2025:
A Year in
Earthjustice
Because the earth needs a good lawyer
Thanks to you, 2025 was a big year — of resistance and of progress — for the Earth and its people.
With your support, alongside Earthjustice and our hundreds of public-interest clients and partners, the environment prevailed in one legal battle after another.
This year, you were extraordinary.
You saved one of the world’s most pristine tropical marine environments — and its rich cultural heritage — from the destruction of commercial fishing.
“The court forcefully rejected the Trump administration’s outrageous claim that it can dismantle vital protections for the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument’s unique and vulnerable species and ecosystems without involving the public.”
— David Henkin, senior attorney in Earthjustice’s Mid-Pacific Office
You saved one of the world’s most pristine tropical marine environments — and its rich cultural heritage — from the destruction of commercial fishing.
“The court forcefully rejected the Trump administration’s outrageous claim that it can dismantle vital protections for the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument’s unique and vulnerable species and ecosystems without involving the public.”
— David Henkin, senior attorney in Earthjustice’s Mid-Pacific Office
Kelvin Gorospe / NOAA
NOAA
Peter Xiong / U.S. FWS
NOAA
NOAA
Alvis Upitis / Getty Images
Restored farmers’ access to vital climate data that the Agriculture Department illegally purged
Wes Gillingham (below) of Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, with his Scottish Highland and Hereford Highland Cross cows.
Advanced what was once thought impossible: electrifying everything and rapidly building a clean, zero-emissions world
Heat pumps in our homes, along with electrification of new homes and buildings, the water heaters and boilers that drive our industrial sector, and more, are lowering electricity bills and creating healthier living and working environments.
Supported the next generation of farmers and food security by reinstating canceled federal grants
This court ruling set a strong precedent that could allow hundreds of other grants to be challenged and reinstated. Lazzlo Jenkins (below) of Agroecology Commons, a plaintiff in the lawsuit. Agroecology educates and mentors farmers.
Exposed the greenwashing mirage of “climate-smart beef,” shining a rare light of accountability on industrial meat production and for consumers’ right-to-know
“Given the enormous emissions associated with industrial meat production, beef produced in this manner can never be a ‘climate-smart choice.’ Climate-smart beef is plainly an oxymoron.”
— Carrie Apfel, deputy managing attorney in Earthjustice’s Sustainable Food & Farming Program
Defended the rule of law, climate, and livelihoods of coastal communities in decisive back-to-back legal wins in South Africa
“These resounding victories show that despite setbacks in places like the United States, international leadership and commonsense can still prevail in the global fight to curb climate change.”
— Ramin Pejan, senior attorney in Earthjustice’s International Program
In a year of daunting odds, you courageously countered an onslaught of attacks on the environment and our health —
Martin do Nascimento / Earthjustice
Vicki Beaver / NOAA
Talia Cohen / Unsplash
Mario Tama / Getty Images
Nationwide
Protecting our oceans and coasts from the unprecedented, massive expansion of offshore drilling
1.27 billion acres of public waters — protected areas in California, the eastern Gulf of Mexico near Florida, every available offshore area in Alaska — are at risk of being auctioned off under a new federal plan
David Herasimtschuk for Earthjustice
© Tim Peterson
Nationwide
Defending our treasured public lands from being stripped of protections and opened to resource extraction industries
From national monuments, to the Arctic, to roadless areas in 36 states and Puerto Rico
© Tim Peterson
Florian Schulz / protectthearctic.org
© Neil Ever Osborne / Save Our Wild Salmon / iLCP
Noah Clayton / Getty Images
Nationwide
Securing wildlife’s best friend in an age of extinction — the Endangered Species Act — from being dangerously weakened
One of the most effective environmental laws ever enacted, the Endangered Species Act has a 99% success rate, saving species that would have otherwise disappeared forever.
David Herasimtschuk for Earthjustice
Zara / 500px
Kyle Sullivan / BLM
Florian Schulz / protectthearctic.org
Jim Peaco / NPS
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP via Getty Images
James R.D. Scott / Getty Images
Matthew Brown / AP
Sarah Rice for Earthjustice
Jim West / Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Nationwide
Confronting egregious abuses of emergency powers by the Trump administration
Including forcing aging, dirty coal plants to continue to pollute, and undercutting safeguards that have significantly cleaned up the air we breathe
Justin Sullivan
Alyssa Schukar for Earthjustice
Nationwide
Upholding science and the law by defending the “endangerment finding”
One of our most powerful tools for fighting the climate crisis, the endangerment finding has withstood every legal challenge for 16 years, including two that Earthjustice helped win.
