Sep 15, 2021

Landmark Legal Cases to Power Everything With 100% Clean Energy

Jump to a case

For five decades, Earthjustice has fought thousands of legal cases, representing our clients free of charge.

See some of our proudest accomplishments to accelerate the equitable transition to zero carbon emissions and 100% clean energy.

On this page

Glades Coal to Solar

2007 · Florida

Earthjustice's strategy of stopping new coal plant construction in order to make room for renewable energy saw one its earliest and most important validations in 2007.

Two years after Earthjustice successfully blocked the huge Glades coal-fired power plant from being built at the edge of the Everglades, Florida Power and Light announced it would invest $300 million to build the world's then-largest solar facility, on the site where the coal plant would have been.

Our Clients & Partners include: Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida, Florida Wildlife Federation, Save Our Creeks

Work by Earthjustice’s Florida Regional Office

Big Sandy Coal Plant

2012 · Kentucky

One of the 50 dirtiest plants in America, the Big Sandy Coal Plant in eastern Kentucky was retired after a lawsuit by Earthjustice.

Earthjustice challenged a proposal by Big Sandy’s owners to spend nearly a billion dollars on the coal plant, rather than invest in cleaner, cheaper alternatives. The price tag would have been shouldered by Kentucky ratepayers.

Our argument was simple: Even in the heart of coal country, many aging coal plants aren’t economical. With the evidence clear, Big Sandy's owner withdrew its proposal and soon thereafter committed to retire the plant in 2015.

The retirement of Big Sandy became a watershed victory not only in Kentucky, but nationally.

Earthjustice eventually helped negotiate an agreement to double the owner’s investment in energy efficiency and evaluate the addition of clean energy into plans for replacing the plant.

This is one of many aging coal plants we’ve helped shut down, demonstrating that the U.S. can satisfy its power needs with lower cost and cleaner options.

Our Clients & Partners include:
Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Sierra Club

Work by Earthjustice’s Clean Energy Program

Community Solar

2015 · Maryland

Forward-thinking energy policies, such as community solar, expand access and remove barriers to renewable energy.

In Maryland, Earthjustice and our partners worked to ensure that implementation rules for community solar pilot program that passed in 2015 included a provision to set aside 30% of community solar capacity for low- to moderate-income subscribers.

Efforts are ongoing to make sure Marylanders of all income levels can take advantage of this innovative program.

Community solar projects, sometimes called community solar gardens, allow people to access solar power even when they cannot install it on their own homes, because they are renting their property or because their roof is not suitable for solar. These projects are usually sited in fields or on large rooftops, such as on warehouses or houses of worship.

Our Clients & Partners include: Maryland Solar United Neighborhoods (MD SUN)

Work by Earthjustice’s Clean Energy Program, Policy & Legislation Team

Revitalizing Rooftop Solar

2016 · Nevada

Utilities around the country have tried to restrict the growth of solar by implementing unreasonable and discriminatory fees, surcharges, and other rate changes.

In a notable case that would help revitalize Nevada's solar industry, Earthjustice challenged discriminatory rate hikes for solar customers. The rooftop solar industry in Nevada cratered after punitive rates were imposed on customers with solar.

Earthjustice's work to bring back solar to Nevada led to the passage of state legislation protecting solar customers and incentivizing community solar investment. We continue to work to ensure the law is properly implemented.

In legal fights across the country — from Hawaiʻi to Colorado, Kansas to New Mexico, and more — Earthjustice is working to accelerate the growth of progressive clean energy policies.

Our Clients & Partners include: Vote Solar, Maryland Solar United Neighborhoods

Work by Earthjustice’s Clean Energy Program

Electric Buses

2017 · California

Earthjustice and our partners are moving California toward a zero emissions future — free from pollutants that dirty the air and disrupt the climate.

In a historic first for the nation and one of the earliest victories in our Right to Zero campaign, we successfully pushed Los Angeles Metro to invest in a full fleet of zero-emissions electric buses.

Transit agencies across California — representing almost one-third of all public buses in the state — have now committed to making a full transition to zero-emission buses.

As a part of the Los Angeles Clean Energy Coalition, Earthjustice's Right to Zero campaign has opposed the city’s plans to rebuild unnecessary, harmful gas plants along the coast. Statewide, Right to Zero has worked to pass the nation's first electric truck rule, pushed for building electrification, and more.

Our Clients & Partners include: Jobs to Move America, Food and Water Watch, Environment California, South Bay Los Angeles 350 Climate Action Group, Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy

Work by Earthjustice’s California Regional Office, Clean Energy Program

World Logistics Center

2021 · California

Earthjustice and community groups reached a landmark settlement with the developer of a massive warehouse to invest $47 million in electric vehicles and equipment, rooftop solar, and other solutions that will electrify the facility and reduce harms to local air quality, wildlife, and the climate.

A coalition of environmental justice and conservation groups worked to reduce the World Logistics Center’s harmful impacts for close to 10 years, filing three lawsuits over the project.

The 40.6 million square foot development is roughly the size of three Central Parks, making it the world's largest master-planned warehouse development. The zero-emissions and electrification solution will mitigate air pollution impacts. Residents of the Inland Empire region where the project is located breathe some of the most polluted air in the United States.

The settlement highlights the need for the warehouse industry to incorporate more zero-emission technologies into their operations to reduce air quality and climate impacts.

Our Clients & Partners include: Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, Center for Biological Diversity, Coalition for Clean Air, Sierra Club, San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society

Work by Earthjustice’s California Regional Office

More Landmark Cases

50 years of going to court for the future of the planet. When the first Earthjustice attorneys walked into a courtroom in 1971, many of our nation’s environmental laws were brand new. The earth needed a good lawyer. Today, after 50 years and hundreds of victories for the earth, we are taking on the most pressing environmental challenges of our time, with more than 170 attorneys and 14 offices around the country.