EarthJustice
New Head of Earthjustice’s Hawai‘i Office Takes on Environmental Challenges New Head of Earthjustice’s Hawai‘i Office Takes on Environmental Challenges Isaac Moriwake spoke with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser about climate change, water rights, and how you can lose the battle but win the war Isaac Moriwake is Earthjustice's new Mid-Pacific Office Managing Attorney. MATT MALLAMS FOR EARTHJUSTICE This article originally appeared in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser as “Name in the News: Isaac Moriwake.” The Hawai‘i office of Earthjustice, the environmental law organization, has been in the middle of some of the most contentious environmental issues in recent years — water rights, renewable energy, endangered species protection, sustainable agriculture — making a name…
Trump’s ‘Emergency’ Border Wall Threatens My HomeTrump’s ‘Emergency’ Border Wall Threatens My Home We’re suing the Trump administration over its attempt to manufacture a crisis and build a massive, hateful, unnecessary border wall. Descendants of Eli Jackson stand in a 145-year-old Texan church that bears his name. Construction on Trump's border wall may desecrate a cemetery next to the church. Image Courtesy of Sylvia Ramirez For some people who live along the U.S.-Mexico border, President Trump’s attempt to declare a national emergency and extend the border wall is worse than a wasteful, unconstitutional stunt. It’s an attack on their way of life that threatens to desecrate…
Earthjustice Attorney Draws on Tradition to Revive Hawai‘i’s StreamsEarthjustice Attorney Draws on Tradition to Revive Hawai‘i’s Streams Recently promoted to lead Earthjustice’s Mid-Pacific Office, Isaac Moriwake fights to ensure that Hawaiʻi’s cultural and environmental values are reflected in the law. Earthjustice managing attorney Isaac Moriwake stands on his O‘ahu rooftop, which has been retrofitted with solar panels. MATT MALLAMS FOR EARTHJUSTICE For Isaac Moriwake, the path to practicing environmental law was part of a personal journey of rediscovering his home in Hawaiʻi. Like many people born and raised in the islands, Moriwake grew up with a deep connection to the land and the ocean. In traditional Native Hawaiian culture,…
Trump Regulators Gave Oil Industry a Pass to Injure Whales, and We’re Fighting BackTrump Regulators Gave Oil Industry a Pass to Injure Whales, and We’re Fighting Back In its attempt to open up U.S. waters to the fossil fuel industry, the Trump administration gave a green light to conduct harmful seismic surveys. We’re taking them to court. The Trump administration has authorized seismic surveying that will harm North Atlantic right whales like the ones shown here. Only about 400 whales of this species remain. NOAA photo Courtesy of The Guardian Recently, Rep. Joe Cunningham (D-SC) blasted a Trump official with an air horn. During a House committee hearing on the environmental impact of…
Trump Administration Waives Safety Rules Meant to Prevent Another BP Deepwater Horizon DisasterTrump Administration Waives Safety Rules Meant to Prevent Another BP Deepwater Horizon Disaster Waivers and planned rollback of Well Control Rule put lives at risk. Fire boat response crews battle the blazing remnants of the offshore oil rig Deepwater Horizon. Photo Courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard President Donald Trump and members of his administration who hold deep ties to the fossil fuel industry have set forth to plunder America’s offshore and onshore public lands and waters, even at the cost of endangering human lives. As Politico recently revealed, the Trump administration’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has issued 1,700 waivers that…
Trophy Hunter Kills a Famous Yellowstone WolfTrophy Hunter Kills a Famous Yellowstone Wolf The fate of Spitfire is a warning of what could happen to wolves elsewhere in the U.S. if Congress and the Trump administration proceed with plans to strip protections from these imperiled creatures. Lamar Canyon wolves in Yellowstone. In November 2018 a trophy hunter killed the Lamar Canyon pack's alpha female, a wolf nicknamed "Spitfire." Image Courtesy of Tom Murphy Update, 3/6/19: The Trump administration has announced a plan to strip Endangered Species Act protections from wolves across almost all of the lower 48. Urge your governor to oppose this attack! Original post,…
The EPA Won’t Do Its Air-Protection Job, So We’re Putting It on NoticeThe EPA Won’t Do Its Air-Protection Job, So We’re Putting It on Notice We just notified the EPA that we will sue it in 60 days if it doesn't comply with the law. A haze of smog covers the Port of Houston. James Dillard Sometimes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s job can be complicated. Sometimes it has to explore questions on the cutting edge of science. But sometimes its job is really simple. This is one of those times — and yet the EPA still hasn’t done what the law requires. So, we just sent the EPA a notice of…
