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A Message from Frances Beinecke
President of NRDC
From NRDC's 2005 Annual Report
 Last August, our country witnessed one of the largest environmental disasters of our generation: Hurricane Katrina. The images of people struggling against floodwaters and entire communities torn apart by wind and rain will haunt us for years to come. The storm has taught our nation several lessons, such as the need for greater equity, leadership, and preparedness. But it also delivered another alarming message: this is what the future will look like because of global warming.
While we cannot say that global warming caused Hurricane Katrina, scientists have determined that the Earth's oceans are heating up due to global warming, and that those rising temperatures could make the difference between a category 3 storm and a category 4 or 5. Katrina showed us in vivid Technicolor just how awesomely destructive that change in intensity can be.
The aftermath of Katrina reminds us that we are at a critical juncture. We can ignore the urgent messages the Earth is broadcasting, as the Bush administration has done. Or we can acknowledge the magnitude of global warming and start solving it.
As an organization that champions a sustainable future for our earth and our children, NRDC is firmly in the camp of positive action. We know that a future based on efficiency, renewable energy, advanced coal, and clean cars will curb global warming. And this year, working with farmers, security hawks, religious leaders, financial institutions, and coal industry representatives, we generated major momentum for putting these solutions in place. From the Senate to the utility sector, leaders now realize that binding limits on global warming pollution are inevitable.
The fight to address global warming is not over; it will continue for years to come. What inspires us along the way is the belief -- based on our 35-year track record -- that NRDC can achieve big solutions to big problems. From removing lead in gasoline to ending nuclear testing to protecting the last unspoiled gray whale nursery, NRDC has successfully championed the values of safety, health, wilderness, and biodiversity in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.
We are building on that legacy. This year we committed, through a strategic planning process, to tackle the major environmental issues of our time. All of them are complex, global problems, but we have identified strategies that will make NRDC most effective in addressing them. We plan to generate catalytic outcomes, victories that will build upon one another and transform the nature of the problem. In other words, we want to take a handful of major environmental issues and solve them.
We can do this by reaching out to many more people and building a revitalized, passionate, and diverse constituency for our issues. We can do it by focusing our work in strategically chosen cities, states, landscapes, and international arenas where the most progress can be made. We can do it by engaging with industries and corporations in a way that allows for tough advocacy as well as constructive dialogue.
To succeed we must invest in what has always been the core of our success: our gifted staff, our dedicated board, and our committed members and donors. We have already accomplished so much together. Just imagine what we can accomplish going forward: a world where our climate is stable and safe, where our children breathe clean air and drink clean water, where our forests and wildlands are pristine and filled with life, where our cities are vibrant and healthy, and where our economy is strong and environmentally sustainable. That is the future that NRDC believes in, and the one that with your help we can realize.
Frances G. Beinecke
President
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