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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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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May 26, 2020

Oakland, Calif. — Today, over two years after Judge Vince Chhabria struck down the City of Oakland’s prohibition on handling and storage of coal at the former Oakland Army Base, the case was decided on appeal by three Ninth Circuit judges. The…

May 21, 2020

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] -- Today, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) announced that it would deny all requests for rehearing for the Jordan Cove LNG export terminal. The State of Oregon, multiple Tribal governments, landowners impacted by…

May 20, 2020

A coalition of environmental, landowner, and Indigenous groups filed an amicus brief today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in support of the Standing Rock Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes and other affected Tribes,…

May 20, 2020

Austin, Tex. - Today, Sierra Club has agreed not to oppose a settlement to conclude the Xcel rate case currently pending at the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC).

May 18, 2020

MONTGOMERY, AL — On Friday, May 15, a broad group of advocates filed joint comments challenging the legality — including the constitutionality — of the Alabama Public Service Commission’s proposed Media Coverage Plan, which would gran

10M+

acres of wilderness protected

200+

lawsuits filed to resist Trump

1K+

miles of dirty fuel pipelines blocked

382

coal plants retired