The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is a New York City-based, non-profit, non-partisan international environmental advocacy group, with offices in Washington DC, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Beijing. Founded in 1970, NRDC today has 1.3 million members and online activists nationwide and a staff of more than 300 lawyers, scientists and other policy experts.

Worth magazine has named NRDC one of America's 100 best charities,^[3] Charity Navigator has given NRDC four out of four stars as of 2007,^[4] and the Wise Giving Alliance of the Better Business Bureau reports that NRDC meets its highest standards for accountability and use of donor funds.^[5]

About[link]

The NRDC was co-founded in 1970 by John Adams, Gus Speth, John Bryson and a group of concerned law students and attorneys at the forefront of the environmental movement.^[5] The organization lobbies Congress and other public officials for a public policy that promotes conservation of the natural and built environment. The NRDC works against urban sprawl, pollution, and habitat destruction, and promotes actions to mitigate global warming and increase the use of renewable energy. It also sometimes files suit in federal court against corporations and government agencies for violations of the Clean Air Act, and the Clean Water Act. Other operations carried out by the NRDC include public education and sponsorship of scientific studies.

In 2001, NRDC launched the BioGems Initiative to mobilize concerned individuals in defense of exceptional and imperiled ecosystems. The initiative matches NRDC's legal and institutional expertise with the work of citizen activists.

It has issued a report on the health effects arising from the September 11, 2001 attacks.^[6]

NRDC was also one of the only major national environmental organisations to become and stay involved with community activists on the ground in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.^[7]

The NRDC has also published a number of studies on nuclear weapon stockpiles around the world, both as monographs and as individual studies in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

In December 2006, Green Day and NRDC jointly launched a website to raise awareness on the U.S.'s petroleum dependence.^[8][9] The NRDC takes the position that new nuclear power plants are not a solution for America's energy needs, or for addressing global warming.^[10]

Programs[link]

NRDC runs a number of environmental programs:^[11]

• The Air/Energy Program focuses on clean air, global warming, transportation, energy efficiency, renewable energy, and electric-industry restructuring. This includes the Renewable Energy and Defense Database project with the Pentagon.^[12]
• The Health Program works on issues involving drinking water, chemical harm to the environment, and other environmental health threats with the goal of reducing the amount of toxins released into the environment.
• The International Program works worldwide on rainforests, biodiversity, habitat preservation, oceans, marine life, nuclear weapons and global warming, often in conjunction with other programs.
• The Land Program works on issues related to national forests, parks, other public lands, and private forest lands, and works to reduce consumption of wood products.
• The Nuclear Program analyzes developments on a variety of nuclear weapon issues.
• The Urban Program focuses on environmental issues in urban centers and surrounding areas. Issues include air and water quality, garbage and recycling, transportation, sprawl, and environmental justice.
• The Water and Oceans Program works on issues related to the nation's water quality, fish populations, wetlands and oceans. It also operates regional initiatives such as the Everglades, San Francisco Bay, the San Joaquin River, the Channel Islands of California, and the New York/New Jersey Harbor-Bight.
• The Latino Outreach Program or La Onda Verde de NRDC works to inform and involve Spanish-speaking Latinos in the environmental issues on which NRDC works. [2]
• In July 2008, the NRDC and Robert Kennedy Jr. launched a direct mail campaign to encourage citizens to voice opposition to Shell Oil's exploration for oil off the Alaska coast.
• OnEarth magazine is a quarterly publication of the NRDC that looks at environmental challenges from a variety of perspectives.^[13]

Directors[link]

Frances Beinecke is the current President. Peter Lehner is the Executive Director. On June 14, 2010, Beinecke was appointed by Barack Obama to the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.^[14]

Deron Lovaas is the vehicles campaign director.^[15]

Dr. Allen Hershkowitz is Senior Scientist.

