Earthjustice
San Francisco, California, United States | |
Area served | Within the United States and internationally |
---|---|
Method | Litigation |
President | Abigail Dillen[1] |
Employees | Approx. 300[2] |
Website | earthjustice.org |
Formerly called | Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund; Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund |
Earthjustice (originally Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund) is a nonprofit public interest organization based in the United States dedicated to litigating environmental issues. Headquartered in San Francisco, they have an international program, a communications team, and a policy and legislation team in Washington, D.C.,[3] along with 14 regional offices across the United States.
The organization was founded in 1971 as the
Earthjustice is a nonprofit organization, meaning the legal service they provide is free for their clients. Funding for the organization comes from donations. It does not receive any funding from corporations or governments. In 2021, Earthjustice made $154 million in total revenue and $100 million in total expenditures.[5] As of 2021, Earthjustice has full-time staff of about 170 attorneys[6] in 14 offices across the United States, and 14 public-interest lobbyists[7] based in Washington, D.C. They are involved in 630 active legal proceedings.[8] The current president of Earthjustice is Abigail Dillen,[9] an environmental attorney who first joined Earthjustice in 2000 and was previously Vice President of Litigation for Climate and Energy.[10][11]
Programs
Earthjustice's work is divided into three key goal areas:[8]
- The Wild – focus on cases in clear cutting, oil drilling, dams, dewatering streams, and climate change.[12]
- Healthy Communities – focus on cases at both the regional and national level which protect against pollution and toxic chemicals. Earthjustice uses litigation to apply and enforce the Clean Air and the Clean Water Acts, and reform the toxics regulatory system.[13]
- Clean Energy and a Stable Climate – focus on reducing the utilization of fossil fuels, eliminate barriers to, and create incentives for the use of renewable energy sources (such as through the Right To Zero campaigncoal ash waste, retires old coal-fired power plants, prevents coal exports, and stops coal mining. Cases in this key area also focus on preventing fracking, preventing oil and gas drilling on public lands, strengthening environmental and health protections, and preventing fossil fuel infrastructure investments.
Earthjustice also partners with organizations from other regions, including Latin America, Russia, Japan, and China to promote the development of environmental law in their respective countries. Every year, Earthjustice submits a country-by-country report on Human Rights and the Environment to the United Nations.[15]
Impact on U.S. environmental law
Earthjustice has been a critical player in a number of important, precedent-setting cases regarding environmental protection in the United States.
In the 1972 Supreme Court case
In 1993, the organization (still then known as the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund) filed a lawsuit to block the development of the New World gold-silver-copper mine that was planned to be sited about four miles from the northeast entrance to Yellowstone National Park. The lawsuit was a victory in that the district judge ruled that not only could the subsidiary mining company (in this case Crown Butte Mines, Inc., a Montana company) who holds the mining claims and is developing the mine plan, but even the parent corporation (in this case Noranda Corporation, a Canadian company), could be held liable for violations of the Federal Clean Water Act (Ekey, 1997).[17]
In 1998, Earthjustice helped local community groups convince the
In the 2006 Supreme Court case
Other suits have been less successful:
In 2008, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the
In 2017, the
Legislative positions
- Opposed
Marketing
In 2010, Earthjustice launched a fundraising campaign using the location-based social networking app
Recognition
In 2001, Worth magazine, aimed at high-income Americans, named Earthjustice as one of America's 100 best charities.[30]
Since April 1, 2009, Charity Navigator has given Earthjustice 4 stars, the oversight group's highest rating.[31]
In December 2014, the organization was recognized for its tagline "Because the earth needs a good lawyer",[32] which was chosen in a 2009 online contest as one of the best nonprofit taglines out of 1,702 entries.[citation needed]
Earthjustice has come under criticism for actions that are described as radical or counterproductive. Kevin Mooney of the right-leaning Capital Research Center writes that Earthjustice has represented a wide range of clients and causes, ranging from those well within the political and scientific mainstream to "radical fringe groups with a reputation for outrageous claims and uncompromising positions."[33]
Similarly, Fargo, North Dakota, columnist Rob Port has described Earthjustice as fundamentally "obstructionist" in their strategy against the Dakota Access Pipeline during 2016.[34]
See also
- List of environmental organizations
- Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA)
- Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)
- West Coast Environmental Law
- Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund
- Conservation ethic
- Environmental movement
- Habitat conservation
- Clean Power Plan § Proposed actions under President Trump
Bibliography
- Tom Turner, with photographs by Carr Clifton, Wild by Law: The Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund and the Places It Has Saved (San Francisco: Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund and ISBN 0-87156-627-3
- Tom Turner, Justice on Earth: Earthjustice and the People It Has Served (White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing Co., 2002) ISBN 1-931498-31-8
References
- ^ "New Earthjustice Prez's Game Plan". Law360. 2 July 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
- ^ Our Team
- ^ "Offices". 25 October 2019.
