Background
The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) is a nonprofit environmental advocacy group that first organized in 1967 after the pesticide DDT was discovered to be threatening wildlife on Long Island, New York. The group is known for its work on issues such as global warming, ecosystem restoration, oceans and human health. It is a nonpartisan organization, emphasizing market-based solutions to solving environmental problems. It works in California, New York, North Carolina, the Rockies and Texas. The Environmental Defense Fund advocates for nonpartisan environmental policy change based in scientific research and does not accept money from corporate clients.
EDF’s research has been used to protect oceans, enact climate legislation and outlaw hazardous chemicals from children’s clothing. The organization has worked with large corporations to encourage them to voluntarily curb pollution and waste, such as in 1991 when EDF convinced McDonald’s to redesign its packaging to be more environmentally friendly. EDF has also partnered with FedEx to create more energy-efficient trucks.
Currently in Texas, EDF is monitoring the environmental consequences of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. In addition to studying the environmental effects of fracking, EDF is campaigning to make fracking techniques more transparent.
EDF is also hard at work in the Texas capital. The Pecan Street Project is a pilot project in Austin that explores how a smarter electrical grid will work. The initiative was developed by the City of Austin in collaboration with EDF, Austin Energy and The University of Texas to reinvent the way electricity is generated and used in Texas.
