| Founded | 1970 |
|---|---|
| Location | New York, NY |
| Area served | United States |
| Focus | Environmentalism |
| Method | Litigation, education, advocacy |
| Revenue | $90.4 million USD (2009)[1] |
| Employees | Approx. 350[2] |
| Members | Over 1.2 million[3] |
| Motto | "The Earth's Best Defense" |
| Website | nrdc.org |
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is a New York City-based, non-profit, non-partisan international environmental advocacy group, with offices in Washington DC, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Beijing. Founded in 1970, NRDC today has 1.3 million members and online activists nationwide and a staff of more than 300 lawyers, scientists and other policy experts.
Worth magazine has named NRDC one of America's 100 best charities,[3] Charity Navigator has given NRDC four out of four stars as of 2007,[4] and the Wise Giving Alliance of the Better Business Bureau reports that NRDC meets its highest standards for accountability and use of donor funds.[5]
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The NRDC was co-founded in 1970 by John Adams, Gus Speth, John Bryson and a group of concerned law students and attorneys at the forefront of the environmental movement.[5] The organization lobbies Congress and other public officials for a public policy that promotes conservation of the natural and built environment. The NRDC works against urban sprawl, pollution, and habitat destruction, and promotes actions to mitigate global warming and increase the use of renewable energy. It also sometimes files suit in federal court against corporations and government agencies for violations of the Clean Air Act, and the Clean Water Act. Other operations carried out by the NRDC include public education and sponsorship of scientific studies.
In 2001, NRDC launched the BioGems Initiative to mobilize concerned individuals in defense of exceptional and imperiled ecosystems. The initiative matches NRDC's legal and institutional expertise with the work of citizen activists.
It has issued a report on the health effects arising from the September 11, 2001 attacks.[6]
NRDC was also one of the only major national environmental organisations to become and stay involved with community activists on the ground in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.[7]
The NRDC has also published a number of studies on nuclear weapon stockpiles around the world, both as monographs and as individual studies in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
In December 2006, Green Day and NRDC jointly launched a website to raise awareness on the U.S.'s petroleum dependence.[8][9] The NRDC takes the position that new nuclear power plants are not a solution for America's energy needs, or for addressing global warming.[10]
NRDC runs a number of environmental programs:[11]
Frances Beinecke is the current President. Peter Lehner is the Executive Director. On June 14, 2010, Beinecke was appointed by Barack Obama to the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.[14]
Deron Lovaas is the vehicles campaign director.[15]
Dr. Allen Hershkowitz is Senior Scientist.
The NRDC has been involved in some of the most important Supreme Court cases interpreting United States administrative law. Most of these decisions came out against the NRDC. See, for example:
Marshall Eriksen, of the sitcom How I Met Your Mother works for the NRDC for a brief period of time as a volunteer after he quits his job at Goliath National Bank.
In the situation comedy, Curb Your Enthusiasm, the main character Larry David's wife, Cheryl, works for the NRDC. During the history of the programme the organisation is mentioned on various occasions and in particular in the fifth episode of the third season "The Terrorist Attack" Cheryl holds a benefit night for the charity.