to the energy companies that planned to build five mega-dams on the Baker and Pascua rivers, two of Patagonia’s wildest waterways—and after eight years of campaigning, the Chilean government finally shut down the ill-advised project. But we didn’t stop there. We also offered an alternative solution: a clean, renewable energy plan that will complement increased energy efficiency and help power the country while protecting Patagonia’s rich biological and cultural diversity. 36

We couldn’t have done it without you. 37

NRDC HELPED BRING MORE THAN 400,000 ACTIVISTS TO NEW YORK CITY FOR THE PEOPLE’S CLIMATE MARCH IN SEPTEMBER 2014.

Warmest thanks to everyone who made these successes possible! Our supporters at all levels are key to ensuring that NRDC has the resources to deploy our strategies in the most effective way possible. We truly couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t defend the earth without your friendship and support.

2.4m Members & Activists

800 Foundations & Individuals

2k Legacy Leaders

JOIN US There are many ways to make a meaningful gift in support of NRDC.

JOIN A LEADERSHIP CIRCLE

BECOME A MONTHLY PARTNER

TAKE A LEAP

Join the Friends of NRDC with a gift of $500–$999 and enjoy a complimentary copy of War of the Whales by Joshua Horwitz—the gripping story of NRDC’s fight to protect whales from deadly U.S. Navy sonar—as well as a subscription to Nature’s Voice and more.

Increase the impact of your NRDC Membership by becoming part of our valued monthly support network. Monthly Partners provide a reliable and steady source of funding that allows NRDC to wage and win long-term campaigns in defense of imperiled wildlife and wilderness.

Be a part of our Council of 1000 with a yearly donation of $1,000–$4,999 and we’ll send you a copy of The Last Polar Bear by acclaimed wildlife photographer Steven Kazlowski, plus invitations to regional events, special teleconferences, and more.

GIVE AN ECO-FRIENDLY GIFT

NRDC takes on big fights every year, championing new issues as we learn more about where our expertise is needed from our grassroots partners and environmental scientists. It is critical that we be able to leap when new policies threaten the bedrock of our environmental laws. Significant gifts to NRDC make it possible for us to pick up that baton and do what we do best—defend the earth. If you would like to learn more about how to become a major donor or to join our Global Leadership Council with a gift of $25,000 or more, please contact our Director of Development at 212-727-4449.

Become a Member of The President’s Circle with an annual gift of $5,000 or more and you’ll receive access to confidential issue briefings and progress reports, invitations to special events with NRDC’s president, a complimentary copy of Edge of the Earth/Corner of the Sky by acclaimed nature photographer Art Wolfe, and much more.

Show your friends and family how much you care by making a gift in their honor in support of one of NRDC’s priorities. Choose from more than 30 environmental issues, ranging from protecting clean water to reviving rainforests to promoting renewable energy.

MAKE A ONETIME DONATION Become a full-fledged member of America’s most effective environmental action group by making a contribution of any amount. Your gift will be put to work right away in our top-priority campaigns.

For more information, contact the NRDC Membership Department MEMBERSHIP@NRDC.ORG | 212-727-4600 | NRDC.ORG/JOINGIVE

GIVE THROUGH YOUR WORKPLACE Donating with an automatic payroll deduction is a simple way to support NRDC. To find out if your company participates in EarthShare, or to add an environmental option to your company’s workplace giving campaign, please call NRDC at 212-727-2700.

MAKE THE EARTH YOUR HEIR You can make a lasting commitment to the environment when you include NRDC in your estate plans. A gift through your will, trust, or retirement or life insurance plan will help preserve our magnificent natural heritage and protect the planet for generations to come. The following language can be used in your will or trust to make a bequest.

I give, devise, and bequeath to The Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011 (The sum of $

% of my residuary estate)

To be used for its general purposes. For more information on how to include NRDC in your estate plans or if you have already done so, please contact Michelle Mulia-Howell, Director of Gift Planning, at 212-727-4421 or e-mail her at legacygifts@nrdc.org.

NRDC 2014 FINANCIAL STATEMENT

NRDC finished the year in a strong financial position. The 2014 fiscal year was a banner one for the organization, with income totaling an all-time high of $129 million and expenses totaling $119.5 million. It also saw an increase in net assets, closing FY14 at $233.3 million. This robust profile led to balanced operating results and allowed NRDC to increase our capacity to secure priority environmental protections. The vast majority of NRDCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s FY14 revenue came from members, individual major donors and foundations. We remain deeply grateful for their generosity and dedication to our work. NRDC also received income from draw-downs from the endowment, reserves, and special funds. NRDC devoted 83.64 percent of our overall operating expenses to programs that protect public health, foster sustainable communities, and preserve natural systems. We applied the remaining 16.36 percent to management, general activities, fund-raising, and recruitment of new members.

