Since the dawn of the modern environmental movement, Frances Beinecke has been on its front lines, leading the charge for clean air, fresh water, healthy wildlife and fertile lands. As she prepares to retire as president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, The World We Create captures the story of her remarkable tenure as head of America’s leading environmental advocacy organization and lays out her vision for the future of the movement and the environmental challenges in the years a...

Inspired by Thomas Paine's classic, Common Sense, Frances Beinecke provides a concise account of what is at stake in the climate change debate. The impact of global climate change extends beyond environmental destruction. She challenges all Americans to demand a clean and sustainable energy future before it is too late. Doing so will help put Americans back to work, reduce our reliance on foreign oil, and create a healthier planet, for ourselves and our children.

Republicans regained control of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010 at a time of unprecedented global challenge and change. Instead of devoting the next year to embracing opportunity amid turmoil, though, the lawmakers waged the worst legislative assault in history against the commonsense safeguards we all depend on to protect our environment and health. In a single calendar year, the Republican-led House voted nearly 200 times to weaken, block, or delay needed measures that defend o...

For Sandy Rivers, the known world is the suburban landscape of his morning paper route, an intimate if unsteady place where the illusions of comfort, sanctuary and myth are shattered by daily headlines that chronicle a country torn by Vietnam, Civil Rights and the struggle for national purpose.It’s the spring of 1968. Belief in American providence is clashing with the limits of American might. During the next sixteen months, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated in M...

Deepwater Horizon was supposed to be the cutting edge of energy exploration: drilling five thousand feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, the $560 million rig would be indispensable in helping to solve the ongoing energy crisis.Then, on April 20, 2010, BP’s dismal safety record came home to roost. An explosion followed by a massive fireball resulted in eleven lives lost, the sinking of the rig, and the release of millions of barrels of crude oil into one of the world’s prim...