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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December 15, 2017

A group of clean air and parks conservation advocacy groups today challenged the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) plan to allow polluters to increase health and visibility-harming pollution in court.

December 7, 2017

In yet another setback for Enbridge, the company behind the proposed Line 3 tar sands pipeline, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) ruled today that the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) on the pipeline is inadequate. The…

December 4, 2017

A coalition of environmental groups filed letters today urging the Trump administration to analyze the environmental impacts of the approved route for the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

November 22, 2017

Today, a federal judge ruled that a lawsuit brought by environmental and landowner groups over the Trump administration’s approval of the cross-border permit for the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline can proceed. The decision rejects attempts by the…

November 1, 2017

This morning, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the Sierra Club in its legal challenge of the Department of Energy’s approval of exports of Liquefied Natural Gas from the Cove Point, Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi LNG terminals.

10M+

acres of wilderness protected

200+

lawsuits filed to resist Trump

1K+

miles of dirty fuel pipelines blocked

382

coal plants retired