In FY14, NRDC helped create an innovative new financial tool. We partnered with BlackRock and FTSE Group to launch the first stock market index to exclude fossil-fuel companies. For decades, NRDC has designed and advocated for policies that will ultimately end our reliance on these polluting fuels. Now we are accelerating that change by mapping a responsible path for foundations, universities, pension groups, and other major organizations to divest from fossil-fuel interests. NRDC worked with FTSE to develop comprehensive and transparent methodologies that screen out companies linked to owning, exploring, or extracting fossil fuels. We completed this work during FY14 in preparation for the launch at the start of FY15. This work is part of NRDCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s abiding commitment to building a cleaner, more sustainable future. We strive to realize that goal in our programmatic efforts, operating practices, and financial management. And with the close of FY14, we can head into that future with strength and vitality.

HOW WE USE OUR FUNDS

83.6 %

8.9 %

$99.9 million on programs

Clean Energy Future

47.8 %

Wildlife and Wildlands

13.3 %

Revive Our Oceans

6.3 %

Protect Our Health

9.3 %

Safe and Sufficient Water

6.0 %

Sustainable Communities

8.5 %

Membership Services

3.2 %

Public Engagement & Mobilization via Postal

5.6 %

$10.6 million on fund-raising to support ongoing operations and membership development

7.5 %

$8.9 million on management and general operations

STATEMENT OF ACTIVITIES

Year Ended June 30, 2014

Operating

Unrestricted Designated

Total Unrestricted

Temporarily Restricted

$52,792,637

$210,646

$53,003,283

$31,285,934

$84,289,217

27,395,533

27,867,550

REVENUES

Memberships and individual contributions Foundation grants

472,017

Government grants

212,400

Bequests In-kind contributions Awarded attorneys fees

5,951,969

Investment return for operating reserves Other revenue

4,369,889

5,951,973

43,746

2,789,229

1,236,099

5,605,988

783,493

Investment return appropriated for operations

Total

212,400

5,951,969 2,745,483

2,745,483

Permanently Restricted

783,493

278,009

1,230,562

Net assets released from restrictions

60,940,832

(7,478,970)

53,461,862

(53,461,862)

Total revenues

119,455,433

3,053,534

122,508,967

6,499,450

129,008,421

EXPENSES

Program services: Clean energy future

$47,739,275

Revive our oceans

10,793,765

Protect our health

9,321,156

14,290,506

5,982,286

Wildlife and wildlands Safe and sufficient water Sustainable communities

8,515,054

Membership services

3,267,294

99,909,336

Total program services

Operating EXPENSES CONTINUED

Unrestricted Designated

Total Unrestricted

Temporarily Restricted

Permanently Restricted

Total

Supporting services: Management and general

$8,911,150

Fund-raising

6,130,887

Member recruitment

4,504,060

Total supporting services

19,546,097

Total expenses

119,455,433

Changes in net assets before non-operating activities

3,053,534

6,499,450

$9,958,523

$2,078,173

9,552,988

NON- OPERATING ACTIVITIES

“Investment return, net of amounts used in operations”

$12,036,696

Change in value of interest-rate swap agreements

114,166

“Pension-related activity other than net periodic pension expense”

312,710

Change in value of split-interest agreements

1,381,716

(415,454)

966,262

Total non-operating activities

11,767,115

1,662,719

13,429,834

$14,820,649

$8,162,169

$22,982,822

Changes in net assets Net assets, beginning of year

14,701,368

121,664,569

136,365,937

53,928,771

20,005,903

210,300,611

Net assets, end of year

14,701,368

136,485,218

151,186,586

62,090,940

20,005,907

233,283,433

Copies of NRDC’s complete audited financial statement are available upon request. This statement of activities represents the consolidated activities of the National Resources Defense Council, Inc., and NRDC Action Fund, Inc.

2014 EVENTS

Thought for Food AN EVENING OF SAFE AND SUSTAINABLE EATING LOS ANGELES, MAY 29, 2014

NRDC friends, supporters, and program staff celebrated safe and sustainable eating at a benefit highlighting the work of NRDCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Food and Agriculture program. The event was cochaired by Dayna and Steven Bochco and Cami and Howard Gordon. Guests enjoyed an impeccably sourced farm-to-table dinner, remarks from Frances Beinecke, and a keynote speech by Dr. David Relman, a Stanford University infectious disease specialist and microbiologist, who described the human health risks created by the misuse and overuse of antibiotics. NRDC debuted the new film In Natureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Image, about our food work. The evening was capped off with a performance by Aloe Blacc. 45

top left:

