Our Stories

The Latest by John McManus

Media Director

John was Earthjustice’s Media Director and chief press wrangler from 2001 until 2013. He came to Earthjustice in 2001 to defend freshwaters and public land—and salmon.

June 15, 2012

Time Is Ticking On 'Franken-food' Review

By John McManus  /  Headquarters Office

Californian voters will vote in the fall on a proposal to require most food products to label known genetically modified organism ingredients.

June 11, 2012

Death Valley Wilderness Is Safe

By John McManus  /  Rocky Mountain Office

A 6-year legal battle to save some of Death Valley National Park’s wilderness areas from development paid off this week. The national park (biggest in the lower 48) is in Inyo County, California. Inyo County asserted it had legal title to several dirt paths in the park under a Civil War-era federal law intended to …

May 17, 2012

Navy Admits Greater Harm To Sea Mammals

By John McManus  /  California Office & Northwest Office

Last week, the U.S. Navy came out with a shocking confession.

One of the newborn bison calves, born at Montana's Fort Peck in the spring of 2012.
May 17, 2012

Born To Be Wild Once More

By John McManus  /  Rocky Mountain Office

Home on the range, where the deer and antelope play? Forget about it. How about buffalo (yeah, I know they’re really bison). After years of dreaming about getting one of the original Americans back out on the prairie where they belong, we’re a big step closer to seeing it happen. After killing every last buffalo …

April 26, 2012

Judge: Salmon-killing Dams Should Go

By John McManus  /  Northwest Office

In a video interview, federal judge James A. Redden said four dams on the lower Snake River should go. As he explained, it’s easier to take the dams out than it was to put them in and the change is needed for salmon to survive.

January 27, 2012

Groups Demand That Navy Change Sonar Testing

By John McManus  /  Northwest Office

Environmental groups and some Indian tribes, represented by Earthjustice, have to get the U.S. Navy to change the way it trains off the West Coast to avoid harming whales, dolphins and porpoises.

December 8, 2011

Lack Of Storage Hurting Energy Revolution

By John McManus

Currently, America’s transmission grid—the power lines and electrical equipment that bring us electricity—has very few devices that store power from renewable clean energy sources such as solar and wind. This is hindering the deployment of these energy sources and limits their usefulness. Consider solar … the sun shines during the day, lots of electricity is …

November 29, 2011

Yellowstone Grizzly Bears Safer For Now

By John McManus  /  Northern Rockies Office

Yellowstone grizzly bears warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act. So says the federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals which recently upheld a lower-court ruling that rejected a federal government effort to strip the bears of their protections. When the government “delisted” the bears in 2007, which stripped them of protections under the Endangered Species …

November 4, 2011

Delta Smelt Get Life From Supreme Court

By John McManus  /  California Office

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court handed conservationists a victory and some good news for endangered wildlife. The court denied a request by an anti-wildlife right-wing group to strip federal Endangered Species Act protections from a rare species – a California fish called the delta smelt. The right-wing Pacific Legal Foundation, has tried repeatedly to …

October 4, 2011

Supreme Court Lets Air Rule Stand in San Joaquin Valley

By John McManus  /  California Office

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively upheld a unique air pollution rule that requires developers in California’s polluted San Joaquin Valley to mitigate for the added air pollution their new development brings.The rule was created by the San Joaquin Valley air district in a desperate move to do something about the out-of-control air pollution …