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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April 16, 2019

SALT LAKE CITY, UT – A lawsuit against the Trump Administration’s approval of Alton Coal’s mine expansion near Bryce Canyon National Park was filed today by Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the National Parks Conservation…

April 16, 2019

Today, opponents of Enbridge’s proposed Line 3 tar sands pipeline filed multiple lawsuits with the Court of Appeals challenging the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approval of a certificate of need permit for the project.

April 4, 2019

NEW YORK — The American Civil Liberties Union, Sierra Club, ACLU of Texas, and ACLU of Northern California filed a motion today to immediately stop the illegal construction of President Trump’s border wall. The plaintiffs in the case, the Sierra…

March 30, 2019

Last night, the United States District Court for the District of Alaska ruled that Donald Trump acted unlawfully in his attempt to undo permanent protections for the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans from offshore drilling. The ruling restores protections…

March 28, 2019

The American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of South Dakota today filed a federal lawsuit challenging three South Dakota laws, including the newly-enacted “Riot Boosting” Act, that threaten activists who encourage or organize protests, particularly…

10M+

acres of wilderness protected

200+

lawsuits filed to resist Trump

1K+

miles of dirty fuel pipelines blocked

382

coal plants retired