Jan Hasselman

Senior Attorney

Northwest Office

Jan Hasselman, a senior attorney in Earthjustice's Northwest Regional Office, is smiling and looking directly at the camera.

Bar Admissions

WA

Jan Hasselman

Senior Attorney Northwest Office

Elizabeth Manning
Public Affairs and Communications Strategist
emanning@earthjustice.org

Jan Hasselman is a senior attorney with Earthjustice’s Northwest office in Seattle, WA, which he joined in 1998.

Since that time, he has successfully litigated a number of regional and national issues including listings of salmon under the Endangered Species Act, stormwater pollution, coal fired power plants, and coal and crude oil terminals. He served as lead counsel to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in their litigation against the Army Corps of Engineers regarding approval of the Dakota Access pipeline.

Jan has a history degree from Wesleyan University, and graduated magna cum laude from Boston College Law School, where he was executive editor of the Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review.

Prior to joining Earthjustice, he served as a judicial law clerk in the federal district court in Boston. He is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Washington and Seattle University law schools, and in 2013 was a visiting professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia) under a Fulbright grant.

Expert Posts & Articles

Two people on the roof of a home install solar panels.
July 23, 2026

Washington’s Largest Utility Can Help Meet Washington’s Clean Energy Goals

Public interest groups are pushing for a healthier future powered by renewables by intervening in a utility rate proceeding.
A metal box with a fan inside and hoses coming out.
June 5, 2025

Washington Regulators Must Hold Utilities Accountable in the Clean Energy Transition

Decisions made by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission can help meet the state’s climate goals and keep energy reliable and affordable for customers.
A heat pump system outside a home in Juneau, Alaska.
January 9, 2025

Pilot Project Encouraging Building Electrification Proves Popular in Washington State, Saving Customers Money While Helping Meet Climate Goals

Results from the pilot show strong customer interest in shifting away from fossils fuels toward electrification.
Technicians install solar panels on a home in Spokane, Washington.
October 7, 2024

A Dishonest Ballot Initiative (I-2066) Threatens to Roll Back Decades of Progress Toward Washington’s Clean Energy Future

Vote no on I-2066 — and help spread the word to protect commonsense measures to clean up our energy systems.
Large towers with electrical transmission lines in front of a large mountain at sunset.
May 16, 2024

Greening the Gas System

How utility commission “ratemaking” cases have advanced clean buildings and climate justice in Washington state.
An illustration about how a heat pump works
February 26, 2024

Washington’s Future is Bright as it Leads the Charge to Electrify Buildings

Washington demonstrates legal pathways for states and local governments seeking to transition buildings off fossil fuels to clean, safe electricity.

Elizabeth Manning
Public Affairs and Communications Strategist
emanning@earthjustice.org

On Social Media

@janhasselman

Bar Admissions

WA

Quoted in the News

August 6, 2026

NBC News

Environmental groups challenge FCC approval of startup’s plan to beam on-demand sunlight from space

“It is the Wild West in space right now, and corporations like Reflect Orbital are rushing to fill the gap.”
March 8, 2025

EcoNews Report

Trump Has Gutted NEPA. What Does That Mean?

Jan Hasselman of Earthjustice joins Melodie Meyer and Tom Wheeler of EPIC to discuss the Trump administration's actions on the National Environmental Policy Act.
January 24, 2024

Seattle Times

Puget Sound Energy cancels liquid natural gas plant expansion in Tacoma

“Washington State is committed to phasing out the use of fossil fuels; that is state law, that is who we are and what we have decided to do. PSE has been going in the opposite direction, seeking to market LNG to new customers and for new uses. The idea that we would have barges filled with LNG going back and forth in a busy port and Commencement Bay and throughout Puget Sound was never a good idea.”
April 23, 2021

Yahoo News

U.S. appeals court denies Dakota Access rehearing request, environmental review to continue

"This is a pretty definitive statement that the legal issues in this case do not warrant attention from the Supreme Court. Here, not only didn't we see dissents, not a single judge called for a vote."
April 13, 2021

The News Tribune

The fight over Tacoma’s liquified-natural gas plant continues. Will permits be upheld?

“We are challenging the bottom line in the [Environmental Impact Statement] that this project would mean a net improvement in greenhouse gas emissions ... When we’re dealing with methane, the stakes are higher because this is a very dangerous pollutant.”

Latest Press Statements

Two people wearing hard hats and heavy work gloves crouch over a solar panel as they install it on a roof.
July 28, 2026

Families Want Lower Costs and Less Pollution: Public Interest Groups Push Washington’s Largest Utility to Lower Rate Increases and Meet Clean Energy Laws

Puget Sound Energy’s proposal seeks major rate increases and costly new gas infrastructure
A view of planet Earth from space, with the lower half of the planet in shadow.
July 8, 2026

Coalition Calls for Rigorous Federal Review of Space-Based Data Center Proposals

As companies make plans to launch more than a million data centers into space, FCC must provide oversight and conduct a thorough review of the risks and impacts of these projects to ensure they are not causing irreparable environmental harm to our planet
The Salish Sea.
May 21, 2026

Canadian Gas Company Appeals Denial of Expansion of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Terminal in Ferndale, Washington

AltaGas is asking Whatcom County Superior court to overturn a victory won by six local environmental groups requiring fair environmental review of the terminal’s expansion
A pod of southern resident orcas in Boundary Pass, north of San Juan Island, WA.
April 1, 2026

Hearing Examiner Rejects Permit That Allowed a Major Expansion of a Whatcom County Liquefied Petroleum Gas Terminal 

The county must conduct an independent capacity analysis of the terminal expansion and redo its environmental analysis
A man stands in an outdoor parking lot in front of a row of electric vehicle chargers that glow green in the night. An electric car is parked behind him.
January 23, 2026

Judge Protects Billions for Reliable EV Charging, Cleaner Air, and Lower Driving Costs Across the Country

States and nonprofit groups win lawsuit protecting $5 billion federal EV charging program
Navajo community leader Daniel Tso speaks out against fracking at a Bureau of Land Management meeting that was required under the National Environmental Policy Act. The law gives communities a chance to speak out against projects that will impact them.
August 5, 2025

Conservation, Environmental Justice, Tribal, and Civil Rights Organizations Submit Comment Letter Opposing Proposed NEPA Changes at Various Federal Agencies

"Over a dozen different sets of procedures and processes with little meaningful input from impacted communities will only result in more pollution, dirtier air, and contaminated water for all of us.”