Earthjustice

Earthjustice is a nonprofit public-interest environmental law organization headquartered in San Francisco, California. Its central operating model is to provide legal representation without charging fees to the environmental, community, Indigenous, conservation, and public-health groups it represents. The organization finances this work primarily through donations and states that it does not accept corporate or government funding for its general operations. Rather than selling consumer goods, Earthjustice functions as a mission-driven legal and advocacy brand whose public identity is closely associated with strategic litigation, environmental policy, and the tagline “Because the earth needs a good lawyer.” The organization was established in 1971 as the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund. Although it shared a historical association with the Sierra Club, it was legally independent from that organization. In 1997, it adopted the name Earthjustice to communicate more clearly that its role extended beyond one client and encompassed legal advocacy for a broad range of environmental and community organizations. Over time, it has represented major national groups as well as regional and local organizations, including conservation groups, public-health advocates, community associations, and Indigenous nations. Earthjustice’s work is organized around three broad program areas. “The Wild” addresses the protection of ecosystems, public lands, oceans, wildlife, and biodiversity, including challenges involving fossil-fuel development, logging, dams, overfishing, habitat loss, and climate-related damage. “Healthy Communities” focuses on pollution, toxic substances, clean air, clean water, and environmental-health protections. “Clean Energy and a Stable Climate” uses litigation and policy advocacy to limit fossil-fuel extraction and infrastructure, strengthen greenhouse-gas regulation, support renewable energy, address coal ash and coal-fired power generation, and improve resilience to climate change. The organization also operates communications and policy functions, including public-interest lobbying based in Washington, D.C. Earthjustice has participated in litigation that helped shape U.S. environmental law. Its work connected with Sierra Club v. Morton contributed to the development of standing doctrines for environmental plaintiffs. It later participated in cases concerning the proposed New World mining project near Yellowstone, environmental justice and uranium-enrichment permitting in Louisiana, greenhouse-gas regulation in Massachusetts v. EPA, and the Dakota Access Pipeline. Some cases have produced unfavorable or mixed results, including litigation involving Navy sonar and the pesticide chlorpyrifos, although later proceedings concerning chlorpyrifos produced a different outcome. The organization maintains a U.S. network of regional offices and has an international program that works with partners in regions including Latin America, Russia, Japan, and China. It also submits country-focused reporting on human rights and the environment to the United Nations. As reported for 2021, Earthjustice had approximately 170 full-time attorneys, public-interest lobbyists in Washington, D.C., and hundreds of active legal proceedings. Its current president is Abigail Dillen, an environmental attorney who joined the organization in 2000 and previously led its climate and energy litigation work.

Earthjustice began in 1971 as the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund. The organization was created to provide specialized legal support for environmental causes, but it was established as an independent nonprofit rather than as a department of the Sierra Club. Its early work helped develop the use of litigation as a central tool of the modern U.S. environmental movement. One of the organization’s important early legal associations was Sierra Club v. Morton, a 1972 Supreme Court case concerning a proposed development in California’s Mineral King valley. Although the Supreme Court’s ruling addressed standing rather than simply approving the development, the litigation helped establish that environmental organizations could bring claims concerning injury to natural resources. The proposed ski resort was ultimately abandoned, and the valley became part of Sequoia National Park. During the 1990s, the organization continued to pursue cases involving public lands, mining, water quality, and industrial development. In 1993, it challenged the proposed New World gold, silver, and copper mine near Yellowstone National Park. The resulting decision was significant because it recognized that both a mining subsidiary and its corporate parent could potentially face liability under the Clean Water Act. In 1997, the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund adopted the Earthjustice name, a change intended to distinguish it from the Sierra Club and present a broader identity for its legal work. In 1998, Earthjustice helped community organizations oppose approval of a proposed uranium-enrichment facility near Homer, Louisiana. The decision by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to withdraw the approval was described as an early instance in which an agency formally incorporated environmental-justice considerations into its decision-making. The organization subsequently expanded its work on pollution, toxic chemicals, clean air, clean water, and the unequal distribution of environmental risks. Earthjustice became involved in major climate litigation in the 2000s. In Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency, decided by the Supreme Court in 2007, its attorneys assisted a coalition of states and conservation groups seeking federal regulation of greenhouse-gas emissions. The case was the first Supreme Court proceeding to directly address climate change and held that greenhouse gases could fall within the Clean Air Act’s definition of air pollutants. Not every case succeeded. In 2008, the Supreme Court ruled for the U.S. Navy in litigation involving training exercises and sonar restrictions designed to protect marine mammals. In 2017, the Ninth Circuit rejected a challenge involving the pesticide chlorpyrifos on procedural grounds, but a later 2018 ruling ordered the pesticide to be banned within 60 days. These matters illustrate the organization’s reliance on long-running administrative and judicial processes, in which an initial setback may be followed by further proceedings. In the 2010s and 2020s, Earthjustice broadened its climate and energy docket. Its work has included challenges to coal mining, coal exports, coal-fired power plants, coal ash, hydraulic fracturing, oil and gas drilling on public lands, and fossil-fuel infrastructure. Its Right To Zero initiative has promoted renewable energy and the removal of legal and regulatory barriers to a clean-energy transition. The organization has also represented Indigenous and community clients in disputes involving pipelines and public-land development. Earthjustice operates from a San Francisco headquarters, maintains regional offices across the United States, and has policy and legislative personnel in Washington, D.C. Its international program works with partner organizations in several regions outside the United States. As of 2021, the organization reported approximately 170 full-time attorneys, 14 public-interest lobbyists, and roughly 630 active legal proceedings. Abigail Dillen, who joined Earthjustice in 2000 and previously served as its vice president of litigation for climate and energy, is its president.

