The John Merck Fund - Environment Grants for 2007

A substantial majority of the world's scientists now agree that fossil-fuel use is altering the global climate. At the same time, concern has grown in scientific circles that the introduction of thousands of synthetic chemicals into the environment may be impairing such fundamental human biological processes as reproductive capability, neurological development and immune-system function. We do not yet fully understand the long-range implications of these problems. But one conclusion is inescapable: by burning fossil fuels and releasing chemicals into the soil, water and air, we are experimenting on a massive scale with the Earth's capacity to maintain healthy ecosystems or to absorb, adapt and regenerate.

Climate Change

Energy policy reform is critically important because it can address not only human exposure to chemical toxins, but also the problem of climate change.

Between 1998-2002, the Fund helped environmental groups gain commitments from New England state governments to clean up antiquated coal- and oil-fired power plants that had accounted for most of the region’s acid rain, ozone and smog, a good deal of its soot and mercury pollution and one-third of its carbon-dioxide emissions. Since 2005, the Fund has focused its attention on another source of toxic exposure and climate change: diesel emissions from such sources as trucks, buses, construction equipment, farm machinery and stationary motors.

New England states have also led the way in creating precedent-setting state and regional climate and energy policies, including the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, state-level economy-wide carbon caps, and a plethora of new programs aimed at building the market for energy efficiency and renewable energy in the region. The Fund supports efforts to implement a regional carbon cap and trade system, encourage New England states to establish strong economy-wide caps on carbon emissions, and promote energy efficiency and renewable energy policies at the state and regional levels.

Midwest Energy

The Midwest states have among the highest rate of carbon emissions per capita in the country because of their dependence on coal and large industrial base. However, the region is also home to promising new policies on climate change, energy efficiency, and clean energy. A number of Midwest Governors have committed to establishing a regional carbon cap and trade system by 2010. And several states are pursuing strong new energy efficiency programs. The Fund supports efforts to establish a regional carbon cap and trade system, expand effective energy efficiency programs, promote the development of wind and other renewable electricity sources, and prevent construction of new coal-fired power plants in the region.

Environmental Health

Increasingly, scientific research is demonstrating that harmful chemical substances known as persistent bioaccumulative toxins are implicated in a wide range of reproductive, developmental and immunological problems, even at minute levels of exposure. Bioaccumulative toxins are traced not only to chemicals used in manufacturing and agriculture, but also to seemingly innocuous consumer products.

Despite the widely held assumption that products reach consumers only after federal agencies deem them safe, the government tests few substances for their health effects. Therefore, the Fund supports organizations and coalitions to carry out testing for chemicals in the human body. The resulting evidence of the health impacts of these harmful chemicals is strengthening the case for reducing chemical exposures. The success of these state-based efforts is contributing to a shift in public attitudes and, recently, action by the federal government toward greater regulation to protect consumers.

Diseases and disabilities caused by exposure to chemicals released into the environment are, by definition, preventable. Individuals harmed by these chemicals, and those who provide them professional care or personal support, can become important allies of the environmental-health community. To encourage this potentially powerful advocacy, The Fund supports organizations whose work in the field of developmental and learning disabilities addresses the links to chemical exposures.

The Fund also selectively assists projects that promote public understanding and implementation of the precautionary principle, which holds that new substances and technologies must be proven safe before they are put into use. The precautionary principle places the safety burden where it belongs: on those who have a financial interest in a product's introduction and use.

Genetically Modified Food

In just a little over ten years since their introduction, genetically engineered agricultural products are now found in an estimated 60 percent of the processed food sold in this country. Yet there has been little, if any, assessment of their health and environmental effects. The federal regulatory system, which citizens rely on to certify the safety of consumer products, has largely ignored the use of transgenics in agriculture. This new form of food production goes far beyond traditional plant-improvement practices by combining genes in the laboratory that until now were too dissimilar to permit hybridization. And it has been put in place without regard to citizens' right to know; foods are not even labeled to allow consumers to make informed choices.

The Fund supports projects to educate the public, the media, farmers and policymakers about the health and environmental questions raised by genetically engineered food and agriculture. It also assists groups working to promote responsible federal regulation of transgenic agriculture and informative labeling of genetically modified products.

