Loggerheads face threats from all sides, including from pollution, degradation of foraging areas, and serious injury and death from entanglement in fishing gear. They’re also faced with the loss of their nesting habitat due to coastal development as well as sea level rise. Loggerheads, which make some of the longest journeys of any sea turtle—across entire ocean basins—nest on beaches from Texas to Virginia, but 90 percent of U.S. loggerhead nesting occurs in Florida. This new protection means that any new beachside hotels, homes or commercial construction built on protected beaches that require federal permits would need to be reviewed to prevent harm to nesting areas.

If this policy is successfully implemented, it will be huge step towards reforming Indonesia’s paper industry, protecting its rainforests and the remaining Sumatran tigers that call that place home. Remember our recent victories with Mattel, Lego, IGA and KFC? When big companies like these started ditching their contracts with APP, it helped persuade the company to make this new commitment. Down here in Australia, we’ve played an incredibly important part of this win (our colleagues at Greenpeace HQ in Amsterdam often referred to us as the “secret weapon in the campaign!). As well as joining in international work against the likes of customers like Mattel, Paperlinx, KCF, Fuji Xerox and others, we’ve taken it right to the doorstep of APP subsidiaries, Solaris and Collins Debden. The loss of IGA led to a mothballing of their Australian factory.

Both the awards celebration and the strategy session for the 2012 BEN conference were inspiring and engaging. BEN appreciates and understands what it takes to create powerful campaigns! Congratulations to all.

"I think it has to affect it," said Margot Venton, staff lawyer for Ecojustice, which acted for a coalition of conservation groups, including the David Suzuki Foundation, Greenpeace, Wilderness Committee, Georgia Strait Alliance, Raincoast Conservation Foundation, Sierra Club and Dogwood Initiative.

Statement from Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director, Food & Water Watch “This morning the Delaware River Basin Commission announced it cancelled the vote to proceed with regulations that would pave the way for 20,000 wells in the region, knowing they wouldn’t have the votes needed. “This is a victory for the grassroots activists who have passionately rallied to protect our water, communities and health from the potentially devastating effects of this dirty practice. By standing up against big lobbying cash and flashy ads touting the job creating effects of shale gas development, we have won this critical fight.

Campaigns for responsible mineral extraction, fighting dirty coal, protecting workers, and others receive top marketplace activism prizes; Carrie Dann honored for individual achievement

Thirteen years after Earthjustice first launched legal action, the nearly 50-million-acre heartland of America’s national forests is secure. A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of the Roadless Rule, virtually ending a politically infested process that pitted resource exploiters against the vast majority of citizens who rely upon these pristine lands for recreation and repose.

After months of fighting with environmental groups, ExxonMobil is changing plans to ship "megaloads" of oil field equipment across Lolo Pass, opting instead to ship the equipment on Interstate highways. Monday's decision by ExxonMobil and Imperial marks a major development in the on-going fight over how the companies will get gear to the Tar Sands oil fields in Alberta.

Scholastic announced that it would stop distributing “The United States of Energy,” a controversial fourth grade curriculum paid for by the American Coal Foundation. The materials were also removed from Scholastic’s website. Scholastic’s decision came after a two-day campaign led by the Campaign for Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC), Rethinking Schools, Friends of the Earth (FoE), Greenpeace USA, and the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD).

Rejecting SFI's claim to be 'good for forests', seven companies -- Aetna, Allstate, Garnet Hill, Office Depot, Performance Bicycles, Symantec, and United Stationers -- each took action to stop using SFI's 'eco-label' or SFI-certified paper products (see each company's commitment here).

Target, the third-largest retail chain in the U.S., has joined 72 other jewelry retailers worldwide in pledging to shun gold from irresponsible mining and seek cleaner sources of gold and precious metals.

In a huge triumph for the U.S. Arctic today, Royal Dutch Shell chief executive Peter Voser announced that Shell's 2011 plans to drill exploratory wells offshore in Alaska are canceled due to continued uncertainty over whether it would receive federal permits.

In June 2010, after the release of our report What’s That Smell? on toxic chemicals in fragrance, WVE contacted Clorox with a suggested timeline for listing all ingredients, including those found in fragrance, directly on the product label.

