Florida Office

Protecting our Waterways and Wildlife

• The exceptionally biodiverse Apalachicola River, Floodplain, and Bay face devastation from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ restriction of freshwater flows from upstream dams and reservoirs.  Earthjustice represents National Wildlife Federation, Florida Wildlife Federation, and Apalachicola Riverkeeper in a challenge to the Corps’ operations.
• Florida’s vast wetlands are essential to wildlife, hurricane resilience and drinking water.  In 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) authorized Florida to permit dredging and filling of wetlands protected under the Clean Water Act by sidestepping essential federal protections.  Other states have shown interest in this “model,” raising the stakes nationally. Earthjustice has challenged EPA’s action in Washington, D.C., representing the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, Defenders of Wildlife, the Florida Wildlife Federation, Miami Waterkeeper, Sierra Club, and St. Johns Riverkeeper.
• Vehicle strikes are the leading cause of death for the critically endangered Florida panther.  As roads are widened for burgeoning development, rigorous environmental protection is needed more than ever.  But U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is failing to limit how many panthers may be killed before the government must reassess projects.  Earthjustice is suing on behalf of Sierra Club and the Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida (ECOSWF).
• Manatees in Florida are dying at high rates as water pollution kills their main food source.  Florida has repeatedly failed to rein in the sources of this pollution.  Representing Save the Manatee Club, Defenders of Wildlife, and CBD, Earthjustice is suing EPA for failing to step in.
• In 2025, attorneys of the Florida office were honored with the Conservationists of the Year award from the state’s environmental community for their fight to protect the Florida wetlands. In 2024, this litigation team successfully challenged — and overturned — a state takeover of federal wetlands permitting, returning wetland permitting to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and restoring Endangered Species Act protections.

Promoting a Just and Reliable Transition to Clean Energy

The Sunshine State should be leading the way toward a clean and equitable energy system, but instead is bowing to powerful utility interests seeking ever-higher profits at the expense of low-income communities and communities of color.

• Earthjustice is pushing back against utility-driven faux “community solar” programs that make for good PR but are designed to benefit mostly the utilities and their largest customers while undermining a true transition to solar energy.  On behalf of the League of United Latin American Citizens of Florida (LULAC), Earthjustice challenged the Public Service Commission’s (PSC) approval of one such program at the Florida Supreme Court, which ruled 6 to 1 that the PSC had not adequately explained the approval.
• On behalf of Florida Rising, LULAC, and ECOSWF, Earthjustice is also challenging Florida Power & Light Company’s (FPL) recent effort to expand its own faux “community solar” program through a settlement with friendly parties that gives the utility the largest rate increase in Florida history to subsidize FPL’s largest customers.
• Earthjustice continues to hold the line on energy efficiency, the cheapest and easiest way to reduce electric bills and greenhouse gas emissions.  Having defeated FPL’s plan to adopt zero energy efficiency and demand-side management goals, Earthjustice continues to fight to reform the goal-setting process in order to incentivize energy efficiency.