Vermont Farmland Preservation

The Fund supports projects to preserve and nurture small-scale and sustainable farming in Vermont, a state in which the late Mr. and Mrs. George W. Merck had an abiding interest. It is becoming increasingly apparent that a successful cropland-protection program is but one ingredient needed to ensure long-term success for the state’s agricultural sector. Vermont’s small farmers need additional assistance to make their farms economically viable and environmentally sustainable over the long term. The Fund is committed to working with interested groups to build a brighter future for the state’s farm community, an integral component of Vermont’s economy and identity.

The New England Environment

Air Quality, Clean Energy and Climate Change

Alternatives for Community & Environment	$35,000
To build a constituency to reduce diesel emissions, provide assistance to local groups to pursue campaigns, and advocate for city and state policies and programs that reduce diesel emissions.

Center for Public Interest Research	$125,000
To promote an economy-wide cap on carbon emissions in New England states as a precursor to a national policy.

Clean Air-Cool Planet	$40,000
To coordinate the Carbon Coalition, which will inform and engage New Hampshire citizens on climate and energy policy issues over the next two years, provide bipartisan education about the need to make solving climate change a top priority in the next president's administration, and create a diverse citizens' movement in support of strong climate leadership.

Connecticut Fund for the Environment	$35,000
To adopt an economy-wide cap-and-trade system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Connecticut. In its first year this project will lay the ground work for a two-year campaign featuring public education and outreach to policymakers.

Conservation Law Foundation	$50,000
To address greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector in New England by: promoting broad regional initiatives to reduce carbon emissions, advancing energy efficiency policies at the state level, and advocating renewable energy policies and projects.

Environment Northeast	$35,000
To adopt an economy-wide cap-and-trade system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Connecticut. In its first year this project will lay the ground work for a two-year campaign featuring public education and outreach to policymakers.

Environment Northeast	$100,000
Energy: To adopt and implement state energy policy reforms in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island that will allow for dramatic increases in energy efficiency and clean energy resources. Diesel: To adopt policies requiring diesel pollution controls on construction and non-highway engines, and ensure that funds are appropriated for school and transit bus retrofits.

Maine Interfaith Power and Light	$35,000
To launch an 18-month marketing campaign to embed clean power products within Maine's and New England's retail-level renewable energy markets.

Massachusetts Climate Action Network	$25,000
To continue developing a network of local community groups that advocate and create models for reducing greenhouse gas emissions at the municipal level, and serve as grassroots advocates for with state action to reduce greenhouse gases.

Natural Resources Council of Maine	$15,000
To secure approval for wind power projects in Maine, and to improve state policies and regulatory processes for wind power.

Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships, Inc.	$50,000
To secure adoption and implementation of energy efficiency appliance standards among states in the Northeast; and to use the momentum and political pressure from state agreements to ensure that similar appliance standards are adopted at the federal level.

Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships, Inc.	$15,000
To update a report on energy efficiency in the New England electric power sector to reflect new Independent System Operator New England projections, tighter climate change goals, the growing cost of traditional energy sources, and new opportunities for energy efficiency.

Regulatory Assistance Project	$75,000
To provide policy and technical analysis to state policymakers and stakeholders in implementing the Northeast Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

Union of Concerned Scientists	$60,000
To transform the US energy system to be economically and environmentally sustainable by expanding the use of renewable electricity.

Vermont Public Interest Research and Education Fund	$50,000
To reduce the effects of global climate change by promoting expanded use of energy efficiency, encouraging the development of renewable energy resources, and mobilizing support for an enforceable cap on greenhouse gas emissions in Vermont.

> back to top

Environmental Health

Arc of Massachusetts	$20,000
To achieve fundamental reform in Massachusetts policymaking and regulation on chemical use-stressing prevention of harm to public health and the environment-by building a broad statewide coalition representing health-affected, medical, organized labor, environmental and faith communities that generates grassroots advocacy.

CERES: Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies	$65,000
To educate major institutional investors on the financial risks and opportunities related to global warming; and to mobilize investors to pressure companies whose stock they own to take action to mitigate those risks by reducing carbon emissions and supporting climate policies.

