Our Stories

The Latest by Tom Turner

Author & Historian

Tom Turner literally wrote the books about Earthjustice during his more-than-25 years with the organization. A lifelong resident of Berkeley, CA, he is most passionate about Earthjustice's maiden issue: wilderness preservation.

A U.S. Navy vessel, with a research ship and pod of orcas in the foreground.
November 24, 2014

Protecting Marine Eardrums

By Tom Turner  /  California Office, Mid-Pacific Office & Northwest Office

Navy training is essential to national security, but there's a way to minimize the harm that it inflicts on marine mammals.

David Sive on the Hudson River, with Storm King Mountain in the background.
March 27, 2014

Two Legal Giants Pass

By Tom Turner  /  Headquarters Office

Sive and Sax helped shape the world of environmental law.

A sprout in dried, cracked earth.
March 6, 2014

Climate Denier Parched for Lack of Facts About Drought

By Tom Turner  /  Headquarters Office

Science be damned! Senator Session relies on opinion.

Book cover of 'Hetch Hetchy: Undoing a Great American Mistake.'
March 5, 2014

Drain Hetch Hetchy?

By Tom Turner  /  California Office

New Ken Brower book re-stirs old controvery of Yosemite dam.

Fire from petroleum crude oil tank car explosion.
February 14, 2014

Fears Ramp Up As Oil Rolls into Albany

By Tom Turner  /  Northeast Office

Train cars carrying crude oil have been derailing and exploding with frightening frequency lately, in Canada and North Dakota and Alabama and Philadelphia. There are fears that Albany, capital of the great state of New York, may be next in line.

January 16, 2014

Towns Fight Back Against Fracking

By Tom Turner  /  Headquarters Office

In mid-December the Pennsylvania Supreme Court found Act 13 is unconstitutional. This is a law that allowed state government to override local communities’ zoning decisions to limit hydraulic fracturing or fracking. The decision stems from a lawsuit by seven Pennsylvania municipalities, a doctor and the Delaware Riverkeeper Network. Earthjustice submitted a friend-of-the-court brief in the case, representing 22 organizations, including Marcellus Protest, Lehigh Valley Gas Truth and Berks Gas Truth.

November 22, 2013

A Thanksgiving Flood of Salmon

By Tom Turner  /  Northwest Office

More salmon have returned to the Elwha River over the past two months than at any time in at least 20 years.

A coal export ship.
August 13, 2013

As Coal Exports, Its Dark Legacy Stays Home

By Tom Turner  /  International Program & Northwest Office

The use of coal in the U.S. has declined over the past few years, and orders for new plants are being cancelled at an increasing rate, owing to pressure from Earthjustice and others and competition from cheaper natural gas.

April 19, 2013

Devil's Slide Was No Tunnel of Love

By Tom Turner  /  Headquarters Office

The first responsibility of a physician is to do no harm. The first responsibility of an environmentalist is never to accept a dumb solution to a problem when a better solution is available. Case in point: Devil’s Slide south of San Francisco, a stretch of Highway 1 that would crumble into the Pacific every 10 …

April 16, 2013

California Senate Targets Unregulated Fracking

By Tom Turner  /  California Office

As reported in the current issue of Earthjustice Quarterly Magazine, oil fracking has become big news in California, where the practice is conducted in the shadows and is essentially unregulated—the Wild Wild West, if you will. (See: Extreme Energy: Out of Control Out West) That may be about to change. At least 10 bills have …