California will take another stab at writing regulations that limit the toxic chemicals in consumer products after too many people said the rules weren't strict enough.

Federal District Judge Jeffrey S. White issued a preliminary injunction ordering the immediate destruction of hundreds of acres of genetically engineered (GE) sugar beet seedlings planted in September after finding the seedlings had been planted in violation of federal law. The ruling comes in a lawsuit filed by Earthjustice and The Center for Food Safety on behalf of a coalition of farmers and conservation groups. The lawsuit was filed on September 9, shortly after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) revealed it had allowed the seedlings to be planted.

the Pittsburgh City Council unanimously adopted an ordinance banning corporations from conducting natural gas drilling in the city.

Campaigns for protecting ancient forests, empowering garment workers, preventing an increase in oil refinery pollution, and others receive top marketplace activism prizes, Dolores Huerta honored for individual achievement

Apparently no one noticed, and no press conferences were held to alert residents, but the city quietly began landfilling its trash on Oct. 1, according to Dan Lijana, a spokesperson for Detroit Mayor Dave Bing.

The Department of Interior’s new scientific integrity order will help prevent the political interference in science that has led to flawed department decisions on issues from energy production to endangered species, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).

Fifteen years after Earthjustice won a key court case, the state of California finalized strong pollution regulations to clean up the Klamath River.

Some compare the smell to a filthy toilet, others to rotting meat; but everyone agrees that the stench comes from behind the gates of the New York Organic Fertilizer Company. The company’s Hunts Point plant processes sludge from 14 of the city’s sewage plants, amounting to nearly half of the city’s waste, and converts it into high-grade fertilizer pellets.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has now formally recognized the e-Stewards® Recycler Certification and associated e-Stewards® Standard for the Responsible Recycling and Reuse of Electronic Equipment.

By majority, the ministers of the first chamber of the Supreme Court of the Nation declared the freedom of the 12 detainees since May 2006 events in San Salvador Atenco, Mexico State.

New Leaders Council (NLC) just announced the 2010 winners of its annual 40 Under 40 Awards, and we are proud to share that our own Executive Director, Erin Switalski, is one of the winners! Every year, NLC honors the work of 40 leaders under age 40 to celebrate the spirit of progressive political entrepreneurship and leadership in advocacy, media and politics. NLC has given awards to trailblazers including Congressman Tim Ryan, Womensphere Interactive Network CEO Analisa Balares, Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti, Ad Village CEO Marissa Louie and former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs Phil Carter. Along with Erin, the 2010 winners include such powerhouse leaders in environmental movement as Liz Butler of 1Sky and Michael Brune of Sierra Club.

Thankfully, we've seen a rush of states adding new e-waste regulations and laws to their books, most recently with New York and hot on the heals of that news comes word that Connecticut will be the 24th US state to put enact an electronics recycling law, starting this fall.

Logging to Stop Immediately on Area the Size of Montana In a historic agreement, 20 major timber companies and 9 environmental groups agreed on a plan to protect 170 million acres of boreal forest in Canada.

As far as college towns go, Chapel Hill in North Carolina has a fair few things going for it. From being the birthplace of crop mob, through free buses, to the admittedly controversial Greenbridge high-end eco-condos, there are plenty of folks in this town who are pushing innovative models for more sustainable communities.

A factory in the Dominican Republic has begun production on sweatfree goods for delivery to university bookstores starting this fall or earlier. It is a breakthrough for a new strategy pioneered by the United Students against Sweatshops (USAS) and its partner, the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC).

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers [CIW] has scored another victory... Food service giant Aramark agreed to pay extra for Florida tomatoes produced under a strict code of conduct...

Two human genes associated with breast and ovarian cancers cannot be patented because they are a product of nature, a federal judge ruled on Monday.

On March 26, 2010, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) officially designated waters off North American coasts as an area in which stringent international emission standards will apply to ships. These standards will dramatically reduce air pollution from ships and deliver substantial air quality and public health benefits that extend hundreds of miles inland.

As we enter a new year, ILRF is already riding on a wave of exciting successes from the end of 2009. Here are some highlights of recent victories in our campaigns:

…Hungary’s parliamentarians voted with a virtually unprecedented majority to ban all metal processing based on cyanide…

Two coal-burning energy companies are withdrawing plans to build a multi-billion dollar transmission line from Appalachia to East Coast cities -- the Potomac Appalachian Transmission Highline, or PATH line.

