Wouldn’t it be great if the answer to every decision could be “all of the above?” It would make life easier. But I'd be a bad father to my newborn son if I told him there's no difference between right and wrong, good and bad -- if I taught him the moral ambivalence of “all of the above.”

When it comes to protecting the environment, President Obama is refusing to choose. He’s now touting “all of the above” as his energy answer, all the while staying appallingly silent on the accelerating climate crisis we face.

It’s a cop-out -- an excuse to continue to embrace dirty, dangerous energy sources, including climate-wrecking tar sands oil and dangerous, outdated nuclear reactors, while purporting to be a leader.

Friends of the Earth has been fighting for the right energy choices since our founding 42 years ago, not because it’s easy, but because it’s necessary. Make a contribution of just $5 or more today and help strengthen our campaigns to stop harmful choices like dirty tar sands oil and dangerous nuclear reactors.

We face steep challenges, which is why we cannot sit back and accept pandering to the purveyors of a “drill baby drill” mentality.

When President Obama stood in front of pipes intended to build the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline and promised to fast-track the southern portion to the Gulf Coast, we stood with David Daniel, a Texas landowner and father who is organizing to stop the pipeline. Our Stand with David photo petition is showing the resilient grassroots opposition to Keystone XL and its threats to our climate, air and water.

Your pressure has stopped this pipeline and the dirty tar sands oil it would carry for more than two years. Your support will enable us to continue fighting every step of the way, from the streets to the media to the courts.

Will you pitch in just $5 or more to Friends of the Earth and help give us the strength we need to keep up the pressure on the president?

The president’s “all of the above” energy policy also means he’s embraced more nuclear reactors. After the meltdown and radioactive crisis in Japan -- a disaster that has left an area almost twice the size of Manhattan contaminated with radiation -- the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is acting as if safety upgrades are not urgent, and even approved the first new reactors in 30 years.

We’re working in the courts to block the new reactor design, and we're not stopping there:

• We're working to prevent a potential crisis in California, where nuclear reactors at San Onofre, situated within fifty miles of millions of people, are shut down because of serious malfunctions. A nuclear engineer's analysis we released Tuesday was covered by the Associated Press and Los Angeles Times -- and compelled federal regulators to intervene.
• We're on the ground in Iowa campaigning to stop legislation that would allow a utility company to raise consumers' electric rates to pay for new reactors, guaranteeing windfall profits while passing the risks on to Iowans.

And there's so much more to be done. Will you make a contribution of just $5 or more right now and help strengthen our work for the right energy choices -- choices for clean, safe 21st century energy that will protect our health and the climate?

When you contribute to Friends of the Earth, you’re standing with thousands of fellow supporters who are fired up and taking action to define and fight for the right choices -- those that will protect our health, the climate and future generations.

Senate Victories

Today we celebrate International Women's Day. But, thanks to historic Senate votes, we can also celebrate some important victories for the environment.

Moments ago, the Senate passed the bipartisan RESTORE the Gulf Coast States Act, a landmark bill that will dedicate 80% of BP's Clean Water Act fines where they're needed most — to restore the Gulf Coast economy and the wildlife and communities who live there.

Today's victory is the culmination of an all-out, year-long effort combining all of EDF's great strengths — policy expertise, legsilative savvy, scientific know-how, and grassroots pressure.

In the last year, 100,839 online activists took action in support of this bill and hundreds of donors contributed more than $50,000 to support our efforts. On behalf of the entire EDF staff who worked so hard on this bill, I want to thank you all for every action taken and dollar donated. It made a huge difference.

Today's victory follows the House's recent approval of a similar amendment to the House transportation bill. The next step is for the House and Senate to resove the very bridgeable differences between these two amendments and enact the RESTORE Act into law to bring this victory home for the Gulf region.

Senate Also Rejects Toxic Air, Dirty Energy Assaults
In separate votes, the Senate also rejected two other bills we were closely watching.

The first vote was on a bill that would have blocked a life-saving clean air rule limiting mercury and other toxic pollution from industrial boilers. This rule will prevent up to 8,100 premature deaths every year and reduce the threat of toxic mercury pollution, which causes brain damage in kids.

The Senate also rejected a bill that would have fast-tracked the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project, which would transport dirty tar sands oil 1,700 miles from Canada's boreal forest to American refineries in Texas.

Since November, more than 90,000 activists have taken action against the Keystone pipeline project and nearly 150,000 activists have taken action in the last year in support of stronger clean air standards.

Together, our voices were heard and today's victories on these important bills demonstrate that when we stand together we are a powerful force for environmental progress.

Thanks to everyone who has taken action, donated, recruited friends, and helped spread the word on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks in support of our efforts on these and many other critical environmental issues.

Posted: 29 Feb 2012 10:13 AM PST

Clean Your Microwave Safely
It’s a pain to clean the inside of a microwave. Whatever you have to do to get the zapped on gunk out of there, don’t use a conventional cleaner! When you clean with them, they leave behind residues that can get in the air you breathe but also the food you’re heating. Most chemicals in these products should not be heated to the temperatures generated by a microwave.

To clean microwave safely, Ingredient #1: LEMON

To clean microwave safely, Ingredient #2: GLASS CONTAINER (this one's from Williams-Sonoma)

It’s difficult to know exactly what a cleaner contains as cleaning product formulas are currently considered government-protected trade secrets. Manufacturers aren’t required to disclose their contents to consumers. So they don’t. Sometimes there are warning labels like “danger” “poison” “toxic” or “hazardous.” These are best not sprayed in a microwave. Generally speaking conventional cleaners contain hazardous, often petroleum-derived, chemicals including ammonia, glycol ethers, synthetic fragrances, and even the synthetic antibacterial agent triclosan—which have been linked to cancer, asthma, hormone disruption, liver and kidney damage, and more.

If you have an oven-cleaning product already, you might want to check it on GoodGuide.com

Using a natural cleaner reduces your exposure to these chemicals and keeps their residues out of our waterways. But when it comes to cleaning a microwave, it’s just as easy—and very safe—to rely on a few household staples.
Either place a half of a lemon or distilled white vinegar with water in a microwave-friendly bowl (preferably glass). Heat for five minutes. The steam generated by either mixture will loosen food re