Aloe Blacc performing at Heritage Square for Thought for Food guests. Alex Berliner/ABImages top right: Amber Valletta in front of the One Gun Ranch farm truck. photo credit: Alex Berliner/ABImages bottom right: Thought for Food cochairs Howard Gordon, Cami Gordon, Dayna Bochco, Steven Bochco. photo credit: Alex Berliner/ABImages photo credit:

left:

Panelists Joel Towers, Jeanne Gang, Maxwell Ryan, Danny Seo, Kristin Van Ogtrop. Nick Wolf

photo credit:

New York Council LUNCHEON AND PANEL DISCUSSION NEW YORK CITY, NOVEMBER 12, 2013

NRDC’s New York Council held its fourthannual luncheon on Green Design, Decor, and Architecture at the Colony Club in Manhattan. Our esteemed panelists included Jeanne Gang, founder and principal of Studio Gang Architects; Kristin van Ogtrop, managing editor of Real Simple magazine; Maxwell Ryan, CEO & founder of Apartment Therapy; and Danny Seo, green lifestyle expert and author. Joel Towers, executive dean of Parsons the New School for Design, moderated the panel, which examined the surge in recent years of eco-minded thinking and practices in the design world, and what steps

are necessary to accelerate the movement. The lunch was a great success and gave NRDC the opportunity to raise the last of the funds needed to kick off our Solar Schools Project and highlight the new Urban Solutions program and City Energy Project. Guests left the event feeling energized and inspired, and one lucky guest at every table won the centerpiece, which was a beautiful Ron Van de Meer–designed pop-up book. Thank you to our terrific event cochairs Anna Scott Carter, Shelly Malkin, Josie Merck, Abigail Scheuer, and Daniel Tishman.

New York Council

NRDC Oceans Event

4TH-ANNUAL FARM-TO-TABLE DINNER

MONTAUK, NEW YORK, JULY 20, 2013

NEW YORK, MAY 8, 2014

NRDC’s first-ever event out in Montauk, New York, took place at the beautiful home of Patty Jen Arndt and Chris Arndt. The dinner featured a menu of sustainable seafood prepared by chef Sam Talbot and fresh food from local farmers served in a beautiful outdoor setting. The evening was exciting and fun—and informative—with members of NRDC’s Oceans team speaking about our current work to ensure the continued health and vibrancy of our waters. Many thanks to cochairs Patty Jen Arndt and Chris Arndt; Jasanna and John Britton; Mary and Garrett Moran; Tom Roush; and Bettina and Fred Stelle, who all helped to make the event a success.

The New York Council hosted our fourth-annual farm-to-table dinner at La Plaza Cultural in the East Village. It was a terrific night filled with garden tours, remarks by Mark Izeman and Jen Grossman on NRDC’s food initiative, and delicious food! Special thanks to the host committee— Claude Arpels, Marion Hunt, Francesca Olivieri, Abigail Scheuer, and Carrie Elston Tunick—for helping to make the event a success.

right:

SF Council cochairs James Ralph and Danielle Ginach with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. photo credit: Kathe Hashimoto

San Francisco Council COCKTAILS & CONVERSATION WITH ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR. SAN FRANCISCO, OCTOBER 23, 2013

Bettina and Fred Stelle, Marc Wein, Nancy Mack.

NRDC’s San Francisco Council hosted its first fall fund-raiser with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. at the SPUR Urban Center. The downtown event was sold out, and the more than 130 guests enjoyed beer provided by Magnolia Brewery and hors d’oeuvres supplied by Whole Foods Market. RFK, Jr. spoke to the full house about the future of climate change and clean energy solutions, answered questions from the audience, and mingled and took pictures with guests at the reception afterward. The SF Council Steering Committee is looking forward to hosting many more fall fund-raisers in the future to help support NRDC’s programs and campaigns.

right:

Samantha Kaminsky, Jeremy Neigher, Fleur Keyes, James Ralph, Nick Weber, Danielle Ginach, Dillon Ripley Lanius, Heather Loomis Tighe, Julia Prochnik, Peter Shanley, Wyatt Millar, Lindsay Millar. photo credit: Kathe Hashimoto

Splash Ball A WILD NIGHT FOR WILDLIFE SAN FRANCISCO, MAY 2, 2014

NRDC’s San Francisco Council hosted its fifth-annual benefit at the historical Old Mint downtown. This year’s theme, “A Wild Night for Wildlife,” focused on our campaign to stop the unsustainable and illegal wildlife trade. More than 480 guests enjoyed live bluegrass music, dancing, a photo booth, a mobile silent auction, specialty cocktails, a bubbly and wine bar, and made-to-order paella generously donated by in-kind supporters. VIP guests enjoyed an exclusive lounge and heard an update about the wildlife trade from Elly Pepper, a policy advocate of NRDC’s Land & Wildlife program.

