Jennifer Cassel

Senior Attorney Clean Energy Program

jenny-cassel-blue-ridge-mountains-photo

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Kathryn McGrath
Public Affairs and Communications Strategist
(202) 516-6932
kmcgrath@earthjustice.org

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Jennifer Cassel is a senior attorney with the Clean Energy Program. She is based in Chicago.

Prior to joining Earthjustice, Jenny worked as a staff attorney for the Environmental Law & Policy Center in Chicago, where she brought enforcement suits and permit challenges against numerous coal-fired power plants and co-led negotiations of a comprehensive, protective fracking law in Illinois.

Jenny is a graduate of Northwestern University School of Law and of Vassar College. She also has a Masters of Science in Social Anthropology from Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mexico, where she traveled throughout the Mexican state of Yucatán conducting field research for her thesis on utopian aspects of community theatre in Mayan villages.

She enjoys attending outdoor concerts, building sandcastles, and making up crazy dances with her two small sons.

Jenny Cassel es una abogada de personal. Trabaja desde Chicago.

Antes de unirse a Earthjustice, Jenny era una abogada en Environmental Law & Policy Center en Chicago, en donde ella demandaba a los dueños y operadores de plantas que generan electricidad a base de carbón por violaciones de las leyes ambientales, y formó parte del equipo que formuló una ley comprensiva que regula a la práctica de “fracking” en Illinois.

Jenny se graduó de Northwestern University School of Law y Vassar College. Ella también obtuvo una Maestría en Antropología Social de la Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mexico, en donde viajó por el Estado de Yucatán, México, llevando a cabo investigación de campo para su tesis sobre los aspectos utópicos del teatro comunitario en poblados Mayas.

A Jenny le gusta asistir a conciertos al aire libre, construir castillos de arena, e inventor bailes chistosos con sus dos hijos pequeños.

The Latest from Jennifer Cassel

March 29, 2023

In the News: Grist

It’s not just oceans that are rising. Groundwater is, too.

“​​This is a very urgent issue, because the closure is required, the closure is happening. And in some places, it’s happening in ways that are not going to alleviate the problem.”
December 3, 2021

In the News: Chicago Tribune

Waukegan residents fighting decades of industrial pollution

“Based on the experience at Waukegan, based on what we’ve seen from other Midwestern sites and elsewhere, this coal ash, as long as it continues to be exposed to water from groundwater flowing into it from below, continues to pose a serious risk of contamination. And it’s clear that the liners are not stopping contamination. We think cap-in-place is a real problem.”
May 19, 2021

In the News: Capitol News Illinois

New rules aim to tighten regulations on forgotten byproduct of coal

“We’re one of the first states to really take a comprehensive approach at how we deal with coal ash ponds. I think the transparency and public participation provisions in particular are ones that could serve as models for other states, and really making sure that communities voices are heard in how to how to best limit the pollution from this stuff.”
May 7, 2021

In the News: NBC 5 Chicago

Lightfoot Delays General Iron Permit Decision After EPA Head's Request

"Areas that are largely Latino, such as on the Southeast Side, have been a dumping ground where all the polluting industries have gone for many years.”
January 29, 2021

In the News: NBC

Residents of mostly Latino Chicago neighborhood push back against proposed scrap metal plant

“Areas that are largely Latino, such as on the Southeast Side, have been a dumping ground where all the polluting industries have gone for many years.”<