| Founded | 1971 |
|---|---|
| Location | Oakland, California, United States |
| Focus | Environmentalism, Public Health |
| Employees | Approx. 150[1] |
| Motto | "Because the earth needs a good lawyer" |
| Website | earthjustice.org |
Earthjustice is a non-profit public interest law firm based in the United States that specializes in cases protecting natural resources, safeguarding public health, and promoting clean energy. It is headquartered in San Francisco, has nine regional offices across the United States, an international department, a communications team, and a policy team in Washington, DC.
Earthjustice was named one of America’s 100 best charities by Worth magazine[2] and receives the highest 4 star rating from Charity Navigator.[3]
The organization is recognized for its memorable tagline "Because the earth needs a good lawyer," which was voted in a 2009 online contest as one of the best nonprofit taglines out of 1,702 entries.[4]
In 2010, Earthjustice launched an innovative fundraising campaign using the popular location-based social networking app, foursquare. The ad campaign, which ran in billboards in San Francisco's BART system, gained national recognition as one of the first successful nonprofit uses of foursquare, and was featured in media outlets such as the New York Times, Mashable, and MacLife magazine, as well as books such as Carmine Gallo's The Power of Foursquare.[5][6][7][8]
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The organization was founded in 1971 as the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, though it was fully independent from the Sierra Club. It changed its name to Earthjustice in 1997 to better reflect its role as a legal advocate representing hundreds of regional, national and international organizations. As of January 2009, the group has provided free legal representation to more than 700 clients ranging from the Sierra Club, World Wildlife Fund, and the American Lung Association to smaller state and community groups, such as the Maine Lobstermen’s Association and the Friends of the Everglades.[9]
Earthjustice is a nonprofit and does not charge any of its clients for its services. Funding for the organization comes from individual donations and foundations. It does not receive any funding from corporations or governments.
Earthjustice’s work is divided into three major campaigns:[10]
Protecting Our Natural Heritage focuses on cases that protect endangered species, national forests, national parks, and other public lands.
Safeguarding Our Health focuses on cases that protect public health, in particular clean air and water, toxic chemicals, GMOs, and mercury.
Promoting a Clean Energy Future focuses on cases that encourage clean energy and energy efficiency while challenging the reliance on coal, oil and other fossil fuels.
Earthjustice also partners with organizations from other regions, including Latin America, Russia, Japan, and China to promote the development of environmental law in their respective countries. Every year, Earthjustice submits a country-by-country report on Human Rights and the Environment to the United Nations.[11]
Earthjustice has been a critical player in a number of important, precedent-setting cases regarding environmental protection in the United States.
In the 1972 Supreme Court case, Sierra Club v. Morton, Earthjustice (then known as the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund) helped establish the right of citizens to sue for environmental damages. The case ultimately forced the Walt Disney Corporation to drop its plans to develop an enormous ski resort in the Mineral King valley in California’s Sierra Nevada Range. The valley was preserved and has since been incorporated into Sequoia National Park.[12]
In the 2006 Supreme Court case, Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency, Earthjustice attorneys helped a coalition of state governments and conservation groups force the EPA to fight global warming by limiting greenhouse gas emissions. It was the first Supreme Court case to ever address the issue of climate change.[13]
In 1998, Earthjustice helped local community groups convince the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to withdraw an approval to construct a uranium enrichment plant between two low-income, predominantly African-American communities near Homer, Louisiana. It was the first time a government agency had formally embraced the principle of environmental justice in its decision-making.[14]