Trump Official Working to Steer California’s Water to a Greedy FewTrump Official Working to Steer California’s Water to a Greedy Few The Supreme Court upheld protections for a tiny fish, preserving an important tenet of the Endangered Species Act. Now the Trump administration wants to undo that victory. An adult delta smelt. Dale Kolke / California Department of Water Resources Update, 2/13/19: In 2015, the Supreme Court denied a Big Ag attack on the tiny fish known as the delta smelt, preventing a water grab by a powerful few at the expense of a vast ecosystem in California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Now acting Secretary of the Interior and former lobbyist…
Insects Are Disappearing at an Alarming Rate. Here’s What We’re Doing.Insects Are Disappearing at an Alarming Rate. Here’s What We’re Doing. Earthjustice is fighting to stop the use of neonicotinoid pesticides, which are wiping out beneficial insects and threatening the health of our planet. A honey bee alights on a cherry blossom in Stockton, California. Bees and other insects face a global extinction crisis. CHRIS JORDAN-BLOCH / EARTHJUSTICE A world without insects would be one part sad — no butterflies, no bees — and one part terrifying: a collapse of human food systems, and a planet covered in dung and rotting carcasses. That’s what scientists warn is coming if insect…
Court Ruling Aids Wolves’ Return to CaliforniaCourt Ruling Aids Wolves’ Return to California A judge’s decision to uphold California’s protections for wolves is a step in the right direction, but one lone wolf’s epic journey across state lines shows that federal protections are necessary to ensure the species’ continued survival. A remote camera snapped this photo of a wolf pup in California's Lassen National Forest in 2017. Recently a state judge upheld protections for California's growing wolf population. U.S. Forest Service via AP Update, 3/6/19: The Trump administration has announced a plan to strip Endangered Species Act protections from wolves across almost all of the lower…
Arctic Refuge Oil Surveys Put Polar Bears In The CrosshairsArctic Refuge Oil Surveys Put Polar Bears In The Crosshairs Oil and gas industrialization would destroy one of the last truly intact wilderness areas on Earth Polar bear mother with two cubs on an ice floe in the Arctic Ocean. Sepp Friedhuber / Getty Images Send an army of industry workers into remote polar bear territory in the dead of winter, and things are not going to end well. The Arctic Refuge is located in northeastern Alaska. Yet that’s just what the Trump administration would open the door to as it prepares for oil and gas drilling and moves to…
D.C. Is Shut Down for the People — and Open for President Trump’s Corporate CroniesD.C. Is Shut Down for the People — and Open for President Trump’s Corporate Cronies The government is working just fine for the oil and gas industry. Union members and IRS workers rallied against the federal government shutdown in Covington, Kentucky, on Jan. 10, 2019. John Minchillo / AP This week, the heartbreaking struggles faced by out-of-work federal employees and the people who rely on them made headlines, amplifying the impacts of the government shutdown. Furloughed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency employees are struggling to pay for child care. Families living near Superfund sites wonder if they’ll be safe from radioactive…
Reading Between the Lines of Wheeler’s Pro-Polluter AgendaReading Between the Lines of Wheeler’s Pro-Polluter Agenda The EPA nominee may not give the media a climate denial sound bite, but he clearly has no intention to tackle the problem. As acting EPA administrator, Andrew Wheeler has already pushed forward policies that favor polluters. CLIFF OWEN / AP IMAGES Former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler’s confirmation hearing Wednesday for the EPA’s top role offered the public a glimpse of how he’s likely to run the agency: with a mild-mannered tone that masks a climate denier agenda. Wheeler's testimony confirms that he's going continue to pursue much the same polluter-friendly policies…
The Storm Moved on, But North Carolina’s Hog Waste Didn’tThe Storm Moved on, But North Carolina’s Hog Waste Didn’t Earthjustice and our partners are working to prevent future hog waste floods in the area hit hardest by Hurricane Florence. During Hurricane Florence, concentrated animal feeding operations like this one in Warsaw, North Carolina, flooded the surrounding community with hog waste. Justin Cook for Earthjustice It’s been nearly four months since Hurricane Florence battered the North Carolina coast, dumping 9 trillion gallons of water on the state in the span of four days. In Duplin County, home to the nation’s largest concentration of industrial hog operations, the storm’s deluge laid…
With a Stroke of Red Marker, Zinke Leaves Interior to His DeputyWith a Stroke of Red Marker, Zinke Leaves Interior to His Deputy The new acting Interior Secretary, David Bernhardt, has been described as a "walking conflict of interest." David Bernhardt, a former lobbyist for major polluting projects, is taking over as acting Secretary of Interior. David Zalubowski / AP Update, Feb. 4: President Trump announces his nomination of Deputy Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt to lead the Department of Interior. “The Trump administration’s dirty industry favor factory is working harder than ever with the nomination of David Bernhardt,” said Martin Hayden, Earthjustice's VP of Policy & Legislation. “The Senate…