Effect on administrative law[link]

The NRDC has been involved in some of the most important Supreme Court cases interpreting United States administrative law. Most of these decisions came out against the NRDC. See, for example:

• Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 435 U.S. 519 (1978), which held that courts could not impose additional procedural requirements on administrative agencies beyond that required by the agency's organic statute or the Administrative Procedure Act.
• Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837 (1984), which gave administrative agencies broad discretion to interpret statute to make policy changes if Congressional intent was unclear. Chevron is now the most-cited case in American case law, even more so than all the citations to famous decisions such as Marbury v. Madison, Brown v. Board of Education, and Roe v. Wade combined.^[16]
• Baltimore Gas & Elec. Co. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 462 U.S. 78 (1983)^[17] is a United States Supreme Court decision which held that a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) rule that, during the licensing of nuclear power plants, the permanent storage of nuclear waste should be assumed to have no environmental impact was valid.

In popular culture[link]

Marshall Eriksen, of the sitcom How I Met Your Mother works for the NRDC for a brief period of time as a volunteer after he quits his job at Goliath National Bank.

In the situation comedy, Curb Your Enthusiasm, the main character Larry David's wife, Cheryl, works for the NRDC. During the history of the programme the organisation is mentioned on various occasions and in particular in the fifth episode of the third season "The Terrorist Attack" Cheryl holds a benefit night for the charity.

See also[link]

	Sustainable development portal
	Environment portal
	Ecology portal
	Earth_sciences portal
	Energy portal

• Baltimore Gas & Elec. Co. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.
• Biodiversity
• Building Codes Assistance Project
• Earth Science
• Ecology
• Global warming
• Green building in the United States
• Natural environment
• Recycling
• Sustainability
• United States Green Building Council

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
  • Official biographies of John H. Adams, NRDC's Founding Director, and Frances Beinecke, NRDC's President.
  • Natural Resources Defense Council site on the Environmental Impacts of the World Trade Center Attacks
  • Nuclear risks and global warming
• Biogems Initiative
• La Onde Verde
• ItsYourNature.org
• Simple Steps: Green Living by NRDC
• Green Paws
• Works by or about Natural Resources Defense Council in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Natural Resources Defense Council collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Natural Resources Defense Council collected news and commentary at The Wall Street Journal
• Inventory of the Public Lands Institute Records, 1978 - 1984 in the Forest History Society Library and Archives, Durham, NC

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. It does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve it by adding citations to reliable sources. Tagged since November 2009. It may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Tagged since November 2007.

The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (November 2009)

A criminal defense lawyer is a lawyer specializing in the defense of individuals and companies charged with criminal conduct. Criminal defense lawyers can be permanently employed by the various jurisdictions with criminal courts. Such lawyers are often called public defenders. For a much more extensive discussion of criminal defense, see public defender. The terminology is imprecise because each jurisdiction may have different practices with various levels of input from state and federal law or consent decrees. Other jurisdictions use a rotating system of appointments with judges appointing a private practice attorney or firm for each case.

United States[link]

In the United States, criminal defense lawyers deal with the issues surrounding an arrest, a criminal investigation, and criminal charges of the present or the past. It's important to note that an arrest simply means there is reasonable suspicion a person committed a crime. An arrest does not necessarily mean that a criminal charge has been formally stated by the court. Criminal defense lawyers also deal with the substantive issues of the crimes with which his or her clients are charged. Criminal defense lawyers may also stop charges from ever being filed. This is done when someone knows he or she is being investigated or is arrested. The person suspect hires a criminal defense lawyer to perform his or her own investigation and when evidenced presented to the court or prosecutor negates the investigation or charge that is about to be filed the charges do not get filed by the prosecutor.

In the United States criminal defendants are entitled to the presumption of innocence until prosecutors prove each essential element of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Serious crimes (e.g. felonies) in the United States are tried to juries of twelve people and the jury must be unanimous in its verdict to either convict or acquit the defendant. A split in the jury is often called a "hung jury" and may result in a retrial of the defendant. Criminal defense lawyers actively pursue their client's cause through all stages of a criminal prosecution.

