Our Stories

The Latest by Trip Van Noppen

Former President

Trip Van Noppen served as Earthjustice’s president from 2008 until he retired in 2018. A North Carolina native, Trip said of his experience: “Serving as the steward of Earthjustice for the last decade has been the greatest honor of my life.”

July 22, 2011

Greetings From "Frackistan"

By Trip Van Noppen

Up and down the Rockies, in Texas, across much of the northeast, and perhaps soon in your community, engaged citizens are coming together to prevent the harms of rampant gas development. Last week,  I sat with just such a group in Gunnison County, Co., a beautiful place in the mountains that is confronting rapidly expanding …

June 24, 2011

Gas – Bridge To Clean Future or U-turn To Dirty Past?

By Trip Van Noppen

Follow along as I walk us up the steep learning curve about natural gas that Earthjustice, the environmental community and the nation are navigating. The curve suddenly steepened a few years ago when natural gas advocates started promoting their fuel as a refreshing alternative to coal and oil, and a bridge to a clean energy …

May 19, 2011

Life, Liberty and the Right to Breathe

By Trip Van Noppen

Nobody gets through a day without breathing. Not executives in the coal-fired power and cement industries, which are polluting our air daily. Not the legion of lobbyists they hire to patrol the halls of Congress in defense of dirty air. And not the members of Congress who, hand-in-hand with these special interests, are marching the …

April 20, 2011

Threats of High-Risk Drilling Remain Year After Gulf Oil Spill

By Trip Van Noppen  /  Alaska Office, Florida Office, Headquarters Office & Policy and Legislation Team

One year ago, the BP oil spill had just started turning the Gulf of Mexico’s blue waters to the color of rust. Triggered on April 20, 2010 by a well-rig explosion that killed 11 people, the spill would gush more than 200 million gallons of crude oil—the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Before the …

April 7, 2011

Ideologists Could Force Fed. Government Shutdown

By Trip Van Noppen  /  Policy and Legislation Team

As the threat of a total federal government shutdown hangs over the country, leaders in Congress and the White House continue eleventh-hour emergency negotiations to reach a compromise before time runs out on keeping our government funded and averting a costly and potentially disastrous government shutdown. According to press reports this morning, the thing holding …

March 18, 2011

Fight To Protect Gray Wolf Shifts To Capitol Hill

By Trip Van Noppen  /  Headquarters Office, Policy and Legislation Team & Washington, D.C. Office

It is with deep regret that we must announce that Earthjustice was forced to step down as the courtroom lawyer for wolves in the Northern Rockies in the two cases related to the Fish and Wildlife Service’s action to remove or reduce their Endangered Species Act protections. This action was not our choice, but a …

January 19, 2011

Oil Commission Warns Drillers To Slow Down and Wise Up

By Trip Van Noppen  /  Headquarters Office

Despite obvious differences, the icy Arctic Ocean and the warm, deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico have an important commonality: we aren’t prepared to safely drill for oil in either place. Last year’s Gulf spill – which killed 11 rig workers and fouled waters that nourish ecosystems and economies alike – is a harsh …

January 5, 2011

Paying Respects to a Great Leader

By Trip Van Noppen  /  Policy and Legislation Team

In this line of work, we are lucky to meet and work with a lot of heroes, people who stand up against all odds for the health of their communities, who sacrifice for the greater good of their brothers and sisters. Judy Bonds of Marfork, West Virginia was a hero among heroes, an extraordinary leader …

December 22, 2010

Two Years After Billion-Gallon Toxic Ash Spill, EPA Still Dawdles

By Trip Van Noppen  /  Northeast Office

Today marks the second anniversary of the nation’s largest toxic waste spill, when a billion-gallon wave of arsenic-filled coal ash carried away three houses and destroyed a riverfront community below the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Kingston Fossil Plant in rural Tennessee. Two years and $400 million dollars later, critical problems remain. Despite removal of more …

December 14, 2010

A Defining Moment for EPA and America's Health

By Trip Van Noppen

New, hostile Congress readies attack on clean air standards