WASHINGTON,D.C. --- The Trump administration today released a new proposal that would severely limit critical habitat protections for endangered wildlife. The proposal runs counter to warnings of scientists around the world who have identified habitat loss as the single largest driver of species imperilment and a major contributing factor to pandemics, such as COVID-19. The new proposed definition of “habitat” seeks to prevent former habitat from being designated as critical habitat, even when that habitat has irreplaceable characteristics vital to the recovery of a species. It would also prevent areas that will be the last refuge for species harmed by climate change from being designated as critical habitat until it’s too late.
INDIANAPOLIS -- Today, the Sierra Club appealed the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission’s (IURC) decision approving a $146 million rate increase for Duke Energy Indiana’s customers.
Charleston, WV -- Yesterday, the federal district court for the Southern District of West Virginia ruled that the Justice Group’s Red Fox coal mine was liable for more than 3,000 Clean Water Act violations. The lawsuit brought by the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition (OVEC), Appalachian Voices, and the Sierra Club contends that the mine was liable for exceeding its required discharge limits. The groups were represented by attorneys with Appalachian Mountain Advocates and Public Justice.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the EPA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) announced its plans to evaluate the EPA’s rollback - finalized in March - of the clean car standards, which are the corporate average fuel economy and greenhouse gas standards for light duty vehicles (or CAFE).
WASHINGTON DC.--Today the Sierra Club and Conservation Law Foundation filed an appeal of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) water pollution permit for the Merrimack Station coal-fired power plant. The updated permit, which was finalized in May, failed to include critical water pollution protections that the agency had previously proposed. Unlike EPA’s prior proposal, the updated permit did not require the plant to install a modern cooling-water system.
WASHINGTON, DC— Today, the Sierra Club, American Civil Liberties Union and Southern Border Communities Coalition asked the Supreme Court to halt construction of President Trump’s border wall. In the motion, the groups urge the court to lift an earlier stay that allowed the Trump administration to divert $2.5 billion from military pay and pension funds for border wall construction that Congress explicitly denied.
n July 10, the D.C. Circuit court ruled in favor of the Sierra Club’s lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its decision to omit Ottawa County from the agency’s list of areas across the country that are out of attainment with health-based federal ozone (smog pollution) standards. A nonattainment designation triggers stricter rules for permitting new sources of pollution, and requires that the state come up with a plan to bring the area back into attainment. The Clean Air Act makes clear that any county with pollution contributing to monitored violations of an air standard should be designated nonattainment.
ALBANY, NY– Today, the New York Department of Public Service (NYDPS) released an order for a “make ready” incentive program, allocating over $700 million in incentives for utilities to invest in electric vehicle charging across the state and expand workplace and public electric vehicle charging stations. $200 million will go directly to environmental justice and disadvantaged communities.
Late yesterday, in a resounding victory for taxpayers, public health, and the environment, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California invalidated the Trump Administration’s rollback of the Obama-era Waste Prevention Rule.
Today, Donald Trump is expected to announce final new regulations gutting requirements for environmental reviews of fossil fuel infrastructure, logging projects, and other major federal actions under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Construction through water crossings remains blocked; groups challenge approval for construction on federal land based on insufficient reviews
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) has failed in its obligation to protect the water quality and health of families living near the Cross, Winyah and Wateree coal plants, all of which are located in predominantly Black and low-income communities. At all three sites, the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits—which monitor and limit industrial discharge into waterways—expired almost a decade ago.