Earthjustice takes environmental polluters to court, and wins. Our attorneys are among the top environmental litigators in the United States, and our victories set far-reaching precedents.
Homer, Louisiana: Nuclear Nonsense
Senior Editor Tom Turner recounts a David-and-Goliath struggle between impoverished African-American people in rural Louisiana and a mighty international consortium of government agencies and private companies bent on siting a uranium enrichment plant in their midst.
Establishing the Human Right to a Healthy Environment
Earthjustice's International program played a key role in convincing a United Nations expert to find that, under international law, "[a]ll persons have the right to a secure, healthy and ecologically sound environment."
Protecting Marine Mammals Off California's Coast
In 2001, Earthjustice's Environmental Law Clinic at Stanford compelled the National Marine Fisheries Service to protect endangered sea turtles, whales, and dolphins from the effects of gillnet fisheries off the California Coast.
Safeguarding Hawai'i's Native Plants
Under court order, in 2003, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service made final designations of more than 400,000 acres of critical habitat for scores of species of endangered and threatened plants native to Hawai`i.
Water Diversions in the Klamath Basin
In April 2001, Earthjustice won a major court order finding that the Bureau of Reclamation had violated the Endangered Species Act by diverting scarce water to irrigators at the expense of threatened coho salmon.
Restoring the Everglades Ecosystem
In March 2001, Earthjustice compelled the Environmental Protection Agency to reduce phosphorus pollution flowing into Lake Okeechobee by 70 percent.
Kaiparowits Power Plant
The wild, remote, rugged, and beautiful Kaiparowits Plateau in southern Utah was slated to become an industrial zone with coal mine and power plant. Instead it is now a national monument.
A Snake in the Kitchen
Monica Reimer, an attorney in the Tallahassee office, writes about Earthjustice clients that are most definitely not what springs to mind when one thinks of “environmentalist.” The tale revolves around the only jury trial in the history of Earthjustice, an ultimately successful attempt to keep in public ownership a south Florida jewel known as Fisheating Creek.
Gold in Them Thar Hills
It looked as if nothing could stop a Canadian mining company from reopening an abandoned gold mine adjacent to Yellowstone National Park, threatening three major watersheds with acid-laced pollution. But Earthjustice had a better idea. Staff attorney Doug Honnold explains.
Hard Taro, Hard Times
A century ago, most of the water that supported Native Hawaiian communities, their taro patches, and their fisheries on the east side of O`ahu was diverted to the central part of the island to grow sugar. When Big Sugar pulled up stakes decades later, a mighty struggle ensued. Should the water go to restore what was lost, or be used for golf courses and expensive crops? Tom Turner tells the tale.
Win by Losing
Some lawsuits fail in court but still accomplish their overall objective. One such case rescued the Sacramento River winter-run king salmon. Mike Sherwood, the lead attorney on the case, tells the story.
Postal Arrogance
In the mid-1980s, the Army gave the Postal Service permission to build a large new postoffice on land that was about to become a national park. Buck Parker, executive director of Earthjustice, explains what happened next.
Mineral King: Breaking Down the Courthouse Door
Don Harris, one of Earthjustice's founders, tells the story of how it all started, in a lawsuit that opened up the legal system to environmental organizations and sparked the creation of the organization that would become Earthjustice.
Bears, Eagles, and Black-Tailed Deer
Preservation of the Tongass National Forest on the panhandle of Southeast Alaska has been a major preoccupation of Earthjustice since the earliest days. Tom Turner describes how it all began.
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