Criminal defense lawyers in the United States who are employed by governmental entities such as counties, state governments, and the federal government are often referred to as public defenders or court appointed attorneys. These are often fresh law school graduates seeking to gain quick courtroom experience. It is the job of a criminal defense lawyer to advocate for their client. Rather than formulating an opinion of guilt or innocence, a criminal defense lawyer must instead determine if the laws were followed in conjunction with their client's charge. A considerable aspect of this work requires the criminal defense lawyer to have a clear understanding of the United States Constitution. Specifically, the Fourth Amendment protects against unlawful searches and seizures while the Fifth Amendment governs the right to remain silent so one does not become "a witness against himself." All of the Amendments to the United States Constitution are guaranteed to the criminal accused via the Fourteenth Amendment. Thus, a criminal defense lawyer must understand each of these rights. Initial work on any criminal case involves review of the charges and the police reports that led to them with a watchful eye toward a Constitutional violation. Early stages of a criminal case usually require a preliminary hearing or grand jury process to determine if there exists probable cause for the case to continue. A violation of the Fourth or Fifth Amendment could result in evidence being inadmissible at trial. Accordingly, a criminal defense lawyer often spends a considerable amount of time reviewing all documentation to determine if the case can be won on Constitutional Grounds.

Should there not be Constitutional violations, much of the work of a criminal defense attorney then turns to negotiation. Often a criminal defense lawyer works to arrange a deal or plea bargain that permits their client to admit guilt to a lesser offense or that results in an agreed upon sentence should the accused plead guilty.

The process of becoming a Criminal defense attorney is similar any other legal practice area. Individuals looking to become a criminal defense lawyer will need to complete their undergraduate degree and enroll in law school. While in law school it is advised that individuals find work experience in the criminal law field. This experience can help further legal knowledge in the criminal law field and add valuable experience to a students resume. After graduating law school and passing the bar exam it is suggested that graduates apply to law firms or establishments specializing in criminal law.

United Kingdom[link]

The name in British English is "defence counsel", or "criminal defence counsel".

References[link]

1. How to become a criminal law attorney, published March 25, 2012. http://how-to-become-a-lawyer.com/criminal-law-attorney/

This law-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

The rainforest on Fatu-Hiva, Marquesas Islands is an example of an undisturbed natural resource. Forest provides timber for humans; food and shelter for flora and the fauna. The nutrient cycle between organisms form food chains and biodiversity of species.

The Carson Fall in Mount Kinabalu, Malaysia is an example of undisturbed natural resource. Waterfalls provide spring water for humans, animals and plants for survival and also habitat for marine organisms. The water current can be used to turn turbines for hydroelectric generation.

The ocean is an example of a natural resource. Ocean waves can be used to generate wave power which is a renewable energy. Ocean water is important for salt production and providing habitat for deep water fishes. There are biodiversity of marine species in the sea where nutrient cycles are common.

Natural resources occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form. A natural resource is often characterized by amounts of biodiversity and geodiversity existent in various ecosystems.

Natural resources are derived from the environment. Some of them are essential for our survival while most are used for satisfying our wants. Natural resources may be further classified in different ways.

Natural resources are materials and components (something that can be used) that can be found within the environment. Every man-made product is composed of natural resources (at its fundamental level). A natural resource may exist as a separate entity such as fresh water, and air, as well as a living organism such as a fish, or it may exist in an alternate form which must be processed to obtain the resource such as metal ores, oil, and most forms of energy.

There is much debate worldwide over natural resource allocations, this is partly due to increasing scarcity (depletion of resources) but also because the exportation of natural resources is the basis for many economies (particularly for developed nations such as Australia).

