In recent rulings, U.S. courts have defended the right to public health, clean water, and wildlife habitat. These 3 victories were hard-won by the environmental nonprofit, Earthjustice, and backed by the tireless effort of health, labor, and disability organizations along with Native tribes and environmental activists. While there are many more environmental battles left to fight, let’s take a moment to acknowledge the impactful work accomplished by holding both public and private organizations accountable for their actions.

3 Environmental Wins to Celebrate This Year

1. Toxic Chlorpyrifos Pesticide Banned on Food

Originally developed by Nazis for warfare, organophosphate pesticides have been widely used on food crops in the United States for years. Numerous scientific reviews, including the EPA’s human health hazard assessment, have found these nerve-agent pesticides harmful for human health. For instance, in-utero exposure to the toxic pesticide chlorpyrifos is directly linked to reduced IQ, attention disorders, and autism in kids. This exposure can take place through water, air, and food, while it is particularly dangerous for farmers.

In 2019, Earthjustice sued the EPA for failing to protect the health of American children, citing the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act which requires the EPA to ensure that a pesticide used on food won’t harm children. In April 2021, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Earthjustice and its clients, writing “The EPA’s egregious delay exposed a generation of American children to unsafe levels of chlorpyrifos.” As of August 2021, the EPA announced that it will ban chlorpyrifos from all food crops. Further, the agency must review the safety of two dozen additional organophosphate pesticides by the end of October 2022.

2. Clean Water Protections Restored

In 2020 under Trump’s administration, the EPA removed millions of streams and wetlands from Clean Water Act protections, allowing industries to dump toxic pollution directly into these bodies of water. This disastrous rule dubbed the “Dirty Water Rule” was enacted despite warnings from the agency’s own science advisors that such pollution could cause serious harm to drinking water supplies, recreational waters, wildlife, and people. Likewise, the traditions and livelihoods of 6 Native tribes relied on these bodies of water (the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, Tohono O’odham Nation, Quinault Indian Nation, Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, and the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa).

To this extent, Earthjustice sued the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers for damaging waters throughout the West, Southwest, and Great Lakes. In recent court rulings, the federal government wiped this Trump-era policy off the books, acknowledging the significant legal and scientific flaws. As a result, the Biden administration is now tasked with establishing a new rule that strengthens protections for U.S. waterways. In the interim, the country will return to the Safe Drinking Water Act amended in 1986.

3. Environmental Assessment Enforced for West Arctic Drilling

The Western Arctic is home to a vast variety of wildlife, including caribou, endangered polar bears, seals, and migratory birds from every continent. Under Trump, however, the Interior Department signed away this unique wildlife habitat to the highest bidder for fossil-fuel drilling. The oil giant, ConocoPhillips secured such a bid, devising a plan called the Willow Project to explore for oil and gas across 1.2 million acres of the Western Arctic. Their proposed construction included 37 miles of new gravel roads, seven bridges, an airstrip, and a gravel mine built on public lands, not to mention greenhouse gas emissions equal to 66 coal-fired power plants. In May 2021, President Biden’s administration defended the Willow project, an act that undermines Biden’s climate commitments.

In July 2021, 30 Democratic senators wrote to Interior Secretary Haaland, asking her to reconsider Interior’s stance on the Willow Project. In the race against climate change, Earthjustice also joined this fight, challenging the safety and legality of the Willow Project in the U.S. courts. In August 2021, a federal court sided with Earthjustice, calling out the agency for relying on unsupported greenhouse gas emissions estimates, in addition to ignoring the harm for endangered polar bears and the negative impact on the global climate. The Interior Department is now required to go back and conduct a thorough environmental assessment before coming to a new decision. While this victory is an important step in temporarily protecting the arctic from fossil-fuel drilling, it’s not a permanent solution.

Advocating to Resolve Environmental Issues

Safeguarding public health, clean water, and wildlife habitat are incredible feats, none of which would be possible without the tireless work of diverse advocates. Similarly, the U.S. courts’ recent rulings have illustrated how this difficult work can lead to tangible success. As Earthjustice succinctly says, “our lawyers measure success in clean air, clean water, and protected wild spaces.” However, there is still a lot of work to be done to ensure this success in the future, and more advocates are needed.

Learn how you can get involved and help social and environmental organizations make an impact.