Jim West / Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Andrew Burton/Getty Images
Nationwide
Defending communities from bearing the costs of the AI-fueled explosive growth of data centers
In Indiana, Michigan, Montana, and more, we are ensuring that technology scales up sustainably and responsibly.
Jess Benjamin for Earthjustice
Andy Tullis / The Bulletin via AP
Amanda Andrade-Rhoades for The Washington Post via Getty Images
Ted Shaffrey / AP
You did all of this, and so much more.
You relentlessly fought — and won — in states and territories across the nation, alongside Earthjustice’s 229 attorneys and our teams of policy experts, scientists, and analysts.
Since Earthjustice’s founding more than 50 years ago, we have represented — free of charge — more than 1,300 public-interest clients, from grassroots community groups to national organizations.
This year,
you elevated powerful voices on the frontlines of the fight for a healthy environment for all.
Jim Vondruska for Earthjustice
A canoe of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa at the “Pipe Out Paddle Up Flotilla Against the Line 5 Pipeline” in Mackinaw City, Mich.
Sarah Rice for Earthjustice
Earthjustice client:
“Our choice is not between the dual pipelines and the tunnel.
“Our choice is between an oil spill in the Great Lakes and a clean water future for our children and grandchildren.”
— Whitney Gravelle
President of Bay Mills Indian Community
Earthjustice client:
“This scheme is not only cruel, it threatens the Everglades ecosystem that state and federal taxpayers have spent billions to protect.”
— Eve Samples
Executive Director of Friends of the Everglades
Saul Martinez for Earthjustice
President Donald Trump participates in a walking tour of the Everglades immigration detention center on Jul. 1, 2025.
Daniel Torok / White House
Matt Roth for Earthjustice
An LNG transport ship at the New Fortress Energy facility in San Juan Harbor, Puerto Rico.
Myrna Conty
Earthjustice client:
“El Puente Puerto Rico is in Washington, D.C., to amplify the voices of the most affected communities due to the unlawful expansion of this terminal, which continues to operate without proper permits.”
— Gabriel Meléndez Cardona
Public Policy Program Coordinator at El Puente Puerto Rico
Earthjustice client:
Texas Health and Environmental Alliance
“For decades, these residents unknowingly lived among dioxin waste in the San Jacinto River.
“This outcome is a win for all waterfront communities that have felt forgotten and ignored.”
— Jackie Medcalf
Founder of Texas Health and Environmental Alliance
Danielle Villasana for Earthjustice
The Superfund site has been the center of decades of research on cancer risks.
Mark Mulligan / Houston Chronicle via Getty Images
The Colstrip plant, one of the largest and dirtiest coal-fired power plants in the country, towers over Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in southeastern Montana.
Louise Johns for Earthjustice
Earthjustice client:
“We are part of the land.
“We have to take care of that and keep that alive so that we can continue living.”
— Charlene Alden
Tribal Environmental Protection Director of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe
In federal courts, including our nation’s highest court,
in state courts, statehouses, and public utility commissions,
on Capitol Hill,
in international forums and in partnership with organizations around the world —
and with your support —
we are forging ahead, building a better today and future for all.
Mighty greetings from Earthjustice at the 2025 all-staff meeting.
Christine Baker for Earthjustice
It is a privilege to be by your side.
Thank you.
Earthjustice is a nonprofit in the business of building a better future. We’re here because the earth needs a good lawyer.
We represent all our clients free of charge, thanks to the generous support of individuals and foundations who believe as we do: The law has power to make change.
Financial Report for Fiscal Year 2025
“Your investments have fueled our strength and resolve. Earthjustice is all in. We have the partners, the expertise, and the determination to win.”
— Libby Marsh
Sr. VP of Development, Earthjustice
FY25 Revenue
10%
Donated services
87%
Contributions
& bequests
3%
Court awards
Breakdown of FY25 Contributions & Bequests
6%
Estate gifts
77%
Individuals
17%
Foundations
FY25 Expenditures
9%
General
7%
Fundraising
84%
Program
services