Environmental Defense Collection
Manuscript Collection 232

Historical Note

Environmental Defense, formerly Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) is a public membership, non-profit, tax-exempt organization of scientists, lawyers, economists and citizens.

Environmental Defense (ED) was created “to translate knowledge of the environmental sciences into public policy through advocacy before courts and regulatory agencies…the experience of EDF shows clearly that scientific knowledge, as testimony from the witness stand, exerts far greater influence on public policy than the same knowledge exposed through the normal channels of scientific literature or advisory panel.” (EDF Prospectus, ca. 1970)

In 1967, Environmental Defense was incorporated as Environmental Defense Fund in Stony Brook, Long Island. Its founding members were a group of scientists, citizens, local activists and legal minds who demonstrated the toxicity of dichloro-diphennyl-trichloro-ethane (DDT) in a class action suit against Suffolk County Mosquito Control Commission.

The period of 1967-69 focused on EDF establishing its Board and Executive Committees, fundraising and litigation activities. The litigation arm took on other cases related to pesticides. Throughout 1967-69, EDF attorneys argued cases in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Washington DC seeking a ban on registrations of DDT and aldrin dieldrin. DDT was banned in the US in 1972.

In 1970, formal membership and fundraising functions were adopted. During this time, litigation was initiated in the areas of pesticides, lead in gasoline, and Army Corps of Engineers projects such as the Gillham Dam and Cross Florida Barge Canal. Environmental situations were also monitored in the west concerning power plants and air pollution.

By 1977, EDF activities were established into programs. The goals of the programs were promoting standards, public awareness, cost effective alternatives, and policies on these areas: toxic chemicals, land/water issues and energy issues. The activities included of research, dissemination, and litigation, and legal advisory roles to other organizations. The programs were interdisciplinary in nature and were teamed by economists, lawyers, and scientists and other experts.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s EDF offices opened in Washington D.C., California, Colorado, North Carolina, and Texas. With this expansion came an evolution of tactics for resource conservation and improvement of environmental quality. The following is an overview:

1970s:

Using litigation as a way to advocate for the value of the environment

Position statements offer public awareness and expands the image of EDF as a legal and educational organization

Last Days of the Dolphin and Planning for Floods, created to raise public awareness

The EDF Letter is created to communicate EDF activities to members, and to ask for their advocacy.

1980s-1990s:

Action alerts ask members and citizens to raise a voice about issues such as acid rain/air pollution, global warming, and marine mammal conservation.

Alliances with organizations such as McDonalds, and Fed Ex create environmental friendly alternatives to packaging and delivery trucks, respectively.

EDF maintains a web presence with their sites www.ed.org, www.scorecard.org and www.hogwatch.org. The scorecard provides free community information about air pollution; Hog watch observes pollution from factory style hog farms in North Carolina.

Founding Trustees:

H. Lewis Batts, Jr.
Robert Burnap
Dennis Puleston
Robert E. Smolker
Anthony S. Taormina
George M. Woodwell
Charles F. Wurster
Carol Yannacone
Victor Yannacone