Some Natural resources can be found everywhere such as sunlight and air, when this is so the resources is known as an ubiquitous (existing or being everywhere) resource. However most resources are not ubiquitous. They only occur in small sporadic areas; these resources are referred to as localized resources. There are very few resources that are considered inexhaustible (will not run out in foreseeable future) – these are solar radiation, geothermal energy, and air (though access to clean air may not be). The vast majority of resources are however exhaustible, which means they have a finite quantity, and can be depleted if managed improperly. The natural resources are materials, which living organisms can take from nature for sustaining their life or any components of the natural environment that can be utilized by man to promote his welfare is considered as natural resources.

Classification[link]

There are various methods of categorizing natural resources, these include source of origin, stage of development, and by their renewability, these classifications are described below. On the basis of origin, resources may be divided into:

• Biotic – Biotic resources are obtained from the biosphere (living and organic material), such as forests, animals, birds, and fish and the materials that can be obtained from them. Fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum are also included in this category because they are formed from decayed organic matter.
• Abiotic – Abiotic resources are those that come from non-living, non-organic material. Examples of abiotic resources include land, fresh water, air and heavy metals including ores such as gold, iron, copper, silver, etc.

Considering their stage of development, natural resources may be referred to in the following ways:

• Potential Resources – Potential resources are those that exist in a region and may be used in the future. For example, petroleum may exist in many parts of India, having sedimentary rocks but until the time it is actually drilled out and put into use, it remains a potential resource.
• Actual Resources – Actual resources are those that have been surveyed, their quantity and quality determined and are being used in present times. The development of an actual resource, such as wood processing depends upon the technology available and the cost involved.
• Reserve Resources – The part of an actual resource which can be developed profitably in the future is called a reserve resource.
• Stock Resources – Stock resources are those that have been surveyed but cannot be used by organisms due to lack of technology. For example: hydrogen.

Renewability is a very popular topic and many natural resources can be categorized as either renewable or non-renewable:

• Renewable resources are ones that can be replenished naturally. Some of these resources, like sunlight, air, wind, etc., are continuously available and their quantity is not noticeably affected by human consumption. Though many renewable resources do not have such a rapid recovery rate, these resources are susceptible to depletion by over-use. Resources from a human use perspective are classified as renewable only so long as the rate of replenishment/recovery exceeds that of the rate of consumption.

A picture of the Udachnaya pipe, an open-pit diamond mine in Siberia. An example of a non-renewable natural resource.

• Non-renewable resources are resources that form extremely slowly and those that do not naturally form in the environment. Minerals are the most common resource included in this category. By the human perspective, resources are non-renewable when their rate of consumption exceeds the rate of replenishment/recovery; a good example of this are fossil fuels, which are in this category because their rate of formation is extremely slow (potentially millions of years), meaning they are considered non-renewable. Some resources actually naturally deplete in amount without human interference, the most notable of these being radio-active elements such as uranium, which naturally decay into heavy metals. Of these, the metallic minerals can be re-used by recycling them,^[1] but coal and petroleum cannot be recycled.^[2]

Wind is the natural resource that can be used to generate wind power. These 5MW wind turbines on this wind farm 28 km off the coast of Belgium

.

Depletion[link]

In recent years, the depletion of natural resources has become a major focus of governments and organizations such as the United Nations (UN). This is evident in the UN’s Agenda 21 Section Two which outlines the necessary steps to be taken by countries to sustain their natural resources.^[4] The depletion of natural resources is considered to be a sustainable development issue.^[5] The term sustainable development has many interpretations, most notably the Brundtland Commission’s ‘to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’,^[6] however in broad terms it is balancing the needs of the planet’s people and species now and in the future.^[4] In regards to natural resources, depletion is of concern for sustainable development as it has the ability to degrade current environments^[7] and potential to impact the needs of future generations.^[5]

Depletion of Natural Resources is associated with social inequity. Considering most biodiversity are located in developing countries,^[8] depletion of this resource could result in losses of ecosystem services for these countries.^[9] Some view this depletion as a major source of social unrest and conflicts in developing nations.^[10]

