WASHINGTON, D.C. September 6, 2018 – A decision issued by the USDA today abandons the U.S. Forest Service’s request to freeze mining in the watershed of a beloved wilderness, exposing northern Minnesota’s pristine public lands and waterways to lasting impacts from sulfide-ore copper mines. USDA’s announcement that it will cancel the USFS application to the Secretary of Interior to withdraw 234,000 […]
Earthjustice
Posted inCalifornia
California Just Became the Largest Economy in the World to Commit to Zero Carbon Electricity
Sacramento, Calif. August 28, 2018 – Today, the California Assembly passed Senate Bill 100 (SB 100), legislation that will transition the state’s energy grid to 100% clean energy by 2045. California’s commitment to clean energy comes as the Trump administration is dismantling protective standards for power plants and car emissions, unleashing climate and air pollution in […]
Posted inEnviro
EPA ordered to ban pesticide linked to brain damage in children
SEATTLE, WA August 9, 2018 – EPA must ban a widely used organophosphate pesticide linked to brain damage in children, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today. The appellate court ordered EPA to finalize its proposed ban on chlorpyrifos based on undisputed findings that the pesticide is unsafe for public health, and particularly harmful to […]
Posted inUS
Groups make final push in court to ban pesticide linked to brain damage in children
SEATTLE, WA, July 9, 2018 – Final arguments challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s refusal to ban a pesticide linked to brain damage in children will take place this morning in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. A coalition of labor and health organizations represented by Earthjustice, will ask a panel of three judges to overturn […]
Posted inEnviro
June 1: No More Formaldehyde In Wood Products Made, Sold In U.S.
San Francisco, CA, May 31, 2018 – This Friday is a big day for American consumers — and most don’t even realize it. As of June 1, 2018, it is illegal to manufacture or import composite wood products in the United States if they contain excessive amounts of formaldehyde. This major improvement to consumer safety […]
Posted inEnviro
Alaskans Challenge Old Growth Timber Sale in Tongass National Forest
JUNEAU, AK, May 16, 2018 – Local conservation and business interests represented by Earthjustice sued the U.S. Forest Service today to stop an old-growth timber sale on Kuiu Island in the Tongass National Forest. The lawsuit, filed in federal district court in Alaska, says the Forest Service’s environmental analysis is 11 years old and fails […]
Posted inEnviro
Advocates sue FDA to force decision on cancer-causing chemicals in popular foods
SAN FRANCISCO, May 2, 2018 – Today, a coalition of health, consumer and environmental advocacy organizations filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit aimed at forcing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to decide whether to prohibit seven cancer-causing artificial chemicals from use in food as flavors. These […]
Posted inCalifornia
Federal Court Affirms Steps to Protect Klamath River Salmon
SAN FRANCISCO May 1, 2018 – In the face of another tough water year for California and Oregon, threatened coho salmon in the Klamath River will have much better survival chances in 2018, thanks to an April 30 decision in U.S. District Court upholding the injunction entered last year. The Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) and […]
Posted inUS
Wednesday Vote Planned on “Salmon Extinction Act” in U.S. House
WASHINGTON, D. C. April 24, 2018 – A few members of the U.S. House of Representatives have devised a way to make it even harder to restore endangered and threatened Pacific Northwest salmon populations. Their bill is expected to get a House vote this Wednesday, April 25. HR 3144 would roll back salmon protections and […]
Posted inUS
Trump Administration Prepares for Lease Sale in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Washington, D.C. April 20, 2018 – The Trump administration has announced the beginning of a planning process to allow for exploration and leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, barreling forward with plans for destructive oil and gas drilling and disregarding the serious biological, cultural and climate impacts fossil fuel extraction will have in the […]
Posted inUS
FOIA Lawsuit Demands Information about EPA’s Plan to Gut Pesticide Protections
WASHINGTON, D.C. April 18, 2018 – Farmworker Justice and Earthjustice filed a lawsuit to force the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to turn over communications between EPA and interest groups related to the anticipated gutting of pesticide safeguards that protect farmworkers, families, and communities from toxic chemicals. The lawsuit demands the release of documents reflecting communications between […]
Posted inEnviro
Environmental Groups Sue to Stop EPA Loophole Allowing Industrial Plants to Turn off Pollution Controls
WASHINGTON, D.C. March 26, 2018 – Today, public health and environmental groups filed a federal lawsuit to protect communities against the risk of a new tidal wave of toxic pollution unleashed by the Trump Administration breaking with decades of precedent, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has vastly expanded a loophole that allows major industrial polluters […]
Posted inUS
U.S. District Court Rejects Trump Administration Attack on BLM Waste Prevention Rule
San Francisco, Calif. February 23, 2018 – Late yesterday, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California rejected the Trump Administration’s attempt to suspend for one year the Bureau of Land Management’s Waste Prevention Rule. As a result, the Waste Prevention Rule is back in effect pending a final ruling from the court. […]
Posted inEnviro
Chlorpyrifos pesticide harms salmon and orcas, government report says
Seattle, WA January 10, 2018 – A group of three widely used agricultural pesticides jeopardizes the survival of endangered salmon, according to a National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) biological opinion unveiled this week. Chlorpyrifos, malathion, and diazinon—all organophosphate pesticides— harm salmon and their habitat to the point that their survival and recovery are at risk, […]
Posted inUS
Congress approves tax bill that opens irreplaceable Alaskan wilderness area to fossil fuel development
WASHINGTON, D.C. December 20, 2017 – The tax bill passed by both chambers of Congress includes language allowing oil and gas development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, marking the end of long-standing statutory prohibitions against oil development in this cherished Alaskan wilderness. The bill mandates two lease sales, at a minimum of 400,000 acres each, […]
Posted inUS
Groups Sue Over Trump Administration Rollback of Protections Against Methane Waste on Public Lands
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., December 19, 2017 – A coalition of conservation and tribal citizen groups today filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California challenging the Trump Administration’s suspension of the Bureau of Land Management’s Waste Prevention Rule and seeking to have these protections put back in place. The […]
Posted inUS
Conservationists sue to protect Grand Staircase-Escalante
Washington, DC December 4, 2017 – Hours after President Donald Trump issued a proclamation taking an axe to Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah, conservation organizations filed a lawsuit attacking the order as an abuse of the president’s power. Earthjustice is representing eight organizations in a suit charging that the president violated the 1906 Antiquities Act by […]
Posted inUS
Citing Recent Keystone Spill, Federal Court Orders Additional Measures to Reduce Spill Risks from Dakota Access Pipeline
WASHINGTON, D.C. December 4, 2017 – Today, citing the recent Keystone oil spill in South Dakota, a federal court imposed several interim measures over the ongoing operation of the Dakota Access pipeline. The decision follows a June finding from the Court that the Trump Administration had violated environmental laws when it reversed the previous administration’s plans to […]
Posted inEnviro
New Trump Administration Plan For Mexican Gray Wolves Puts The “Lobo” On Path To Extinction
WASHINGTON (Nov. 29, 2017) — Today the Trump administration released its long-overdue recovery plan for Mexican gray wolves, one of the most endangered mammal species in North America with an estimated wild population of just over 100. However, the plan charts a course for extinction rather than recovery, cutting off wolf access to vital recovery […]
Posted inCalifornia
Groups stop rail terminal expansion that would increase ‘bomb train’ traffic and degrade air quality
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. November 21, 2017 – A coalition of concerned citizens, environmental groups, and health and safety advocates successfully challenged the approval of a massive refinery and rail project that will further harm air quality in the San Joaquin Valley and subject residents in several states to the catastrophic risks of a derailment involving scores […]