Our Work

In Brief: Earthjustice's Policy and Legislation Program works to promote policies that strengthen environmental protections, and to fight against legislation, riders, rulemakings, and judicial nominations that could undermine these important safeguards.

An important aspect of Earthjustice's work to protect the magnificent places, natural resources, wildlife, and people of this earth takes place outside the courtroom.

The Policy and Legislation program in Washington, D.C., actively lobbies Congress and the administration to improve our nation's environmental laws, defeat anti-environmental legislation and rulemakings, and ensure that our strongest environmental laws -- like the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act -- are being upheld and enforced. We fight against congressional attempts to hinder the rights of citizens to be involved in environmental decisions or limit public access to courts. We work hard to influence and improve administrative rulemakings like the Roadless Rule, as well as agency decisions like EPA standards for toxic mercury or endangered species listing determinations. And we weigh in publicly on the nominations of judges who may decide critical environmental cases in the future.

As a result of Earthjustice's success defending our environment in court, there are often attempts in Washington to overturn these courtroom victories and weaken laws that protect public health and the environment. These actions can include legislative attempts to re-write laws like the National Environmental Policy Act or attach anti-environmental "riders" to must-pass bills, or attempts by agencies to issue rules that would circumvent the intent of the law. The Policy and Legislation program fights these efforts to overturn Earthjustice's hard-fought court victories.