Environmental Law

Environmental Law Program

Environmental Law Program

The Environmental Law Program uses strategic legal campaigns to fight climate change, to protect clean air, water and wilderness, and to promote justice for communities threatened by pollution.


In the past year alone, we launched more than 200 legal actions to challenge the fossil fuel industry's destructive effects on our air, water, and climate.

About Our Program

Our team of top-notch attorneys and legal staff leverages all of the Club's tools of democracy, integrating legal advocacy with grassroots organizing, sophisticated communications, a state-of-the-art digital strategies team, and administrative lobbying.

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Support the Environmental Law Program

We pair litigation with effective community organizing and strong local communications to build genuine, informed support from community members and government officials.

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Sierra Club ELP in Lake Tahoe

Our Staff

We are a team of professional attorneys and staff who combine sophisticated legal tactics with a commitment to social and environmental justice at the grassroots level. We pair litigation with effective community organizing and strong local communications to build genuine, informed support from community members and government officials, making courtroom victories sustainable over the long term.

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July 20, 2020

n July 10, the D.C. Circuit court ruled in favor of the Sierra Club’s lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its decision to omit Ottawa County from the agency’s list of areas across the country that are out of attainment with…

July 16, 2020

ALBANY, NY– Today, the New York Department of Public Service (NYDPS) released an order for a “make ready” incentive program, allocating over $700 million in incentives for utilities to invest in electric vehicle charging across the state and expand…

July 16, 2020

Late yesterday, in a resounding victory for taxpayers, public health, and the environment, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California invalidated the Trump Administration’s rollback of the Obama-era Waste Prevention Rule.

July 15, 2020

Today, Donald Trump is expected to announce final new regulations gutting requirements for environmental reviews of fossil fuel infrastructure, logging projects, and other major federal actions under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

July 14, 2020

Construction through water crossings remains blocked; groups challenge approval for construction on federal land based on insufficient reviews

10M+

acres of wilderness protected

200+

lawsuits filed to resist Trump

1K+

miles of dirty fuel pipelines blocked

382

coal plants retired