Awards recognize victories and significant achievements in corporate reform

HSUS made history for animals in 2008. Watch some of the major victories The Humane Society of the United States achieved over the year.

At the annual Conference of the Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC) held in Des Moines, Iowa, October 10th to 13th, La Via Campesina received the 2009 Food Sovereignty Prize for its relentless struggle for Food Sovereignty for people of the world and against the disastrous neoliberal system of industrial agriculture.

After two years of delay, farmworkers in Florida will finally start getting a penny more per pound for tomatoes they pick.

Sister Pat Daly is the recipient of the 2009 Individual Achievement Award. Pat will be honored at the BENNY Reception and Awards at the 2009 BEN Conference on October 13 in Berkeley, CA and Washington, D.C.

Every year since 2006, Ethecon, the Foundation for Ethics and Economics, in co-operation with Otto Piene, the international famous ZERO-artist, has awarded two international prizes:

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today affirmed protection for over 40 million acres of wild national forests and grasslands from new road building, logging, and development. The decision puts an end to the Bush administration's efforts to open these last great natural areas to development. Today's ruling protects the majority of national forest roadless areas in the country.

Recognizing significant victories and achievements on the way to victory in the past year of corporate campaign. Nominations open to the BEN Membership.

In one of Kathleen Sebelius' last days as Governor of Kansas, she did an amazing and perhaps unexpected thing. She vetoed a bill that would have "made it more difficult for dairy farmers who don't use recombinant bovine growth hormone (rbGH) to label their milk as such" (in the words of Dr. Michael Hansen from Consumers Union).

The promise made three years ago to protect one-third of British Columbia’s globally unique Great Bear Rainforest and develop the foundations for a conservation-based economy in the region has been fulfilled.

Their advance word is below – note that they said they were doing this in response to customer demand. (Also note that they say they’re the first leading yogurt brand to go rBGH-free. This will undoubtedly come as a surprise to Stonyfield, Brown Cow, Cascade Fresh, Nancy’s and all the all-organic brands)

Environmental groups today celebrated their victory as an appeals court vacated a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule that has allowed pesticides to be applied to U.S. waters without a Clean Water Act permit.

The decision by U.S. power company Dynegy (NYSE:DYN) to pull out of planned power plant projects means that “coal-fired power is one big step closer to being mothballed once and for all,” according to Green America, formerly known as “Co-op America.”

Earthjustice scored a major win today when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers suspended a permit that gave Mosaic Phosphate the go-ahead to destroy 480 acres of high-quality wetlands within the Peace River watershed.

Ecuador Follows Lead of U.S. Communities:  First Country in the World to Shift to Rights-Based Environmental Protection, Working With Legal Defense Fund

Monsanto announces its selling its posilac division that makes bovine growth hormone. St. Louis-based Monsanto announced today it is selling the division that produces bovine growth hormone, also known as rBGH or rBST.

The Government of India has announced that it will take legal action on the civil and criminal liabilities of Union Carbide and Dow Chemical for the ongoing disaster in Bhopal, India.

The California Court of Appeal ordered the Cintas Corporation to pay more than $1.18 million in back wages and interest to hundreds of Northern California workers for violating the city of Hayward's Living Wage Ordinance. This historic judgment, affirming a September 2005 Alameda Superior Court ruling, is believed to be the largest living wage award in U.S. history.

Unfortunately, there is still one major hold-out. The Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, which represents 90 percent of the state's growers, has taken an intransigent position against the penny-per-pound program. At one time the exchange had threatened any grower who participated with a $100,000 fine, although the threat reportedly has now been withdrawn.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors passed a resolution today encouraging mayors to phase out city spending on bottled water and to promote the importance of municipal water. The resolution, authored by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and sponsored by mayors from 17 major cities, aims to redirect taxpayer dollars to other essential city services.

U.S. consumers toss a staggering 400 million TVs, radios, computers, VCRs, MP3 players and other electronics every year. Beginning today, a unique free electronics take back pilot program that emerged from a dialogue between As You Sow and electronics retailer Best Buy aims to put a huge dent in the mountains of scrapped semiconductors, silicon, circuit boards and capacitors.