At present, with it being the year of the forest,^[11] there is particular concern for rainforest regions which hold most of the Earth's biodiversity.^[11] According to Nelson^[12] deforestation and degradation affect 8.5% of the world’s forests with 30% of the Earth’s surface already cropped. If we consider that 80% of people rely on medicines obtained from plants and ¾ of the world’s prescription medicines have ingredients taken from plants,^[9] loss of the world’s rainforests could result in a loss of finding more potential life saving medicines.^[13]

The depletion of natural resources is caused by ‘direct drivers of change’^[12] such as Mining, petroleum extraction, fishing and forestry as well as ‘indirect drivers of change’ such as demography, economy, society, politics and technology.^[12] The current practice of Agriculture is another factor causing depletion of natural resources. For example the depletion of nutrients in the soil due to excessive use of nitrogen^[12] and desertification^[4] The depletion of natural resources is a continuing concern for society. This is seen in the cited quote given by Theodore Roosevelt, a well-known conservationist and former United States president, was opposed to unregulated natural resource extraction.

Protection[link]

In 1982 the UN developed the World Charter for Nature in which it recognised the need to protect nature from further depletion due to human activity. They state the measures needed to be taken at all societal levels, from international right down to individual, to protect nature. They outline the need for sustainable use of natural resources and suggest that the protection of resources should be incorporated into the law system at state and international level.^[14] To look at the importance of protecting natural resources further. The World Ethic of Sustainability, developed by the IUCN, WWF and the UNEP in 1990^[15] which set out eight values for sustainability, include the need to protect natural resources from depletion. Since these documents, there have been many measures taken to protect natural resources, some of these ways include Conservation biology and Habitat Conservation.

Conservation biology is the scientific study of the nature and status of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction.^[16][17] It is an interdisciplinary subject drawing on sciences, economics, and the practice of natural resource management.^{[18][19][20][21]} The term conservation biology was introduced as the title of a conference held University of California at San Diego in La Jolla, California in 1978 organized by biologists Bruce Wilcox and Michael Soulé.

Habitat conservation is a land management practice that seeks to conserve, protect and restore, habitat areas for wild plants and animals, especially conservation reliant species, and prevent their extinction, fragmentation or reduction in range.^[22]

Management[link]

Natural resource management is a discipline in the management of natural resources such as land, water, soil, plants and animals, with a particular focus on how management affects the quality of life for both present and future generations.

Management of natural resources involves identifying who has the right to use the resources and who does not for defining the boundaries of the resource.^[23] The resources are managed by the users according to the rules governing of when and how the resource is used depending on local condition.^[24]

A successful management of natural resources should engage the community because of the nature of the shared resources the individuals who are affected by the rules can participate in setting or changing them.^[23] The users have the rights to device their own management institutions and plans under the recognition by the government. The right to resources includes land, water, fisheries and pastoral rights.^[24] The users or parties accountable to the users have to actively monitor and ensure the utilisation of the resource compliance with the rules and to impose penalty on those peoples who violates the rules.^[23] These conflicts are resolved in a quick and low cost manner by the local institution according to the seriousness and context of the offence.^[24]

See also[link]

• Resource

References[link]

Denise Kelly (born 24 April 1954) is an Irish harpist and composer. She was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and was educated at the Royal Irish Academy and at Trinity College, Dublin, where she graduated with a Master of Music degree. She studied composition with Robert Barclay Wilson and James Wilson, and also studied studied harp and composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London with Sidonie Goossens.^[1][2]

Works[link]

Selected works include:

• Helas mon Dieu for mezzo, flute and harp (1974)
• Journey of a Soul for voice and harp, setting from Joyce (1977)
• Dialog to Unity for flute, harp and string quartet (1978)
• Idle Dreams for mezzo, flute and harp (1980)
• Soundings for cello and harp (1984)^[3]

References[link]