Clean Water Fund	$10,000
To ensure that New Hampshire joins the other New England states in its progress in eliminating products containing mercury.

Clean Water Fund	$140,000
To achieve fundamental reform in Massachusetts policymaking and regulation on chemical use-stressing prevention of harm to public health and the environment-by building a broad statewide coalition representing health-affected, medical, organized labor, environmental and faith communities that generates grassroots advocacy.

Connecticut Citizen Research Group	$10,000
To unite diverse constituencies in campaigns to reduce toxic chemicals and win fundamental reform on chemicals policy.

Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice	$10,000
To unite diverse constituencies in campaigns to reduce toxic chemicals and win fundamental reform on chemicals policy.

Connecticut Council on Occupational Safety and Health	$10,000
To unite diverse constituencies in campaigns to reduce toxic chemicals and win fundamental reform on chemicals policy.

Connecticut Nurses' Foundation	$10,000
To unite diverse constituencies in campaigns to reduce toxic chemicals and win fundamental reform on chemicals policy.

Connecticut Public Health Research & Education Fund	$10,000
To unite diverse constituencies in campaigns to reduce toxic chemicals and win fundamental reform on chemicals policy.

Connecticut Public Interest Research Group Education Fund	$10,000
To unite diverse constituencies in campaigns to reduce toxic chemicals and win fundamental reform on chemicals policy.

Environment Massachusetts	$30,000
To achieve fundamental reform in Massachusetts policymaking and regulation on chemical use-stressing prevention of harm to public health and the environment-by building a broad statewide coalition representing health-affected, medical, organized labor, environmental and faith communities that generates grassroots advocacy.

Environmental Health Fund	$75,000
To stimulate national and international efforts to phase out hazardous chemicals from mainstream commerce by serving as strategist, convener, coordinator, implementer and fundraiser in support of key policy and market campaigns.

Environmental Health Fund	$70,000
To coordinate and promote campaigns in multiple states to eliminate brominated flame retardants as a precursor to comprehensive chemicals policy reform on persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals.

Environmental League of Massachusetts	$10,000
To achieve fundamental reform in Massachusetts policymaking and regulation on chemical use-stressing prevention of harm to public health and the environment-by building a broad statewide coalition representing health-affected, medical, organized labor, environmental and faith communities that generates grassroots advocacy.

Learning Disabilities Association of Maine	$28,000
To participate in the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine, which protects human health from toxic chemical exposures where we live, work and play by advocating elimination of persistent toxic chemicals and comprehensive chemicals policy reform in Maine.

Maine Conservation Voters Education Fund	$5,000
To participate in the Allliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine, which protects human health from toxic chemical exposures where we live, work and play by advocating elimination of persistent toxic chemicals and comprehensive chemicals policy reform in Maine.

Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association	$14,000
To participate in the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine, which protects human health from toxic chemical exposures where we live, work and play by advocating elimination of persistent toxic chemicals and comprehensive chemicals policy reform in Maine.

Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association	$17,000
To promote regulatory action in six states leading toward phaseouts for the most hazardous pesticides.

Maine People's Resource Center	$30,000
To assist Maine citizens in holding state and federal regulatory agencies and corporate polluters accountable for their failure to protect the Penobscot River from severe mercury contamination and other pollutants.

Maine People's Resource Center	$81,500
To participate in the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine, which protects human health from toxic chemical exposures where we live, work and play by advocating elimination of persistent toxic chemicals and comprehensive chemicals policy reform in Maine.

Maine Women's Policy Center	$15,000
To participate in the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine, which protects human health from toxic chemical exposures where we live, work and play by advocating elimination of persistent toxic chemicals and comprehensive chemicals policy reform in Maine.

Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health	$40,000
To empower cleaning and service workers, many of whom are minorities or recent immigrants, to engage in participatory research and promote company practices and government policies that reduce their exposures to toxic cleaning chemicals and introduce safer alternatives.

Massachusetts Council of Churches	$30,000
To empower cleaning and service workers, many of whom are minorities or recent immigrants, to engage in participatory research and promote company practices and government policies that reduce their exposures to toxic cleaning chemicals and introduce safer alternatives.

