Our Stories

The Latest by Jessica A. Knoblauch

Senior Staff Writer

Jessica is a former award-winning journalist. She enjoys wild places and dispensing justice, so she considers her job here to be a pretty amazing fit.

A close up of rubber gloved hands pouring water from one container to another in a laboratory.
March 20, 2024

The Toxic Chemicals Hiding in Our Homes, and How We Can Reduce Them

By Jessica A. Knoblauch  /  Toxic Exposure & Health Program

The Toxic Substances Control Act, or TSCA, can help protect us from harmful chemicals. But first, the government must fully enforce it.

Workers install new copper piping from a larger spool.
March 11, 2024

This Toxic Metal is Still Contaminating Our Drinking Water. Is Change Coming?

By Jessica A. Knoblauch  /  Toxic Exposure & Health Program

Lead-contaminated water continues to plague many U.S. cities and rural areas alike, but a renewed focus by the federal government and state-based efforts offer hope for finally dealing with this nationwide crisis.

December 15, 2023

How Our Fight for 4 Species Helped Save the Sierra Nevada

By Jessica A. Knoblauch  /  Biodiversity Defense Program

A decades-long fight for four imperiled species — and an entire landscape — is nearly complete.

Wolverines, says journalist and wildlife biologist Douglas H. Chadwick, are "not afraid of anything. They climb peaks that human climbers turn back from. So they're just fearless, and they're tireless, and they got no end of attitude."
December 6, 2023

Keeping the Wolverine Wild in a Climate Crisis

By Jessica A. Knoblauch  /  Northern Rockies Office

New federal protections secured through Earthjustice litigation will help ensure that wolverines, a snow-dependent species, can survive a warming world.

Caribou in the Western Arctic around the Lake Teshekpuk area. (Kiliii Yuyan for Earthjustice)
November 22, 2023

Disrupting the Willow Project and Big Oil’s Even Bigger Dreams

By Jessica A. Knoblauch  /  Alaska Office

Earthjustice filed an appeal and a motion to prevent construction on the Alaska mega-project. Here’s what comes next.

Three large container ships next to each other, stacked with containers.
November 1, 2023

How a Bay Area Community is Fighting Port Pollution

By Jessica A. Knoblauch  /  California Office

The Port of Oakland wants to widen its basins, bringing more megaships — and more pollution — to an already overburdened community.

A dark orange haze over the New York skyline
September 28, 2023

How We Can Preserve Breathable Air in a World on Fire

By Jessica A. Knoblauch

Increasing wildfires fueled by climate change unleash a toxic cocktail. Here’s how we can lessen their health impacts by strengthening clean air protections year-round and nationwide.

Canoeing the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Northern Minnesota.
September 7, 2023

We Just Protected a Pristine Midwest Wilderness from Mining

By Jessica A. Knoblauch  /  Midwest Office & Policy and Legislation Team

Dangerous mining plans threatened to ruin a pristine wilderness and a town’s thriving economy. Until we stepped in.

Puget Sound orcas live in three pods named J, K, and L. Members of L pod, Admiralty Inlet, Oct. 10, 2009.
June 29, 2023

Puget Sound Orcas are Dying — Latest Sign of Nature’s Decline

By Jessica A. Knoblauch  /  Northwest Office

The world’s top scientists warn that biodiversity is in a free fall. Puget Sound’s endangered resident orcas are just the latest victims of short-sighted human actions that are causing an ecological crisis.

Young people on the street holding signs that say "Portland Demands Climate Action" and NW "Natural" Nothing Natural about it.
April 20, 2023

How We Stopped a Gas Utility’s Scheme to Propagandize Children

By Jessica A. Knoblauch  /  Clean Energy Program

A gas utility in Oregon tried to charge customers for its lobbying in schools — part of the gas industry’s longstanding efforts to push for increasing fossil fuel use nationwide. Then we stepped in.