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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November 15, 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Today, a federal appellate court dismissed a legal challenge brought by environmental groups seeking to block an offshore oil and gas lease sale that threatens the continued existence of a critically endangered whale species.

November 10, 2023

LAKE CHARLES, La. — The under-construction Driftwood LNG project in Southwest Louisiana faces further obstacles amid financial woes at parent company Tellurian Inc.

November 9, 2023

ANCHORAGE, AK — A U.S. District Court ruling today allows ConocoPhillips to plow ahead with a massive oil and gas project that would do significant harm to local communities and the planet. The decision concerns our lawsuit filed in March 2023, just…

November 3, 2023

Cheyenne, WY – After months of feedback from concerned Rocky Mountain Power customers opposed to the utility’s unprecedented rate hike, yesterday marked the conclusion of the Public Service Commission’s (PSC) contentious rate case hearing and public…

November 1, 2023

HARRISBURG -- Today, in a divided decision, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled against the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), and preventing the Department of Environmental Protection from enforcing the rule.

10M+

acres of wilderness protected

200+

lawsuits filed to resist Trump

1K+

miles of dirty fuel pipelines blocked

382

coal plants retired