Our Team

Seth Johnson

Senior Attorney Washington, D.C. Office

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Media Inquiries

Zahra Ahmad
Public Affairs and Communication Strategist
zahmad@earthjustice.org

Bar Admissions

DC, NY

Seth Johnson joined Earthjustice in 2010.

He is a graduate of Yale College, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in history, and of Harvard Law School, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Harvard Environmental Law Review.

Before law school, he worked for several years at a nonprofit in New York that advocates to make New York City a more livable city, concentrating on urban planning and historic preservation.

While in law school, he worked at the National Trust for Historic Preservation and at a law firm in New York, as well as participated in several environmental clinical programs. After graduating, he spent a year working at the Natural Resources Defense Council, primarily on environmental justice matters and issues affecting the New York City region.

The Latest from Seth Johnson

March 22, 2024

In the News: WHRO

Stricter federal air pollution standards likely won’t help Hampton Roads communities plagued by coal dust

Quoted: Seth Johnson

“Strengthening a standard is really important. It's really important to set that benchmark and tell people, ‘This is what counts as safe air.’ But if you don't know what the air quality actually is, the impact of the standard is going to be not as great as it could be."
January 26, 2024

In the News: Texas Tribune

Texas companies reported releasing 1 million pounds of excess pollution during recent cold snap

Quoted: Seth Johnson

“The Clean Air Act says you need to meet emission limits at all times. There are free passes — loopholes — now. Many are being closed and the rest that remain open need to be closed. That’s necessary in order to urge companies to take sensible precautions to avoid being in these circumstances.”
Deadly fine particulate matter, also known as soot, is caused by pollution from tailpipes, smokestacks and industrial power plants.
December 4, 2023

Chamber of Commerce’s Dubious Analysis of Clean Air Rules Is Wrong

By Seth Johnson

When polluters have said these things in the past, they were also wrong.
January 29, 2021

In the News: The Hill

Court strikes down part of rule easing pollution standard implementation

Quoted: Seth Johnson

“This is an important decision for making sure that pollution reductions are real, that they’re not just things that are happening on paper, that they’re things that are going to have an impact in the real world and that’s going to benefit people who live, work and breathe in areas with unhealthy levels of ozone.”
A haze of smog covers the Port of Houston.
March 4, 2019

The EPA Won’t Do Its Air-Protection Job, So We’re Putting It on Notice

By Seth Johnson

We just notified the EPA that we will sue it in 60 days if it doesn't comply with the law.
Smog covers Los Angeles.
December 4, 2017

We’re Suing Pruitt for Ignoring the Law That Would Clean Up Smog

By Seth Johnson

Pruitt isn’t taking the necessary, legally required first step toward getting smog levels reduced, so we're headed to court.
A coalition of green groups and health advocates refutes polluters’ discredited arguments against the Clean Air Act.
August 17, 2016

Health and Environmental Groups Decry Radical Attacks on Anti-Smog Protections

By Seth Johnson

A coalition of green groups and health advocates refutes polluters’ discredited arguments against the Clean Air Act.
Mostovyi Sergii Igorevich/Shutterstock
April 22, 2016

EPA’s Smog Rule Falls Short of Protecting People’s Health, the Environment

By Seth Johnson

The EPA recently set a weak smog standard, ignoring calls from medical professionals and community groups.
Coal fired power plant
June 16, 2015

EPA Forced to Close Dangerous Loopholes in Clean Air Protections

By Seth Johnson

Two lawsuits led by Earthjustice mandated that the EPA stop letting industrial polluters off the hook for pollution when facilities are starting up, shutting down or experiencing “malfunctions.”
Smokestacks loom up from a hazy sky, tinged with orange, at sunset.
December 23, 2014

Court Victory Keeps Intact the Strands of the Clean Air Act

By Seth Johnson

Another Win for Clean Air: The D.C. Circuit rejected an EPA attempt to give cities and counties with unhealthy levels of ozone pollution—or “smog”—extra time to reduce their air pollution. The Court also rejected EPA’s attempt to let some areas prematurely out of an important pollution control requirement designed to bring and keep smog levels down.
July 17, 2013

Conowingo Dam Owners Must Clean Up Their Act

By Seth Johnson

The Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper, Stewards of the Lower Susquehanna and Waterkeepers Chesapeake today asked to be included in the relicensing proceedings for the Conowingo Dam, about 50 miles northeast of Baltimore. The dam affects water quality up and down the Susquehanna River and throughout Chesapeake Bay, and the groups plan to push the Federal Energy…