Massachusetts Public Health Association	$25,000
To achieve fundamental reform in Massachusetts policymaking and regulation on chemical use-stressing prevention of harm to public health and the environment-by building a broad statewide coalition representing health-affected, medical, organized labor, environmental and faith communities that generates grassroots advocacy.

Natural Resources Council of Maine	$30,000
To participate in the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine, which protects human health from toxic chemical exposures where we live, work and play by advocating elimination of persistent toxic chemicals and comprehensive chemicals policy reform in Maine.

Oregon Toxics Alliance	$17,000
To promote regulatory action in six states leading toward phaseouts for the most hazardous pesticides.

Physicians for Social Responsibility of Maine	$14,000
To participate in the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine, which protects human health from toxic chemical exposures where we live, work and play by advocating elimination of persistent toxic chemicals and comprehensive chemicals policy reform in Maine.

University of Connecticut Health Center	$5,000
To unite diverse constituencies in campaigns to reduce toxic chemicals and win fundamental reform on chemicals policy.

University of Massachusetts Lowell Center for Sustainable Production	$70,000
To provide concrete recommendations for developing a healthy Massachusetts economy based on cleaner technologies that reduce the use of primary or non-renewable materials and resources and/or toxic substances in products, processes and services.

University of Massachusetts Lowell Center for Sustainable Production

$70,000

To influence businesses and policymakers in the United States to adopt sustainable chemicals policies by cooperating with innovative companies in developing new chemicals assessment and policy tools; assisting companies in complying with Europe's new chemicals policy; and providing tools, resources, and technical support, including development of model chemicals policies, to state level government agencies and advocacy groups to advance their policy reform objectives.

> back to top

Protecting Farmland and Forests in Vermont

Food Works	$65,000
To expand local purchases from area farmers and production at the Foodbank Farm for food distribution to low-income Vermonters.

Highfields Institute, Ltd.	$43,000
To promote on-farm composting and soil-building practices, while building a regional and national model for incorporating food waste materials and promoting best practices on farms.

Intervale Center

$10,000

To provide the staff capacity to ensure that the Healthy City Youth Farm in the Intervale can successfully fulfill its fresh organic vegetable sales contract with Fletcher Allen Health Care and one additional institutional customer; to broker larger local fresh food sales contracts from Fletcher Allen in the near future; and to put income from the project back into the Healthy City Farm to support staffing to help teens increase sales and become less reliant on grant support.

Intervale Center	$30,000
To improve the Incubator Farms Program, which will include upgrading the recruitment, training and transitioning programs, and will ensure that Intervale land is managed properly for the long term sustainability of the program and organization.

Merck Forest & Farmland Center	$65,000
To give students hands-on exposures to small-scale farming and forestry, past and present.

Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance	$50,000
To expand information, business and advocacy services to organic dairy producers; and to investigate the market opportunities for farmers in the midst of changing dynamics in the organic dairy industry.

Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont	$30,000
To improve the Incubator Farms Program, which will include upgrading the recruitment, training and transitioning programs, and will ensure that Intervale land is managed properly for the long term sustainability of the program and organization.

University of Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese	$100,000
To enhance the quality, safety and production of artisan cheeses by providing educational and technical support to Vermont cheesemakers; and to contract with a media relations firm to increase the visibility and viability of the institute.

Vermont Farms Association	$25,000
To hire a part time executive administrator, who will build a strong organization capable of promoting agritourism in Vermont.

Vermont Fresh Network	$33,000
To build more viable farm businesses through peer-to-peer and professional education on increasing demand for local food, farm production, and distributor partnerships, and through user-friendly, state-of-the-art electronic communications.

Vermont Housing & Conservation Board	$5,000
To coordinate a training conference for Vermont's housing and conservation community.

Vermont Land Trust	$75,000
To promote diversified and value-added enterprises on conserved farms, and to assist new farmers in becoming owner-operators of conserved farms.

Vermont Maple Foundation	$5,460
To educate the public about the special qualities of pure maple syrup through media outreach.

Vermont Natural Resources Council	$50,000
To maintain and advance smart growth gains in Vermont by stopping big-box commercial developments outside community centers; to educate the public about the economic, environmental and community impacts of such developments on the scale proposed by Wal-Mart; and to work with communities to find viable alternatives to big-box development.

