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Jenny Cassel

Senior Attorney Clean Energy Program

Jenny Cassel, Senior Attorney

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Kathryn McGrath
Public Affairs and Communications Strategist
(202) 516-6932
kmcgrath@earthjustice.org

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Pronouns

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Jenny Cassel is a senior attorney with the Clean Energy Program. She is based in Chicago. Jenny focuses on legislative, regulatory, permitting and litigation matters concerning coal ash pollution, other air and water pollution from fossil fuel-fired power plants, and the transition to a renewable energy economy. Jenny was a member of the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition’s negotiating team for the 2024 SAFE CCS Act and the 2019 Coal Ash Pollution Prevention Act, and contributed to the 2021 Climate and Equitable Jobs Act.

Prior to joining Earthjustice, Jenny worked as a staff attorney for the Environmental Law & Policy Center in Chicago, where she brought enforcement suits and permit challenges against numerous coal-fired power plants and co-led negotiations of a comprehensive, protective fracking law in Illinois.

Jenny is a graduate of Northwestern University School of Law and of Vassar College. She also has a Masters of Science in Social Anthropology from Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mexico, where she traveled throughout the Mexican state of Yucatán conducting field research for her thesis on utopian aspects of community theatre in Mayan villages.

She enjoys attending outdoor concerts, building sandcastles, and making up crazy dances with her two small sons.

Jenny Cassel es una abogada de personal. Trabaja desde Chicago.

Antes de unirse a Earthjustice, Jenny era una abogada en Environmental Law & Policy Center en Chicago, en donde ella demandaba a los dueños y operadores de plantas que generan electricidad a base de carbón por violaciones de las leyes ambientales, y formó parte del equipo que formuló una ley comprensiva que regula a la práctica de “fracking” en Illinois.

Jenny se graduó de Northwestern University School of Law y Vassar College. Ella también obtuvo una Maestría en Antropología Social de la Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mexico, en donde viajó por el Estado de Yucatán, México, llevando a cabo investigación de campo para su tesis sobre los aspectos utópicos del teatro comunitario en poblados Mayas.

A Jenny le gusta asistir a conciertos al aire libre, construir castillos de arena, e inventor bailes chistosos con sus dos hijos pequeños.

The Latest from Jenny Cassel

September 20, 2024

In the News: Inside EPA

Environmentalists Seek Protections After EPA Enforcement At Carbon Well

Quoted: Jenny Cassel

“What it tells me is that when we say things can and do go wrong, we’re absolutely correct. It absolutely validates the need for additional protections if and where CCS takes place.”
Governor JB Pritzker signs into law critical legislation providing safeguards against the risks and harms of carbon capture and sequestration.
September 13, 2024

We passed a law in Illinois to protect communities from CCS. Here’s the view from the negotiation table.

By Jenny Cassel

While there were certainly difficult compromises, the protections secured by Illinois advocates are a significant victory.
June 7, 2024

In the News: Grist

Illinois Legislature puts the brakes on a carbon capture boom

Quoted: Jenny Cassel

“We should not be creating more of a problem than we’re addressing with this. And that’s what this mandate will require.”
April 16, 2024

In the News: Energy News Network

Illinois bills seek to regulate carbon dioxide pipelines and sequestration

Quoted: Jenny Cassel

“Industry is trying to hand the keys to the state as soon as they’re done and say, ‘Good luck with that.’ We think Illinois already has enough Superfund sites, mines, wells, all sorts of other environmental hazards that need to be reclaimed.”
April 4, 2024

In the News: Energy News Network

Small pipeline, big risks: Carbon capture project sparks concern in rural Illinois

Quoted: Jenny Cassel

“Imagine if everyone along a pipeline corridor had to have oxygen, and know how to use it. That’s pretty terrifying. What if a kid is home alone?”
March 29, 2023

In the News: Grist

It’s not just oceans that are rising. Groundwater is, too.

Quoted: Jenny Cassel

“​​This is a very urgent issue, because the closure is required, the closure is happening. And in some places, it’s happening in ways that are not going to alleviate the problem.”
December 3, 2021

In the News: Chicago Tribune

Waukegan residents fighting decades of industrial pollution

Quoted: Jenny Cassel

“Based on the experience at Waukegan, based on what we’ve seen from other Midwestern sites and elsewhere, this coal ash, as long as it continues to be exposed to water from groundwater flowing into it from below, continues to pose a serious risk of contamination. And it’s clear that the liners are not stopping contamination. We think cap-in-place is a real problem.”
May 19, 2021

In the News: Capitol News Illinois

New rules aim to tighten regulations on forgotten byproduct of coal

Quoted: Jenny Cassel

“We’re one of the first states to really take a comprehensive approach at how we deal with coal ash ponds. I think the transparency and public participation provisions in particular are ones that could serve as models for other states, and really making sure that communities voices are heard in how to how to best limit the pollution from this stuff.”
May 7, 2021

In the News: NBC 5 Chicago

Lightfoot Delays General Iron Permit Decision After EPA Head's Request

Quoted: Jenny Cassel

"Areas that are largely Latino, such as on the Southeast Side, have been a dumping ground where all the polluting industries have gone for many years.”
January 29, 2021

In the News: NBC

Residents of mostly Latino Chicago neighborhood push back against proposed scrap metal plant

Quoted: Jenny Cassel

“Areas that are largely Latino, such as on the Southeast Side, have been a dumping ground where all the polluting industries have gone for many years.”<