Rainforest Action Network (RAN) praised the decision of logging company AbitibiBowater—the largest paper company in the world—to stop logging on the traditional territory of the Grassy Narrows First Nation. The logging company is the last to cease operations in the million-acre Whiskey Jack Forest that comprises Grassy Narrows traditional territory. Its decision comes in the wake of decades of lawsuits and peaceful protests by the people of Grassy Narrows, including the longest standing logging blockade in North America.

Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute in Oakland, Calif., is celebrating a landmark in water policy. He received news of today’s groundbreaking decision of the South African High Court in Johannesburg that not only awarded water rights to the poor, the first in which the constitutional right to water has explicitly been raised, but did so with explicit reference to work from the Pacific Institute.

Chevron is also Accused of Lying To Shareholders Over the $16 Billion Damages Claim In Ecuador Rainforest Case By Amazon Defense Coalition

Addressing longstanding concerns raised by northwest Ontario’s Grassy Narrows First Nation, Rainforest Action Network (RAN), and a coalition of allies, Boise Inc. has notified logging company AbitibiBowater that it will cease purchasing wood fiber logged from Grassy Narrows’ traditional territory in the Whiskey Jack Forest without the Indigenous community’s consent.

As You Sow congratulates Scholastic Inc., the largest publisher of children’s’ books, for adopting an industry-leading environmentally preferable sourcing policy, including strong commitments to recycled content, supply chain certification, and clean production methods.

After a lengthy strike by workers on a rubber plantation owned by the Firestone Natural Rubber Company in Liberia, the Supreme Court of Liberia ruled today that recent union elections held in July 2007 on the plantation were indeed legitimate.

Portland’s Sweatfree Procurement Resolution unanimously passed yesterday with the three present commissioners. Over 130 sweatfree supporters crowded City Hall, including union representatives, a former sweatshop worker, and community members to testify in support of the Resolution. Speakers included, Rev. Lynne Smouse Lopez, Ainsworth United Church of Christ; State Senator Brad Avakian; State Rep. Brad Witt; former GAP sweatshop worker Chie Abadj; James Hester, President of the District Council of Trade Unions (DCTU); Carol Stahlke, President of AFSCME 189; Heidi Carlson, President of Foundation Garments, Inc.; among many others.

On September 5, 2007 Coca-Cola announced a series of commitments related to environmental sustainability for product packaging that respond to requests in shareholder proposals filed in recent years by As You Sow and Walden Asset Management and other shareholders.

Starbucks Coffee Company has already made a New Year's resolution! Today Starbucks committed to make 100% of the chain's milk supply free of artificial growth hormones by December 31, 2007. The Starbucks announcement follows nearly two years of pressure from Food & Water Watch, which launched the Hold the Hormones Campaign in 2006, asking consumers to demand the company buy better milk.

After fighting for more than two years to get fast-food giant McDonald’s to pay better wages to workers who pick the tomatoes for the corporation’s burgers, the workers scored a victory today.

No Dirty Gold student activists celebrated a huge victory for the Class Rings Campaign in February when Commemorative Brands and Jostens endorsed the Golden Rules. Together these two companies account for about 80 percent of the $700 million class rings market.

Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, UC students across the state, and other environmental organizations commend the UC for becoming the first university in the country (and it won’t be the last!) to adopt guidelines for buying greener electronics and recycling them responsibly. The UC will now purchase electronics with less toxic materials that last longer and are easier to recycle. They will also encourage manufacturers to take-back old products and require that all UC e-waste be recycled responsibly without exporting it to impoverished countries or sending it to prisons to be dismantled.

An appeals court recently announced that it would strike the mine permit that would have allowed Coeur Alaska to dump waste from the mine directly into Alaska's Lower Slate Lake.

Thanks in part to the letters/calls of OGAP/EARTHWORKS activists, New Mexico has the nation's strongest landowner protections against irresponsible oil & gas development. New Mexicans can go to sleep soundly knowing that they won't wake up to an oil rig in their front yard the next morning.

House members got a taste of the relentless attacks workers endure every day when they stand up for themselves and support unions...