Vital Communities	$35,000
To build a community-driven, local food system by fostering productive relationships between farmers, retail grocers, wholesalers, restaurants, institutions, and local consumers.

Working Landscapes	$15,000
To assist Vermont's new agriculture commissioner in developing tools to aid the state's dairy industry in efforts to retain valuable farmland.

Working Landscapes	$32,000
To extend business planning skills to more farms, including those not currently participating in the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board's Farm Viability Enhancement Program.

> back to top

The Environment Beyond New England

Air Quality, Clean Energy and Climate Change

Center for Public Interest Research	$60,000
To enable Student PIRG chapters to position young people more squarely at the forefront of the movement to stop global warming, and in the process secure significant global warming policies in eleven states and at the federal level.

Clean Air Task Force	$47,500
To study and quantify the health benefits of slowing global warming by reducing air pollution.

Clean Air Task Force	$325,000
To work in partnership with state organizations to achieve a 70 percent reduction in US mobile diesel particulate emissions by 2020.

Clean Energy Group	$75,000
To provide information and technical assistance to public pension fund managers and other public institutional investors to increase their knowledge of and commitment to investing in clean energy technologies.

Co-op America

$25,000

To mobilize tens of thousands of individual investors and consumers to pressure major polluters in the oil and gas, utility, and automotive industries, as well as mutual funds and insurance companies, to seriously address climate change by reforming their business and investment practices, stopping support for polluting energy sources, promoting energy efficiency, and investing in renewable energy.

ecoAmerica	$75,000
To build support and leadership among presidents of higher education institutions to address global warming by garnering institutional commitments to reduce greenhouse gases on campuses.

Environmental Defense	$30,000
To adopt an economy-wide cap-and-trade system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Connecticut. In its first year this project will lay the ground work for a two-year campaign featuring public education and outreach to policymakers.

Environmental Grantmakers Association	$5,000
To support the 2008 State of the States Briefing, which will focus on the impact state-level policy change is having on climate change.

Environmental Integrity Project	$85,000
To reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants from coal-fired power plants.

Health Care Without Harm	$50,000
To position the American health care industry as a leader in addressing climate change, both by improving the industry's adoption of energy efficiency and renewable energy use, and by inspiring the industry to advocate for sound climate policies.

League of Conservation Voters Education Fund	$60,000
To frame the debate on energy and global warming as a top-tier priority for national leadership; and to educate candidates for public office about the need for strong and meaningful energy programs that abate climate change.

SmartPower	$100,000
To: (1) create a voluntary demand for clean energy from large consumers of electricity in 200 targeted cities and states across the country; (2) develop marketing strategies to maximize consumer awareness of and demand for energy efficiency; and (3) create a strong market for clean energy use by developing and implementing state-of-the-art marketing and messaging for clean energy.

Waterkeeper Alliance	$50,000
To advance precedent-setting litigation under the Canadian Fisheries Act to force Detroit Edison to install emission controls in seven coal-fired power plants, resulting in a 90 percent reduction in mercury emissions.

World Resources Institute	$60,000
To help financial service sector companies better understand the greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks that result from their lending and investment practices; and to ultimately help banks better manage their portfolios by encouraging clients to reduce greenhouse gas footprint and climate risks, and transitioning lending and investment portfolios toward cleaner energy technologies

> back to top

Environmental Health

Alaska Community Action on Toxics	$17,000
To promote regulatory action in six states leading toward phaseouts for the most hazardous pesticides.

American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities	$100,000
To raise awareness about the links between toxic chemicals and developmental disabilities, and to seek reduced exposures by collaborating with other environmental and disability organizations to promote progressive public policy.

Autism Society of America	$100,000
he connections between environmental exposures to toxic chemicals and the increasingly prevalent incidence of autism; and to translate that understanding into advocacy for policies that prevent those exposures.

Breast Cancer Fund	$33,600
To participate in the Toxic Free Legacy Coalition, which is working to secure adoption of groundbreaking policy reforms that protect human health and the environment from the impacts of toxic chemicals while serving as a model for other states and a driver for federal reforms.

