Environmental Defense Fund still does good

It’s a familiar story.

Back in the 1960’s a group of researchers found that the osprey and other large raptors were disappearing from the wild, the shells of their eggs thinned to the point that baby birds simply couldn’t survive.  The reason?  The spraying of DDT to kill mosquitoes and other pests. 

The group decided that something had to be done and successfully sought a ban on DDT in Suffolk Count, Long Island, New York.  Forming the Environmental Defense Fund, they took their efforts first statewide, then nationwide, succeeding in banning DDT across the board.

This is where the story usually ends.  A group of people got together, saw a problem, and fixed it.  However, the EDF is still incredibly active, headquartering in New York City and working with scientists and policy specialists worldwide.

What are they doing specifically?  Thanks to their decades-long lobbying program they convinced the Obama administration to complete the Environmental Protection Agency’s new rule to get toxic mercury from coal-burning power plants out of our air, water and food.  They worked to get automakers and the federal government to require that cars average 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025.  And they partner with businesses and corporations in various ways. 

One way is by training and embedding MBA students in big companies and organizations to improve energy efficiency as part of their EDF Climate Corps.  In 2011, they worked with 78 companies, cities, and universities as part of the program.  The EDF has also partnered with KKR’s Green Portfolio Program.  This is an operational improvement program that uses an ‘environmental lens’ to assess critical business activities.

“One of KKR's core strengths is driving operational improvements that build business value,” said Dean Nelson, Head of KKR Capstone. “By focusing on improving environmental performance across KKR’s portfolio and providing a framework to help companies take environmental initiatives to scale, we're finding new ways to help the portfolio companies save money while simultaneously improving the environment.”

“We believe this initiative will ultimately help our portfolio companies build upon their own environmental efforts while providing a workable example that may encourage other companies to make similar progress,” said Marc Lipschultz, Member of KKR.