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Louie Wagner Jr. casts for ooligan on the Unuk River, as his family has for generations. (Sonia Luokkala / SEITC)
Article September 18, 2024

Rampant Gold Mining in British Columbia Threatens Salmon and Indigenous Rights

Toxic gold mining along rivers crossing the British Columbia-Alaska border threatens critical ecosystems and the sovereign rights of Alaska Native communities.

A Rice’s whale, one of Earth’s rarest whales. (Lisa Conger / Beth Josephson / Permit #21938 / NOAA Fisheries)
Press Release: Victory August 20, 2024

Court Orders Government to Protect Rare Gulf Whales, Sea Turtles, and Imperiled Marine Species from Damaging Effects of Offshore Drilling

Court rules that the official biological opinion is not adequate to protect species

Loggerhead sea turtles are among the marine creatures vulnerable to seismic testing for gas and oil.
(Vladimir Wrangel / Getty Images)
Update August 20, 2024

Court Win Protects Endangered Whales and Sea Turtles From Oil Drilling

Judge strikes down federal assessment that allowed dangerous oil and gas drilling to kill imperiled wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico.

Press Release September 4, 2024

As GOP AGs Target Title VI, 40+ Groups Rally to Defend Civil Rights

Coalition presses EPA to stand firm on civil rights protections amid new legal challenges

A Cook Inlet beluga calf swims with three larger beluga whales. (Paul Wade / NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center)
Press Release: Victory July 17, 2024

Federal Court Reverses Offshore Oil Lease Sale That Threatened Belugas off Alaska’s Coast

Ruling in favor of environmental groups highlights concerns about endangered whales

Roishetta Sibley Ozane (left) founded The Vessel Project of Louisiana and co-directs the Gulf South Fossil Fuel Finance Hub. Robert Thompson is an Inupiat guide who has worked to protect the Arctic Refuge from oil drilling.
feature September 3, 2024

Our Energy Future

Uplifting voices across the nation, who are leading the way to cleaner, safer energy sources.

Offshore oil drilling rig in Cook Inlet with distant Alaska Range peaks.
(Paul Souders / Getty Images)
Article July 22, 2024

A Rare Whale Is Safe From Oil and Gas Drilling — for Now

A judge overturned the Biden administration’s reckless lease sale in Cook Inlet, citing threats to the rare beluga whale.

The Gulf of Mexico whale is a member of the baleen whale family Balaenopteridae. With likely fewer than 100 individuals remaining, Rice's whales are one of the most endangered whales in the world. (NOAA)
Press Release October 25, 2023

House Republican Legislation Would Gut Protections for Critically Endangered Gulf of Mexico Rice’s Whales

H.R. 6008 would leave in place a Trump-era biological opinion that fails to sufficiently protect Rice’s whales, leaving them highly vulnerable to oil spills and vessel strikes

In the News: The Invading Sea June 25, 2024

The summer of love for Gulf whales

Rice's whale — a new species of whale recognized in 2021, previously known as a subpopulation of Bryde's whale, endemic to the Gulf of Mexico.
(NOAA Fisheries)
From the Experts January 4, 2024

Gulf Whale: Species in the Spotlight

The federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has added the critically endangered Gulf of Mexico Rice’s whale to a de facto extinction watchlist. But we still need to do more to protect the species.

Aerial view of the inside passage between Alaska and British Columbia (Sonia Luokkala / Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission)
Press Release August 1, 2024

Southeast Alaska Tribes request international protection as Canada threatens world’s last wild salmon rivers

Canada’s decision effectively silences Tribes as slew of gold and copper mines upriver in British Columbia threaten ecological hotspot

A grizzly bear in a Montana forest. (Beth Hibschman / Getty Images)
Press Release August 27, 2024

Government Appeals Grizzly Protections in Flathead, Plaintiffs to Defend Win

Earthjustice will go to court to defend its victory limiting road building in grizzly habitat

In the News: Public News Service March 27, 2024

Partial shutdown of crab fishing season considered to protect whales

Andrea Treece, Attorney, Oceans Program: “We leave too much gear on the water too late in the season; we wait until the risk is elevated. Too often, it’s too late to protect those whales. And so we need to really learn our lesson from the past.”

page July 11, 2024

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An aerial photo of a Gulf of Mexico whale, or Rice’s whale, swimming in the gulf. With likely fewer than 100 individuals remaining, Gulf of Mexico whales are one of the most endangered whales in the world. (NOAA)
Press Release August 24, 2023

Lawsuit Spurs Agreement to Better Protect Endangered Rice’s Whale From Offshore Drilling

Settlement agreement pauses oil and gas leasing in whale habitat and slows vessel traffic for Gulf of Mexico whales on brink of extinction while officials re-evaluate protections

Aerial view of the smelting complex in the city of La Oroya, Peru in 2022. La Oroya is one of the most polluted localities on the planet. (Ernesto Benavides / AFP via Getty Images)
From the Experts: Victory June 20, 2024

La Oroya v. Peru: Historic Precedent on Human Rights and the Environment

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights set an important precedent for state oversight of industrial pollution.

Rice's whale, photographed in the Gulf of Mexico. Rice's whales -- also known as Gulf of Mexico whales -- are members of the baleen whale family Balaenopteridae. With likely fewer than 100 individuals remaining, Rice's whales are one of the most endangered whales in the world. (NOAA)
Update September 22, 2023

Oil Companies Are Trying to Grab an Endangered Whale’s Small Pocket of Ocean

There are about 50 Gulf of Mexico whales left in the world, and oil and gas development is the greatest danger to their survival.

In the News: Finger Lakes Times July 29, 2024

Appeals court says Seneca lake Guardian can sue state over PFAs

Hillary Aidun, Senior Associate Attorney, Northeast Regional Office: “As the Appellate Court made clear, people who drink water from a lake have every right to challenge decisions that could pollute that lake. We look forward to showing that that DEC has to follow it own waste management regulations and ensure that PFAS are properly handled…