Californians for Pesticide Reform	$17,000
To promote regulatory action in six states leading toward phaseouts for the most hazardous pesticides.

Center for Health, Environment and Justice	$50,000
To shift big-box retailers away from PVC plastic in products and packaging, educate consumers about health risks associated with PVC, and support policies that shift the marketplace away from PVC plastics.

Center for International Environmental Law	$60,000
To use legal advocacy and policy analysis for the purpose of protecting the global environment and human health, promoting human rights and environmental justice, reforming international trade and finance institutions to support sustainable development, and strengthening public interest capabilities in the Global South.

Center for the Study of Public Policy	$12,000
To assist the State Alliance for Federal Reform of Chemicals Policy in strategy and policy development.

Citizens' Environmental Coalition	$25,000
To assist and encourage the Spitzer Administration in issuing two executive orders, one that establishes a 'green' procurement policy for state agencies and one that requires state agencies to procure products that are free of persistent, bioaccumulative toxic materials.

Clean New York	$15,000
To bring public and policy attention to the widespread presence of chemical contamination in our bodies, by conducting body burden tests in five New York residents. The grant will support report preparation, message development and media relations.

Clean Production Action	$50,000
To coordinate and promote campaigns in multiple states to eliminate brominated flame retardants as a precursor to comprehensive chemicals policy reform on persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals.

Clean Water Fund	$50,000
To unite diverse constituencies in campaigns to reduce toxic chemicals and win fundamental reform on chemicals policy.

Clean Water Fund of Minnesota	$50,000
To create a health-oriented coalition to achieve bans of single chemicals and promote comprehensive chemicals policy reform in Minnesota.

Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health	$60,000
To effectively inform pregnant women, parents, physicians, public interest groups, elected officials and others influencing the policymaking process of the scientific data from the center's biomedical research in an effort to prevent environmentally related disease in children.

Coming Clean	$35,000
To work in collaboration with local, state, national and international partners to bring about chemical industry reform so that it is no longer a source of harm to human health and the environment.

Commonweal	$25,000
To hold the first national conference that explores potential links between Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases and exposures to chemicals in the environment. The conference will provide a discussion forum that is conducive to interaction among researchers, health care providers and people affected by Parkinson's and other neurodegenerative disorders.

Commonweal	$50,000
To use biomonitoring as a technical tool in support of chemicals policies that better protect human and ecosystem health.

Ecology Center	$100,000
To increase awareness of adverse impacts of toxic chemicals on children's health and the failure of our current system of regulating chemicals; and to build the case for reducing chemical exposures in Michigan through new comprehensive policies and civic engagement.

Ecology Center	$60,000
To influence major automobile manufacturers to use safer, less toxic plastics and other materials by educating consumers and policymakers through media campaigns and other methods about the harmful chemicals typically found inside today's automobiles.

EMS/Science Communication Network	$40,000
To broaden and deepen accurate media coverage of environmental health science and policy issues.

Environmental Defence	$23,000
To secure a ban on the use of Bisphenol A in food and beverage containers, and baby bottles in particular, as a precursor to a phaseout of all remaining uses in consumer products of this high-priority, hormone-disrupting chemical.

Environmental Health Strategy Center	$100,000
To participate in the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine, which protects human health from toxic chemical exposures where we live, work and play by advocating elimination of persistent toxic chemicals and comprehensive chemicals policy reform in Maine.

Environmental Working Group	$80,000
To use body burden testing and other data to promote federal and state chemicals policy reforms and changes in corporate manufacturing practices that are adequate to protect even vulnerable populations from the effects of toxic exposures.

Farm Worker Pesticide Project	$17,000
To promote regulatory action in six states leading toward phaseouts for the most hazardous pesticides.

Farmworker Association of Florida	$17,000
To promote regulatory action in six states leading toward phaseouts for the most hazardous pesticides.

Green Purchasing Institute	$4,000
To conduct an assessment of what local governments are doing and can do to advance their environmentally preferable purchasing programs.

Healthy Schools Network

$60,000

In collaboration with INFORM and Green Seal, to harness and enhance the Coalition for Healthier Schools through collaborative working relationships and increased technical assistance; to use green cleaning as an introductory issue to connect parents, labor, school communities and the public to comprehensive chemical policy reform, and to build additional collaborative networks of nontraditional allies to strengthen environmental health and improve conditions in schools.

Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy	$50,000
To create a health-oriented coalition to achieve bans of single chemicals and promote comprehensive chemicals policy reform in Minnesota.

Institute for Children's Environmental Health	$110,000
To coordinate the Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative, which will increase awareness and discourse about links between environmental exposures and developmental and learning disabilities among organizations, affected individuals and their families, service providers, and ultimately policymakers.

Institute for Local Self-Reliance	$30,000
To accelerate market demand for healthier building materials.

International Chemical Secretariat	$35,000
To strengthen the early implementation of the European Union's REACH program by identifying the chemicals of highest concern that will be subject to the most stringent regulation.

Learning Disabilities Association of America	$100,000
To reduce the incidence of learning disabilities in children by raising awareness of environmental factors linked to developmental disabilities, and minimizing or eliminating those exposures.

Mercury Policy Project	$25,000
To promote coordinated state, national and international efforts to restrict exports of mercury from the US to developing countries and place surplus mercury into safe storage.

National Association for the Dually Diagnosed	$30,000
To reduce exposure to environmental toxins by increasing awareness about the effects of toxic agents found in the environment and their impact on neurodevelopment.

National Caucus of Environmental Legislators	$30,000
To coordinate and promote campaigns in multiple states to eliminate brominated flame retardants as a precursor to comprehensive chemicals policy reform on persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals.

Natural Resources Defense Council	$50,000
In collaboration with the Maine People's Resource Center, to compel the HoltraChem Manufacturing Company and Mallinckrodt Inc. to clean up mercury-contaminated sediment in the Penobscot River and Bay caused by a chemical manufacturing facility in Orrington, Maine, which was operated by these companies.

Natural Resources Defense Council	$45,000
To promote coordinated state, national and international efforts to restrict exports of mercury from the US to developing countries and place surplus mercury into safe storage.

Oceana, Inc.	$75,000
To substantially reduce mercury releases to the environment by convincing chlorine manufacturers to shift to mercury-free technologies.

People for Puget Sound	$30,400
To participate in the Toxic Free Legacy Coalition, which is working to secure adoption of groundbreaking policy reforms that protect human health and the environment from the impacts of toxic chemicals.

Pesticide Action Network North America	$100,000
To coordinate and lead the State Partnerships to Reduce Pesticide Hazards and Promote Policy Change, which will promote regulatory action in six states leading toward phaseouts for the most hazardous pesticides.

Rose Foundation for Communities and The Environment	$75,000
To educate investors, initiate shareholder actions and conduct research to build the business case for speeding substitution of safer chemicals in consumer products.

Science and Environmental Health Network	$70,000
To lay the legal foundations for incorporating the precautionary principle in tort law, in specific litigation, and in model legislation.

State Alliance for Federal Reform of Chemicals Policy	$75,000
To launch and win a critical mass of comprehensive policy reform measures in key states to tip the balance for achieving chemicals policy reform at the federal level.

State Environmental Leadership Program	$50,000
To support coordinated efforts in the Great Lakes states to phase out mercury in products and curtail its release into the environment.

Toxics Action Center	$50,000
To reduce pesticide exposures through banning aerial pesticide spraying in Maine and through changing ChemLawn's pesticide practices; and to strengthen the Neighborhood Assistance Project in Rhode Island to work with ten communities to prevent and reduce toxic threats.

Toxics Action Center	$12,500
To participate in the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine, which protects human health from toxic chemical exposures where we live, work and play by advocating elimination of persistent toxic chemicals and comprehensive chemicals policy reform in Maine.

Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility	$21,000
To participate in the Toxic Free Legacy Coalition, which is working to secure adoption of groundbreaking policy reforms that protect human health and the environment from the impacts of toxic chemicals.

Washington Public Interest Research Group Foundation	$15,000
To participate in the Toxic Free Legacy Coalition, which is working to secure adoption of groundbreaking policy reforms that protect human health and the environment from the impacts of toxic chemicals.

Washington State Nurses Association	$27,000
To participate in the Toxic Free Legacy Coalition, which is working to secure adoption of groundbreaking policy reforms that protect human health and the environment from the impacts of toxic chemicals.