• 2020

  Dakota Access Pipeline permit ruling

  [1]Earthjusticeen.wikipedia.org

  A federal court grants a request associated with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and strikes down federal pipeline permits because of National Environmental Policy Act violations.

• 2010

  Foursquare fundraising campaign

  [1]Earthjusticeen.wikipedia.org

  Earthjustice uses Foursquare and transit advertising in a nationally recognized digital nonprofit campaign.

• 2007

  Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency

  [1]Earthjusticeen.wikipedia.org

  Earthjustice attorneys assist a coalition whose Supreme Court victory confirms that greenhouse gases can be regulated under the Clean Air Act.

• 1998

  Louisiana uranium-enrichment case

  [1]Earthjusticeen.wikipedia.org

  Earthjustice supports local groups challenging a proposed uranium-enrichment facility near two predominantly African-American communities.

• 1997

  Name changes to Earthjustice

  [1]Earthjusticeen.wikipedia.org

  The Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund adopts the Earthjustice name and reinforces its independent organizational identity.

• 1993

  New World mine litigation

  [1]Earthjusticeen.wikipedia.org

  Earthjustice challenges a proposed mine near Yellowstone, contributing to a ruling concerning parent-company liability under the Clean Water Act.

• 1972

  Sierra Club v. Morton

  [1]Earthjusticeen.wikipedia.org

  The organization participates in litigation concerning the proposed Mineral King development, a case associated with expanded environmental standing and protection of the valley.

• 1971

  Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund is founded

  [1]Earthjusticeen.wikipedia.org

  The independent nonprofit that later became Earthjustice is established to provide legal advocacy for environmental protection.

A leading nonprofit environmental law firm and public-interest advocate that uses litigation, policy work, communications, and partnerships to protect ecosystems and communities.

• Legal advocacy · 1971

  Environmental litigation

  Earthjustice’s core offering is free legal representation for nonprofit, community, Indigenous, and conservation clients. Its lawyers litigate in federal and state courts and before administrative agencies on matters involving climate change, public lands, wildlife, oceans, pollution, toxic chemicals, and environmental justice. The work often combines lawsuits with scientific evidence, administrative petitions, public communications, and coalition building.

• Clean-energy advocacy

  Right To Zero

  Right To Zero is an Earthjustice campaign and advocacy platform focused on accelerating the transition away from fossil fuels. Its work addresses regulatory barriers, supports renewable-energy deployment, and promotes policies intended to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions while improving public health and ecological resilience.

• Environmental health

  Healthy Communities

  This program area uses litigation and policy advocacy to enforce and strengthen clean-air and clean-water protections, regulate toxic substances, and address pollution burdens affecting communities. It includes regional and national cases involving industrial emissions, hazardous materials, environmental justice, and public-health safeguards.

• Conservation advocacy

  The Wild

  The Wild encompasses legal work to protect public lands, oceans, wildlife, biodiversity, and threatened ecosystems. Cases may challenge logging, drilling, mining, dams, overfishing, habitat destruction, and other activities that threaten species or ecological systems, including areas affected by climate change.

• 2010Foursquare fundraising campaign

  United States

  Earthjustice used Foursquare-based location marketing and billboards in San Francisco’s BART system to encourage donations and raise awareness of its legal work.

  Outcome. The campaign received national recognition as an early successful nonprofit use of Foursquare.

  Source
• Right To Zero

  United States

  A clean-energy campaign advocating renewable energy, fossil-fuel reduction, stronger climate protections, and removal of barriers to decarbonization.

  Source

• 2010

  Use location-based social media for fundraisingStrategy

  Background

  Nonprofit organizations were beginning to experiment with location-based mobile platforms to connect fundraising with physical places.

  Action taken

  Earthjustice built a fundraising campaign around Foursquare and transit advertising in San Francisco.

  Aftermath

  The initiative became a recognized example of early nonprofit social-media marketing.

  Source

• 1997

  Adopt the Earthjustice identityStrategy

  Background

  The organization’s original name emphasized its historical relationship with the Sierra Club even though the legal defense fund was independent.

  Action taken

  It changed its name from Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund to Earthjustice.

  Aftermath

  The new name positioned the organization as a broad environmental legal advocate serving numerous clients and causes.

  Source

1. 1Earthjusticeen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Earthjustice official websiteearthjustice.org