- ^ Earthjustice Clients and Coalitions
- ^ Earthjustice Financial Statements
- ^ Earthjustice litigation staff
- ^ Earthjustice Policy & Legislation staff
- ^ a b Earthjustice: Our Work
- ^ Earthjustice Names Abigail Dillen as New President
- ^ "Abigail Dillen". Earthjustice. 2010-04-08. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
- ^ "People: Dillen named new president of Earthjustice." InsideEPA. 28 June 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- ^ "The Wild [node:field-marquee-collection:field_marquee_header_second]". 2 December 2013.
- ^ "Healthy Communities". 9 December 2013.
- ^ Earthjustice: Right To Zero
- ^ Earthjustice International Program
- ^ Finally -- The Valley of Mineral King Becomes Wilderness Archived 2010-08-15 at the Wayback Machine, EarthJustice
- ^ Ekey, Bob (1997). "The New World Agreement: A Call for Reform of the 1872 Mining Law". Public Land and Resources Law Review, Volume 18. Archived from the original on 2020-03-18. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
- ^ Earthjustice: Uranium Enrichment Plant Stopped Archived 2008-12-12 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Earthjustice: Massachusetts v. EPA
- ^ Winter vs. National Resources Defense Council No. 07–1239., October term, 2008
- ^ Timothy Cama (2017) Court rejects greens’ appeal of EPA decision not to ban pesticide, TheHill.com; accessed 08 December 2017
- ^ Jessica Domel Judge denies petition to ban chlorpyrifos pesticide, Texas Farm Bureau, 19 July 2017; accessed 08 December 2017
- ^ "What Is the Insecticide Chlorpyrifos?". Environment. 2018-08-10. Archived from the original on August 11, 2018. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
- ^ "CBO - H.R. 2279". Congressional Budget Office. 26 June 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
- ^ "House Subcommittee Votes Increase Coal Ash Exposure, Threaten Public Health". Earthjustice. 6 June 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
- ^ Woody, Todd (19 October 2010). "With Foursquare, Ads Let You Check In at Your Favorite Billboard". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
- ^ Van, Jennifer (27 May 2010). "Non-Profit Uses Foursquare to Raise Environmental Awareness". Mashable.com. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
- ^ Delio, Michelle (January 2011). "iGIVE". MacLife. p. 16. Available via SlideShare[permanent dead link]. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ "The Power of foursquare". Gallo Communications. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
- ^ "WORTH Magazine Names America's 100 Best Charities - and Highlights 12 Worth Avoidng". Business Wire. 29 November 2001. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
- ^ "Charity Navigator - Historical Ratings for Earthjustice". Charity Navigator. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
- ^ Fritz, Joanne (6 December 2014). "Nonprofit Taglines and Mission Statements". Nonprofit.about.com. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
- ^ Kevin Mooney (2009). EarthJustice Legal Defense Fund: How Environmentalism Weakens U.S. National Security; accessed 08 December 2017
- energy infrastructure with legal maneuvering." Port, Rob (2016). Standing Rock Tribe Should Ditch Earthjustice if They Want Pipeline Lawsuit Taken Seriously, accessed 08 December 2017
External links
- Earthjustice - Official website