Earthjustice - Because the Earth needs a good lawyer. Dear Professor VASILIOS GIKAS, Earthjustice marked another highly successful year in 2013, winning a broad variety of court victories that resulted in significant protections for the environment and human health. We would like to share five of our top accomplishments with you in recognition of the key role our supporters play in helping us achieve these victories. We couldn’t do it without you, Professor. —Trip Van Noppen President, Earthjustice P.S. Thank you again for your support in making these victories possible! BRINGING BACK BISON For years, the few wild bison left on the Great Plains were harassed and slaughtered whenever they ventured outside Yellowstone National Park. Court decisions in our favor this year gave these magnificent creatures more room to roam outside park boundaries and cleared the way for their return to tribal lands. IMPORTANCE: Our victory allows an icon of the American West to roam more freely on its historic range. RETIRING REID GARDNER COAL PLANT Earthjustice represented the Moapa Paiute tribe in its fight against the Reid Gardner coal plant, the tribe’s notoriously polluting neighbor. This year the Nevada legislature voted to retire the plant and develop more clean energy instead—a move that will help clean up haze at national parks throughout the region. IMPORTANCE: Our efforts helped close a plant that has rained pollution on a nearby community, taking a terrible toll on residents. The Reid Gardner coal plant. (Chris Jordan-Bloch / Earthjustice) Country barn. (Nicholas Tonelli / Flickr CC) DEFENDING THE RIGHT TO BAN FRACKING When the people of Dryden, New York, stood up to powerful corporations and banned oil and gas drilling within town limits, industry took them to court. Representing the Town, Earthjustice stepped up to defend the right of communities to control what happens on their own land—and we won. IMPORTANCE: Our win held the line against fracking and provided inspiration for hundreds of similar communities across the country. STOPPING DEVASTATION BY THE SPRUCE MINE The Spruce Mine would have dynamited thousands of acres of mountaints and forests in the Appalachian region of West Virginia, then dumped the waste into valleys and waterways. We rallied opposition and successfully urged the EPA to veto the mine’s permit, then supported that veto against court challenges. IMPORTANCE: A team effort stopped one of the largest mountaintop removal mines ever proposed for Appalachia—a milestone in the fight. The Appalachian Mountains. (Dave Allen / Shutterstock) The Colorado River slices through the Grand Canyon. (Sarah Neal / iStockPhoto) PROTECTING THE GRAND CANYON When a uranium mining boom threatened to industrialize and pollute the area surrounding the Grand Canyon, the Interior Department imposed a 20-year ban on new mining claims. The industry filed suit to repeal the ban, but Earthjustice stepped in to defend it, and the trial court has upheld it. IMPORTANCE: This victory protects a spectacular national treasure from the toxic effects of uranium mining. ©2013 Earthjustice | 50 California Street, Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94111 | 415-217-2000
Posted on: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 14:19:50 +0000
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