A group of 17 conservation organizations is challenging a federal court decision that would effectively block the rights of citizens to challenge a damaging downgrade of the rules outlining how the National Environmental Policy Act, the oldest of our federal environmental laws, is carried out. The appeal is the next stage in a lawsuit alleging the Trump administration violated […]
Southern Environmental Law Center
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Lawsuit: Government illegally ‘cut corners’ to ram through NEPA changes
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA, July 29, 2020 – SELC is representing a group of 17 environmental organizations in a lawsuit filed today accusing the government of racing through an industry-friendly rewrite of the National Environmental Policy Act by “cutting corners” and discarding decades of rule-making policies that ensure major legal changes are done fairly and transparently. If allowed to […]
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Community Groups, N.C. DEQ and Duke Energy Reach Settlement to Clean Up Coal Ash at Six North Carolina Sites
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. January 2, 2020 – The Southern Environmental Law Center today announced it reached a settlement with Duke Energy and the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality to clean up coal ash at six North Carolina sites on behalf of Appalachian Voices, Stokes County Branch of the NAACP, MountainTrue, Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation, Waterkeeper Alliance, […]
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Federal Court Strikes Down Atlantic Coast Pipeline Permit
RICHMOND, VA July 26, 2019 – Today, the Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of clients Defenders of Wildlife, Sierra Club and the Virginia Wilderness Committee won a case against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals threw out Dominion and Duke Energy’s Fish and Wildlife permit because it failed […]
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Cooper Prepares North Carolina for Climate Change
Chapel Hill, N.C.— North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper today took a decisive step forward to fight climate change and strengthen the resiliency of communities after two hurricanes pummeled the state in two years. While key protections are being stripped away at the federal level, North Carolina is moving forward. “While the Trump administration denies and […]
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New Report: Hurricanes and Offshore Drilling Would Be a Dangerous Combination for the Southeast
Chapel Hill, NC, Oct. 24, 2018 – As the Southeast rebuilds from Hurricane Florence and the damage compounded by Hurricane Michael, and while the Trump administration continues its push to open the Atlantic to offshore drilling, the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) today released a new report documenting the ways hurricanes could become even more […]
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Federal Judge Strikes Down Administration’s Clean Water Act Attack
Charleston, S.C. Aug. 16, 2018 – A federal judge in South Carolina today struck down the administration’s effort to strip away crucial clean water protections from rivers, lakes, streams and other waters that feed drinking-water sources for nearly 20 million people in the South and 117 million people across the country. Today’s decision follows a […]
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Groups Sue for Information about Heartland Institute’s Involvement in EPA Climate Science Decisions
Washington, D.C. March 17, 2018 – The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) are suing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to release information about the Heartland Institute’s efforts to attack climate science. SELC and EDF had filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for correspondence between EPA and the […]
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Local Groups File Challenge to Protect Sunset Beach and Bird Island
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. August 11, 2016 – On behalf of the Sunset Beach Taxpayers Association and North Carolina Coastal Federation, the Southern Environmental Law Center today filed its challenge in the state Office of Administrative Hearings to North Carolina’s permit for a private developer to bulldoze 15 acres of protective dunes along the Sunset Beach, […]