Spokesmen for various industries often accuse environmentalists of being obsessed by bad news and overlooking the good. Usually these comments are self-serving, part of a campaign to convince the public that environmental laws are unnecessary.
Occasionally, however, even environmentalists are depressed by the seemingly endless stream of bad news. When I begin hearing these concerns expressed, I know that it is time to look back and celebrate our accomplishments.
Fortunately, all of us at Earthjustice-and all of us who care for the environment and our natural world-do have a lot to celebrate. In spite of the sustained attacks on the environment made by the most anti-environmental and pro-industry administration in American history, we estimate we had over 50 significant victories in 2002 alone, simply by going to court to enforce the law. ("Simply" refers to the concept; the work itself - bringing and winning important environmental cases - is anything but simple.)
Here are a few of the our lawyers' positive achievements:
WILDLIFE
Our Juneau office reined in the factory fishing fleet's excessive fishing in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska, where Steller sea lion populations that depend on those fish have declined 90 percent.
Our Denver office forced the Forest Service to reduce grazing levels on three million acres of Southwestern national forests where excessive grazing destroys habitat for imperiled native fish and wildlife.
The Seattle office made EPA take action to protect salmon listed under the Endangered Species Act from the effects of almost 50 waterborne pesticides that run into streams in the Pacific Northwest.
FORESTS
Working together, lawyers in a number of offices defeated attempts by industry and the administration to eliminate the Roadless Rule through judicial action, thus preserving more than 58 million acres of undeveloped and unspoiled national forest lands across the country from logging, mining and drilling.
The Juneau office stopped timber sales in undeveloped areas of Alaska's Tongass National Forest-home to wolves, bears, bald eagles and centuries-old trees.
Our Bozeman team saved 27,000 acres of undeveloped land in the Bitterroot National Forest from logging, protecting both important habitat for native fish and the public's right to appeal unlawful Forest Service decisions to higher-ups within the agency.
WATER
Our lawyers in Denver forced improvements to a local water conservation plan to reduce groundwater pumping that now threatens Arizona's San Pedro River and the dozens imperiled birds and other species that depend on it.
The Seattle office upheld the Forest Service's authority to regulate private water withdrawals through ditches crossing national forest land to protect minimum stream flows needed by endangered Chinook salmon, steelhead and bull trout.
PUBLIC LANDS
Our Oakland office stopped the logging, mining, road building industries and their allies from overturning the creation of the Giant Sequoia National Monument and five other national monuments
Our Denver lawyers forced the government to revamp plans for oil and gas exploration in the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument to protect the unique archeological sites that the monument was created to preserve.
AIR
The Earthjustice office in D.C. forced EPA to require stronger pollution controls for industries, cars, and trucks in Washington, D.C. and overturned an illegal extension of the deadline for attaining health-based air quality standards.
The D.C. team also forced EPA to begin the cleanup of smog in communities across the country where the air is too dirty to meet 1997 national air quality standards issued to protect public health.
OTHER
Our Seattle lawyers kept the EPA from backtracking on its phase-out of Vinclozolin, a fungicide that has poisoned farm workers.
Lawyers in our International Program ensured that at least one genuine environmental representative will be appointed to the formerly all-industry committee that advises the U.S. about the international trade in chemicals and toxic waste.
I'm running out of room long before I've finished, but the message should be clear: environmental progress is still possible. Earthjustice we will continue to criticize misguided environmental policies and practices and the threat they pose to the Earth that sustains us. But we will also rejoice when we advance the environmental cause, knowing that we are building the foundation for further successes in the future.
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