right:

John Adams, Frances Beinecke, Bob Fisher, Lisa Jackson, Peter Lehner. photo credit: Anita Bowen

People, Places, Progress SAN FRANCISCO, JUNE 10, 2014

NRDC friends, supporters, and program staff gathered at the San Francisco Design Center to honor Bob Fisher and Lisa Jackson as Forces for Nature and to celebrate the future of sustainable cities. During the cocktail reception, guests were able to travel virtually to Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and around the Bay Area to learn about these regions’ policies and practices in water conservation, accessible transit, and green neighborhoods, as well as NRDC’s direct work and partnerships in these focus areas. During the dinner, guests enjoyed a delicious and sustainably sourced meal, as well as remarks from Frances Beinecke, president of NRDC; Dan Tishman, chairman of the board; and Peter Lehner, executive director of NRDC. There was

also an engaging discussion with Bob Fisher and Lisa Jackson led by Bob Deans, NRDC’s director of editorial content. The Jazztronauts, a local San Francisco jazz trio, performed while guests enjoyed their desserts. In an effort to continue making NRDC events as sustainable as possible, we strived to make this a zero-waste event with the help and guidance of Recology, ReCork, and the Bonneville Environmental Foundation.

left:

GLC and LALC members show their support to stop construction of the Keystone XL pipeline at the Santa Monica Keystone Vigil. photo credit: Laura Kleinhenz/Docuvitae below: GLC members John Esposito, Jim Higgins, cochair Ira Ziering, David Goodman, Chris Arndt, and cochair John Adams listen to panelists discuss NRDCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s key initiatives at the annual GLC meeting in Washington, D.C.

Global Leadership Council Established in 2008 by NRDC founder John Adams, the Global Leadership Council (GLC) is a group of top supporters and advocates who are ambassadors for NRDC and our most urgent battles to protect the environment and human health. GLC members take on a range of issues at the regional, national, and international levels, using their experience, knowledge, and networks to help influence key decision-makers and broaden public support for important policy initiatives. GLC members also travel to at-risk areas both to witness the devastation of dirty energy development and to experience the nature and communities we are working hard to protectâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;experiences they use to strengthen their advocacy.

GLC members, NRDC staff, and local partners gathered in Asheville, North Carolina, to learn about our forest protection efforts. John Bellett

photo credit:

left:

Jill Soffer, Mari Snyder Johnson, Paula Bennett, Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, Jo Ann Kaplan, cochair Janet Friesen. below: Paula Bennett, cochair Janet Friesen, Ira Ziering, California governor Jerry Brown, cochair Cami Gordon, NRDC trustee Kelly Meyer, Jo Ann Kaplan.

Los Angeles Leadership Council

Jenn Silverman, Jill Soffer, Nancy Stephens, Elyssa Elbaz, cochair Cami Gordon, Greg Good, Rosanne Ziering, Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti, Dayna Bochco, Matt Petersen, Jo Ann Kaplan, Laura Hein, Beate Chee, cochair Janet Friesen, Lauren Shuler Donner, Laurie Benenson, Dora Fourcade.

Founded in 2001, NRDC’s Los Angeles Leadership Council is a volunteer group of individuals from a variety of backgrounds and professions who leverage their exceptional environmental commitment and financial means in support of NRDC’s mission: to safeguard the earth, its people, its plants, and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends. Members are engaged in NRDC’s work at the local, national, and international levels, with an emphasis on fact-based advocacy and media outreach.

Special thanks for your support. 53

NEW YORK (HQ) 40 West 20th Street 11th floor New York, NY 10011 212.727.2700

NORTHERN ROCKIES 317 East Mendenhall Street, Suites D & E Bozeman, MT 59715 406.556.9300

WASHINGTON, DC 1152 15th Street NW Suite 300 Washington, DC 20005 202.289.6868

SAN FRANCISCO 111 Sutter Street 20th floor San Francisco, CA 94104 415.875.6100

MIDWEST 20 North Wacker Drive Suite 1600 Chicago, IL 60606 312.663.9900

SANTA MONICA 1314 Second Street Santa Monica, CA 90401 310.434.2300

BEIJING Taikang Financial Tower 17th floor, Suite 1706 No. 38 Dong San Huan Bei Road Chaoyang District Beijing, China 100026 86.10.5927.0688

LEARN MORE AT NRDC.ORG

PRINTED ON 100% RECYCLED, 100% POSTCONSUMER WASTE PAPER WITH SOY INKS

Natural Resources Defense Council Charity Navigator awards NRDC its 4-star rating. 55

NRDC gets top ratings from CharityWatch.

NRDC meets the highest standards of the Wise Giving Alliance of the Better Business Bureau.

Worth magazine named NRDC one of Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 100 best charities.