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Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Who are the Sierra Club's lawyers?
A: The Sierra Club's Environmental Law Program has a staff of 17 lawyers and 10 professional support staff in San Francisco, CA, Boulder, CO, and Washington, D.C. Our legal team develops high profile lawsuits that advance the Club's conservation priorities, and also manages the enormous nationwide docket of the Sierra Club. They serve as the nerve center for the Sierra Club's nationwide legal strategies.
Q: What particular environmental problems are your priority in 2010?
A: The Environmental Law Program's docket covers the entire range of environmental issues, with a large part devoted to addressing legal violations associated with the coal industry, including destructuve mining practices, invalid permits for new and existing coal-fired power plants, and toxic ash disposal. As a counterpoint to our coal work, we are quickly ramping up to promote clean energy solutions, such as wind, solar, and energy efficiency, while minimizing damage to wild places. We also continue a heavy docket devoted to wilderness, water, and wildlife, for their own sake, now informed by the imminent reality of climate change. Finally, protecting people and promoting justice remain a steadfast commitment of the Environmental Law Program.
Q: What is the difference between the Sierra Club Environmental Law Program, the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, and Earthjustice?
A: The Environmental Law Program is the Sierra Club's team of in-house environmental lawyers. It consists of 17 attorneys and 10 professional staff who prosecute strategic litigation for the Club's nationwide grassroots campaigns and direct the entire docket of nationwide Sierra Club litigation. The "Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund" was an independent, nonprofit law firm started by Club leaders and others in the 1970s.
Reflecting its independent status, the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund changed its name to Earthjustice in 1997. Earthjustice frequently represents the Sierra Club in litigation and is one of the Club's most valued outside counsel. See www.earthjustice.org for more information.
Q: Do you have internship programs?
A: Yes. We have summer internship and semester externship programs in the San Francisco office for law students.
Q: Where are your offices?
A: The Sierra Club Environmental Law Program is located at:
85 Second Street, Fifth Floor
San Francisco, California, 94105
phone: (415) 977- 5772
fax: (415) 977-5793 fax
email: environmental.law@sierraclub.org
Q: How do I find out more?
A: E-mail us at environmental.law@sierraclub.org.