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The TransAlta coal plant in Centralia, WA, is the largest source of mercury and global warming pollutants in the state.
(Earthjustice Photo)
Press Release April 14, 2026

Public Interest Groups Challenge Trump Administration’s Renewal of an Order to Keep Washington’s Last Coal Plant Operating

The Department of Energy is claiming false emergencies to keep open dirty, inefficient coal plants across the country including a coal plant slated for shutdown in Centralia, Washington

document April 14, 2026

Centralia Coal Plant Emergency Order Second Request for Rehearing

Public interest groups filed a second request for rehearing in response to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) renewal in March 2026 of the initial emergency order issued in December 2025 forcing the TransAlta coal plant in Centralia to remain open past its planned shutdown date.

Rev. Robert Tipton Jr., the branch president of the DeSoto County NAACP, is opposed to the methane gas turbines operating in his Southaven, Mississippi community to power a nearby xAI data center in Memphis, Tennessee. (Brad Zweerink / Earthjustice)
Article April 14, 2026

A Community Takes a Data Center Colossus to Court

The NAACP and Earthjustice are suing Elon Musk’s company xAI over air pollution from an unpermitted power plant in Southaven, Mississippi.

document April 14, 2026

Complaint: NAACP Sues xAI for Clean Air Act Violations

SELC and Earthjustice are representing the Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP and the national NAACP in a lawsuit against xAI and its subsidiary, MZX Tech, for the tech companies’ unlawful operation of dozens of unpermitted methane gas turbines to power its Colossus 2 data center in South Memphis.

Gas-powered turbines, with more being built, operate in Southaven, Mississippi, to power a large xAI data center just to the north in Memphis, Tennessee. The huge gas turbines occupy a sprawling 114 acres — the equivalent of nearly 87 football fields. (Brad Zweerink / Earthjustice)
Press Release April 14, 2026

NAACP Sues xAI for Illegal Pollution from Data Center Power Plant

Elon Musk’s company is accused of violating the Clean Air Act to power its Colossus 2 data center

The xAI data center, Colossus II, in Memphis, Tennessee, just north of Southaven, Mississippi. (Brad Zweerink / Earthjustice)
case April 14, 2026

Illegal Pollution from Data Center Power Plants Shouldn’t Harm Our Communities. We’re Suing xAI.

The lawsuit explains that xAI is illegally operating 27 gas turbines without an air permit in Southaven, Mississippi, effectively building a power plant for its Colossus 2 data center, which powers the company’s chatbot, Grok.

Deadly fine particulate matter pollution, also known as soot, comes from tailpipes, smokestacks and industrial power plants. Breathing soot can cause premature death, heart disease, and lung damage. (Chris Jordan-Bloch / Earthjustice)
Press Release April 14, 2026

Coalition Sues Trump EPA for Failure to Implement Life-Saving National Soot Standard

EPA fails to implement its own strengthened air quality standard and missed deadline for identifying areas with soot pollution levels higher than the new acceptable limit

document April 14, 2026

Motion for Summary Judgment: NAAQS Soot Standard

Seventeen health, community and environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to implement the strengthened 2024 National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for soot. The coalition also filed a motion for summary judgment asking the court to put the agency on a court-ordered deadline to carry out its overdue responsibility.

document April 14, 2026

Lawsuit filing for EPA Failing to Implement NAAQS Soot Standard

Seventeen health, community and environmental groups filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to implement the strengthened 2024 National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for particulate matter air pollution, commonly known as soot.

Small mouth grunts swim past elkhorn coral. (Ethan Daniels / Shutterstock)
From the Experts April 13, 2026

America’s Fisheries Law Turns 50: Let’s Skip the Mid-Life Crisis

Fish depend on healthy habitats, abundant food sources, and a well-functioning food web to thrive.

A data center under construction in Ashburn, Virginia in 2025. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP via Getty Images)
Article: Victory April 10, 2026

How We Rallied a Big Coalition to Stop a Shady Data Center Bill

The ‘Protect American AI Act’ in Congress would have exempted data centers from complying with key environmental laws.

The now-closed Waukegan Generating Station, on the shore of Lake Michigan in Waukegan, Illinois. The coal fired power plant still has sizable coal ash ponds threatening the environment. (Jamie Kelter Davis for Earthjustice)
Press Release April 9, 2026

EPA Proposes to Gut Federal Coal Ash Cleanup Requirements and Health Protections

Earthjustice will sue to stop the EPA from rewriting the rules for coal power companies’ toxic sludge

Lake Koocanusa by Libby Dam in northwest Montana. (Lisa Kyle Young / Getty Images)
Press Release: Victory April 9, 2026

Court Upholds Selenium Water Quality Standard for Lake Koocanusa

Montana and Idaho waters endure harmful pollution from upstream Canadian coal mines

document April 9, 2026

Selenium MSJ Order

A Montana District Court upheld Montana’s selenium water quality standard for Lake Koocanusa (Koocanusa Reservoir), affirming the science-based limits necessary to protect fish and other aquatic life.

Cars and trucks move along the Cross Bronx Expressway, a notorious stretch of highway in New York City that is often choked with traffic and contributes to pollution and poor air quality. (Spencer Platt / Getty Images)
Press Release April 8, 2026

Environmental Groups Sue EPA For Illegal Repeal of Climate Protections

Environmental groups and Alaskan tribes challenge the Trump EPA’s unlawful repeal of the endangerment finding and elimination of vehicle emissions standards

document April 8, 2026

Endangerment Finding Petition: Second Filing

Environmental groups and Alaskan tribes sue the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency for unlawfully repealing the endangerment finding and motor vehicle emissions standards.

Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) are more similar to massive industrial factories than they are to actual farms. (Shutterstock)
Press Release April 7, 2026

Environmental, Agriculture, and Community Groups Applaud Extended Pause of Manure Digester Federal Funding

REAP was created to help farmers and rural small businesses cut energy costs and strengthen local economies; yet hundreds of millions of tax dollars have been funneled into expensive, polluting manure digesters

A heron takes flight over wetlands in the Everglades in Florida. (Brian Lasenby / Shutterstock)
Update April 7, 2026

We’re Fighting to Protect the Everglades from Florida’s Illegal Detention Center

Florida and the Trump administration have been ramming through the construction of an immigration detention facility within the Florida Everglades, the largest mangrove ecosystem in the Western Hemisphere.