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| Dear Friend, |
| Earthjustice goes to court to protect the air we breathe, the water we drink, the wild places we love, and our future on planet earth. |
| In every lawsuit, we represent our clients free of charge — because justice should not have a price tag. |
| Below are just a few of the lawsuits and legal actions we’ve filed in the last month. Your support allows our lawyers to go to work every day and fight for a more just, sustainable world. Thank you for making all of this possible! |
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| Lawsuit Filed: Challenging Coal Plants’ “Free Pass” to Pollute |
In March, the Trump administration opened a mile-wide loophole for coal power plants. It invited plant operators to simply email the Environmental Protection Agency to receive a “national security” exemption from pollution limits – no public process, no strings attached.
Currently, 68 coal power plants are operating with illegal free passes. That means more sickness and higher medical bills for families who live near these plants. Mercury, arsenic, and other harmful pollutants are known to damage kids’ brains, cause cancer, and make it harder for people to breathe.
Communities deserve health protections from toxic pollution, not to be the victims of backroom deals. We’re suing to stop these illegal exemptions. |
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| July 15 Match Deadline: Triple your impact! |
| Friend, want to be part of the next Earthjustice legal battle? We rely on supporters to fund the lawsuits that protect our planet's future. To help fight back against the Trump administration’s environmental attacks, all donations are currently matched $2:$1 — but only until July 15. Give today to triple your impact! |
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| Lawsuit Filed: Our First Class-Action Lawsuit Takes on the Trump Administration |
Earthjustice is suing the Trump administration for unlawfully terminating $3 billion in Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant programs designed to fund public health and community resilience initiatives.
The plaintiffs, representing every region of the country, will be seeking class action certification and preliminary relief to ensure all 350 grant recipients harmed by the wholesale termination of the EPA’s Environmental and Climate Justice Grant programs can continue their work. These community-based initiatives include improving climate disaster preparedness, expanding workforce development opportunities, monitoring and improving air quality, mitigating stormwater and flood damage, combating high energy costs, and helping community members participate in decisions that impact their health and environment.
Earthjustice, Southern Environmental Law Center, Public Rights Project, and Lawyers for Good Government filed the challenge on behalf of grant recipients to seek the nationwide restoration of the program and to require the administration to reinstate awarded grant agreements. |
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| Legal Action: Closing a Coal Plant in Michigan |
The Trump administration is trying to keep coal plants running – no matter the cost to our health, our environment, or our pocketbooks. In May, the Department of Energy issued an order forcing the J.H. Cambell power plant in Michigan to remain open. The unprecedented order overrides the reasoned decision making of Michigan regulators, the utility, the state Attorney General, and numerous other parties who signed onto a 2022 legal settlement, that Earthjustice played a leading role in negotiating, that had required the Campbell plant to retire by May 31, 2025.
According to the chair of the Michigan Public Service Commission, keeping the aging plant running for even 90 days could cost nearly $100 million. That’s because the owners had already spent four years winding down investments in the plant. These additional costs will likely be passed onto utility customers in Michigan and the Midwest, and communities near the plant will continue to be exposed to harmful air pollution from the plant.
In mid-June, ten public interest groups, led by Earthjustice and our client Sierra Club, challenged the DOE’s illegal extension of the J.H. Campbell power plant past its planned expiration. If the agency ignores or rejects our challenge, we will see them in court. And, unfortunately, we anticipate that the Administration will issue similar orders forcing other coal plants that currently plan to retire in 2025 (thanks, in part, to litigation by Earthjustice) to instead stay online. Earthjustice is ready to work with our clients and partners to, as appropriate, challenge such additional orders if and when they come to fruition. |
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| Over 200,000 Supporters Take Action in Trump's First 100 Days |
| Since Trump took office, Earthjustice supporters have joined us in defending policies that aim to build lasting environmental protections. We cannot let this new administration erase the progress we have achieved together. Your advocacy is more important than ever. |
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| Lawsuit Filed: Protecting Crops and Farmworkers from Nerve-Agent Pesticides |
Farmworker and public health groups represented by Earthjustice sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to respond to a petition to ban organophosphate pesticides. This is a class of chemicals used on fruits, vegetables, and field crops. In utero exposures to organophosphates are linked to autism, attention deficit disorders, and impaired cognition in school-age children. They also cause countless instances of farmworker and community poisonings every year.
“The EPA recognized a decade ago that organophosphates can impair children’s learning and behaviors, but the government keeps dragging its feet,” says Patti Goldman, senior attorney at Earthjustice. “Our children deserve long-overdue EPA action so they don’t suffer preventable harm.” |
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| Photo Credits (top to bottom): Chris Jordan-Bloch for Earthjustice; USDA; Sportstock / Getty Images |
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