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 25, 2023

Yesterday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) closed the comment period for the docket following the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s request for a three-year extension to complete the Southgate project that would extend the mainline into…

July 11, 2023

Today, groups filed two federal lawsuits challenging the decision by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to approve two liquified gas (LNG) export terminals, Texas LNG, Rio Grande LNG, and the associated Rio Bravo Pipeline.

June 21, 2023

St.

22 de marzo de 2023

Los representantes RaĂşl Grijalva y Barbara Lee y los senadores Tammy Duckworth y Cory Booker presentaron hoy la Ley A. Donald McEachin de Justicia Ambiental para Todos.

November 8, 2022

WASHINGTON, DC - Joanne Spalding is the Sierra Club’s new Environmental Law Program Director.  In this role, Spalding will lead the Sierra Club’s team of 66 ELP staffers, working in close and strategic collaboration with other departments to…

10M+

acres of wilderness protected

200+

lawsuits filed to resist Trump

1K+

miles of dirty fuel pipelines blocked

382

coal plants retired