Hillary Aidun

Senior Attorney

Northeast Office

Hillary is speaking into a microphone in an outdoor setting; the sun is shining strongly on Hillary. Hillary is wearing a tan light jacket over a black t-shirt with the text, "Because the earth needs a good lawyer," printed across the front.

Bar Admissions

NY

Pronouns

she / her

Hillary Aidun

Senior Attorney Northeast Office

Nydia Gutiérrez
Public Affairs and Communications Strategist
ngutierrez@earthjustice.org

Hillary Aidun is a senior attorney in the Northeast Regional Office. Hillary works to advance environmental justice in the northeast region, represents environmental justice and community-based groups in utility rate cases, and advocates for meaningful and equitable implementation of New York’s climate law in state court and before administrative agencies.

Before joining Earthjustice, Hillary was a fellow at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School, where she worked on expanding renewable energy resources and challenging federal regulatory rollbacks.

She previously served as a law clerk at the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts and the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.

Hillary holds a J.D. from Yale Law School and a B.A. from Middlebury College.

Expert Posts & Articles

A group of people are on a sidewalk in a urban setting, listening to a person speak. They are standing in front of a tall, chain link fence. Behind the fence is a sprawling industrial facility.
September 23, 2026

New Yorkers’ Energy Bills Are Too High. National Grid Wants to Unlawfully Raise Them Even Higher.

Granting National Grid’s petition would violate New York’s Public Service Law and Climate Law, and allow National Grid to skirt the scrutiny, transparency, and public participation opportunities that the law guarantees to New Yorkers.
Gray smoky New York skyline with a large orange sun rising behind it.
September 23, 2024

On Renewable Energy, It’s Up to You, New York

Sixty groups submitted a letter asking the Public Service Commission to step up efforts to meet New York’s renewable energy targets

Nydia Gutiérrez
Public Affairs and Communications Strategist
ngutierrez@earthjustice.org

On Social Media

LinkedIn

Bar Admissions

NY

Pronouns

she / her

Quoted in the News

March 3, 2025

Newsday

DEC to Brookhaven: Rewrite report discounting landfill’s role as toxic plume source

“The reason that DEC required Brookhaven to do this analysis in the first place is that the town owns the landfill, and PFAS is coming from the landfill."
January 29, 2025

Newsday

DEC finds more improper ash mixing at Hempstead burn plant as lawsuit continues

"Brookhaven should not release Covanta from liability for a small amount of money especially given the need for remediation and the fact that there are a number of pending lawsuits against Brookhaven resulting from the landfill."
July 29, 2024

Finger Lakes Times

Appeals court says Seneca lake Guardian can sue state over PFAs

“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 without harming people’s health and safety.”
March 7, 2024

Courthouse News Service

NY appellate court greenlights challenge of crypto-mining power plant

"As the appellate court made clear, people who live near polluting power plants have every right to challenge the decisions that impact their health, safety, and quality of life. We look forward to proving that cryptocurrency miners can't get a free pass to pollute, and the Public Service Commission can't ignore the climate and environmental justice impacts of its decisions."
January 26, 2023

NBC

New lawsuit challenges state’s decision to turn a North Tonawanda power plant to a cryptocurrency company

"The public service commission decided to approve the cryptocurrency purchase of a gas plant in North Tonawanda without doing that analysis that is required under the climate law... we are seeking to hold them accountable."

Latest Press Statements

A group of people are gathered on a sidewalk in a city in front of residential buildings, listening to a person speak.
September 23, 2026

Proposed National Grid “Rate Stabilization Plan” is a Rate Hike In Disguise

The petition increases and delays costs rather than delivering real rate relief, while locking customers into expensive fossil fuel infrastructure
A bench is framed by massive trees on the shore of Cayuga Lake in upstate New York.
July 19, 2024

Appellate Court Determines Seneca Lake Guardian has Right to Sue NYS-DEC for Permit on PFAS-containing Liquid Discharge on Cayuga Lake

Appellate Division for the Third Judicial Department reversed dismissal on previous lawsuit, allowing group to rightfully sue for protection of the lake
Map of e-commerce warehouses by potential environmental justice area in NYC, 2022.
February 16, 2023

Advocates Unveil Actions to Rein In Unplanned Clustering Of Last-Mile Logistics Facilities

According to a December 2021 investigation by Consumer Reports, companies like Amazon have opened up the vast majority of last-mile logistics facilities in communities of color that have long suffered disparate environmental harms like increased rates of air pollution, noise, and asthma