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Fred Fisher and Don Harris, two of Earthjustice's co-founders, in a quiet moment. (Photo used with permission)
page January 4, 2023

The Founders of Earthjustice

In 1971, Phil Berry, Fred Fisher, and Don Harris founded the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund (as Earthjustice was then known), dedicated to fighting in court and in Washington, D.C., on behalf of the Sierra Club and other environmental groups.

feature January 17, 2019

Special Report: Two Years of Overruling the Trump Administration

The record shows that the Trump’s efforts to weaken environmental regulations are no match for the law.

Press Release June 14, 1997

Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund Changes Name to Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund

The Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund announced that it is changing its name to Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund.

feature January 20, 2011

How The Earth Got A Lawyer

For more than 100 years, miners, rascals and even Mickey Mouse failed to tame one of America’s wildest places. Nature defeated most of those misguided adventurers, but it took the partnership of some plucky lawyers to finally preserve the Sierra’s majestic Mineral King. Their pioneering efforts laid the cornerstone of environmental law and gave birth to Earthjustice.

Article October 3, 2013

Earthjustice Co-Founder Phillip Berry, 1937-2013

(UPDATE: A memorial for Phillip Berry will be held at 1 p.m., Friday, Oct. 11 at Shiloh Church, 3295 School St., Oakland, CA.) The Earth has lost one of its greatest defenders, Phillip Berry, a founder of Earthjustice and former president of The Sierra Club. He died early Sunday. Berry joined the club in 1950 when…

Looking up at Polish coal plant smokestacks.
Press Release June 13, 2013

Sierra Club & Earthjustice Challenge State Plan to Approve Illegal Toxic Pollution from Two Coal-Fired Power Plants

State needs to do more to protect the health of people living in Panama City and the Tampa-St. Petersburg metro area

page February 11, 2014

Our Team

About Our Team With 200 attorneys in 15 offices across the country, Earthjustice is the nation’s premier nonprofit environmental law organization, working at the federal, state, and local levels. Meet our Board of Trustees and the Earthjustice Council, and see bar admissions for our attorneys. Our team also includes legal and research analysts, policy and…

Press Release December 11, 2012

Earthjustice, Sierra Club File Legal Challenge to Protect Solar Tax Credit in Hawai‘i

State tax proposal would slam the brakes on solar energy, Hawai‘i jobs

Press Release February 13, 2012

Sierra Club, Earthjustice To Sue Homer City Generating Station for Air Pollution in Violation of Clean Air Act

Homer City Generating Station, dirtiest power plant in nation, releases unhealthy levels of pollution

Michigan's River Rouge Power Plant
(Ami Vitale/Panos Pictures Courtesy of the Sierra Club)
Press Release May 22, 2020

Millions of Dollars of Investments Secured for Environmental Justice Communities in Sierra Club and DTE Energy Agreement

Detroit-area coal plants slated for retirement while communities burdened by years of air pollution to receive funding for electric buses and other environmental projects

feature February 8, 2021

Meet the Community that Stopped an Environmental Power Grab by the Trump Administration

After decades of pollution, a community that faced unprecedented actions by the Trump DOJ claims victory for their health and environment.

Press Release September 26, 2000

Sierra Club Calls on EPA to Label D.C. Area "Severe" for Smog

The Sierra Club today called on EPA Administrator Carol Browner to reclassify metropolitan Washington, DC from “serious” to “severe” for ozone (smog).

Document August 6, 2020

Sierra Club's Reply in Support of Motion to Enter Agreement Between Sierra Club and DTE

The U.S. wrongly argues that the Agreement must undergo judicial review even though neither DTE nor Sierra Club is asking the Court to enforce, or otherwise maintain jurisdiction over, the private contract reflected therein.

An oil industry wastewater injection well. Illegal injections are contaminating underground water in scores of aquifers across the state, from Monterey to Kern and Los Angeles counties.
(Photo by Division of Oil, Gas & Geothermal Resources)
Press Release May 7, 2015

Lawsuit Seeks to Halt Illegal Dumping of Toxic Oil Waste Into California’s Imperiled Water Supplies

Environmental groups challenge ‘emergency’ rules permitting unlawful contamination of protected aquifers

Press Release December 15, 1997

Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund Files Suit on Behalf of the Sierra Club Against EPA for Failure to Meet Air Pollution Report Deadline

Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund sues EPA over the agency’s failure to meet the deadline for car and light-duty trucks emission standards .

Press Release September 14, 2010

Sierra Club and Earthjustice Sue U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to Uphold Clean Air in Texas

Texans and downwind residents at risk, suit alleges

From the Experts August 19, 2021

NOAA Just Named 31 Nations That Engage in Illegal or Unregulated Fishing. Here’s Why That’s a Step in the Right Direction.

This new approach will help the agency protect marine biodiversity.

From the Experts June 8, 2021

Why the Ocean Needs the Illegal Fishing and Forced Labor Prevention Act

Sharks are crucial for a healthy ocean, but overfishing is killing them. This bill takes a step in the right direction.