The American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of South Dakota today filed a federal lawsuit challenging three South Dakota laws, including the newly-enacted “Riot Boosting” Act, that threaten activists who encourage or organize protests, particularly protests of the Keystone XL pipeline, with fines, civil liabilities, and/or criminal penalties of up to 25 years in prison. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in the District of South Dakota on behalf of four organizations: the Sierra Club, NDN Collective, Dakota Rural Action, and the Indigenous Environmental Network; and two individuals: Nick Tilsen with NDN Collective and Dallas Goldtooth with Indigenous Environmental Network. All are planning to protest the Keystone XL pipeline and/or encourage others to do so.
environmental-law
Washington, DC-- Moments ago, the House failed to pass a measure that would undo Trump’s veto on a bipartisan resolution to terminate his declaration of a national emergency. The legality of the president’s national emergency-- and its over $9 billion of diverted funds from critical security programs to construction of a border wall-- is now in the hands of the courts where numerous lawsuits against Trump’s declaration, including the Sierra Club and ACLU’s, will be considered.
Washington, DC -- Today, the Sierra Club took the Interior Department to court to hold it accountable for its failure to respond to basic Freedom of Information Act requests within the timeline required by law, or even to provide estimates of when such requests may be addressed.
Jackson, WY — A conservation coalition filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) today, asking a judge to order the agency to issue a long-overdue plan to phase out elk feeding on the Jackson Hole National Elk Refuge.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, the Senate voted 53-46 along party lines to confirm Neomi Rao to the D.C. Circuit Court. Rao has been widely-criticized by for her extreme and dangerous views on climate, sexual assault, LGBTQ rights, and civil rights. Rao is Trump’s 36th judge confirmed to appeals courts.
The Sierra Club and Environmental Integrity Project have announced their intention to file a civil lawsuit challenging Clean Air Act violations from the James Lake Gas Plant in Ector County, Texas.
Richmond, VA— Today, the Fourth Circuit declined to reconsider its December ruling that the U.S. Forest Service lacked authority to authorize the Atlantic Coast Pipeline from crossing the Appalachian Trail. The Court also found that Atlantic and the Forest Service ignored routes that would avoid the National Forest.
WASHINGTON — The American Civil Liberties Union, Sierra Club, ACLU of Texas, and ACLU of Northern California today filed a lawsuit challenging President Trump’s emergency powers declaration to secure funds to build a wall along the southern border. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Sierra Club and the Southern Border Communities Coalition and was filed in the Northern District of California.
A federal court ruling today further delayed the proposed Keystone XL pipeline by reaffirming that TransCanada cannot conduct any construction activity on the controversial tar sands pipeline and continuing to block most pre-construction field activities, including construction of worker camps.
Using documents produced by a Sierra Club FOIA, E&E reported today that Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler worried about the optics of a meeting with Peabody Energy Corp. The coal company had invited Wheeler to speak at a Washington Coal Club luncheon. In 2018, Peabody spent $1,650,000 lobbying for policies that would make coal more profitable to produce including rolling back pollution protections.
Today, officials with the Department of the Interior confirmed that destructive seismic testing will not take place in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge this winter.