Washington Toxics Coalition	$123,000
To participate in the Toxic Free Legacy Coalition, which is working to secure adoption of groundbreaking policy reforms that protect human health and the environment from the impacts of toxic chemicals.

> back to top

Genetically Engineered Food and Agriculture

Center for Food Safety	$63,000
To work with a media relations firm to raise public awareness of key issues in relation to genetically engineered food.

Center for Food Safety	$210,000
To prevent any new permit approvals or commercialization of genetically engineered crops; to contain the crops already approved; to toughen federal and state regulations on genetic engineering; and to ensure that food products already on the market are appropriately labeled.

Center for Food Safety	$60,000
To increase public awareness of the negative impacts of agricultural biotechnology by retaining the services of Goodman Media International, a leading national media relations firm based in New York City.

Earthjustice	$35,000
To compel the US Department of Agriculture to comply with federal environmental laws concerning field testing or commercialization of experimental, genetically engineered crops, particularly 'biopharm' crops genetically engineered to produce drugs and industrial compounds; and to seek full public disclosure of information regarding crop tests and test sites.

Farmers' Legal Action Group	$20,000
To research, write, produce and widely distribute a new edition of the Farmers' Guide to GMOs, which in its original edition became a reliable, accessible, and independent source of information for family farmers and the progressive agricultural community as they grapple with the legal, commercial and scientific consequences of genetically modified organisms on the nation's farms.

Hawaii SEED	$25,000
To stop the release of genetically engineered corn and taro in Hawaii, while cleaning up contamination from the release of the genetically engineered papaya.

National Family Farm Coalition	$40,000
To stop the commercialization of genetically engineered rice, and to increase farmer awareness of Monsanto and Syngenta's growing monopoly on farm crop seeds.

Rural Advancement Foundation International- USA	$50,000
To expose the substantial economic and legal risks that genetically engineered crops impose on farmers and rural communities, and demonstrate the benefits of growing conventional crops, particularly when they are organic.

Rural Vermont	$25,000
To retain a conflict resolution specialist to facilitate a series of constructive conversations among Vermont farmers who differ in their opinions on genetic engineering issues.

Union of Concerned Scientists	$60,000
To secure a ban on engineered food crops for use as pharmaceutical and industrial purposes, and identify opportunities to strengthen the overall biotechnology regulatory framework by fostering greater accountability in federal agency reviews of new products.

Western Organization of Resource Councils Education Project	$30,000
To stop the introduction and further planting of genetically modified crops until potential environmental, economic and health problems can be assessed and remedied

> back to top

Other

Consultative Group on Biological Diversity	$5,000
To provide general support.

Consultative Group on Biological Diversity	$10,000
To provide operating support for the Health and Environmental Funders Network, which promotes increased and effective grantmaking at the intersection of health and the environment.

Environmental Grantmakers Association	$2,680
To provide general support.

> back to top

Climate Change

Midwest Energy

Environmental Health

Genetically Modified Food

Vermont Farmland Preservation

The New England Environment

Air Quality, Clean Energy and Climate Change

$35,000

$125,000

$40,000

$35,000

$50,000

$35,000

$100,000

$35,000

$25,000

$15,000

$50,000

$15,000

$75,000

$60,000

$50,000

Environmental Health

$20,000

$65,000

$10,000

$140,000

$10,000

$10,000

$10,000

$10,000

Connecticut Public Health Research & Education Fund

$10,000

$10,000

$30,000

$75,000

$70,000

$10,000

$28,000

$5,000

$14,000

$17,000

$30,000

$81,500

$15,000

$40,000

$30,000

$25,000

$30,000

$17,000

$14,000

$5,000

$70,000

$70,000

Protecting Farmland and Forests in Vermont

$65,000

$43,000

$10,000

$30,000

$65,000

$50,000

$30,000

$100,000

$25,000

$33,000

$5,000

$75,000

$5,460

$50,000

$35,000

$15,000

$32,000

The Environment Beyond New England

Air Quality, Clean Energy and Climate Change

$60,000

$47,500

$325,000

$75,000

$25,000

$75,000