Aug 06, 2020

Vessel Speed Limits Needed to Protect Endangered North Atlantic Right Whales

“Right whale recovery has been plagued by two major threats: entanglements and vessel strikes,” said Erica Fuller, Senior Attorney at Conservation Law Foundation. “In the Northeast, we’ve been addressing entanglement risks for several years, and we must address the risk of ship strikes. Preventing entanglements but not vessel strikes is like paying your mortgage but not your taxes. You need to do both if you want to keep your house.”

Jul 16, 2020

CLF is Challenging the Trump EPA Over Water Protection Rollbacks

This spring, the Trump administration reversed stronger protections for our nation’s waters, putting people, animals, and local businesses at risk. CLF and our partners are fighting this latest attack: We’re taking the administration to court.  

Mystic River
Jul 15, 2020

Trump Finalizes Rollback of Critical Environmental Rule

“Once again, President Trump is sacrificing the public good at the altar of the fossil fuel industry, pretending to sit on a throne rather than executing the laws as written by Congress,” said CLF President Bradley Campbell. “Instead of expediting worthy projects, Trump’s overreach and disregard of the law will mean more lawsuits and greater distrust of agency actions, while eliminating what is often the only avenue for the public to understand, help shape, or oppose ill-advised projects that put their health and their communities at risk.”

Photo: Shutterstock
Jul 14, 2020

States Pledge to Increase Electric Truck and Bus Usage

“Electric cars, trucks, and buses are the future,” said CLF Senior Attorney Emily Green. “Cutting transportation emissions to zero is a critical piece of confronting the climate crisis and protecting public health from toxic exhaust. This is yet another example of states leading the way while the federal government turns back the clock on environmental progress.

Jul 09, 2020

Right Whales Declared Critically Endangered

“This is a barometer and the forecast for right whales could still go either way,” said CLF Senior Attorney Erica Fuller. “With a calf recently found dead of blunt trauma caused by a vessel strike, we’re one step closer to extinction. While this new status doesn’t  change legal obligations here at home, it’s a reminder that to save this species, we can’t wait any longer for necessary long term protections.”

right whale aerial shot
Jul 07, 2020

Community-Based, Environmental and Civil Rights Activists Across Country Issue Statement and Unified Demands

Amy Laura Cahn, Senior Attorney, Interim Director – Healthy Communities & Environmental Justice, Conservation Law Foundation, said, ““The data is clear: COVID-19 is attacking Black, Latinx, and Indigenous communities at astronomical rates. For generations, our legal system has withheld resources and legal protections from these communities while shielding whiter, wealthier areas from environmental harm. Now is the time to create new systems that prioritize the rights, health, and self-determination of those who have been denied these freedoms since before this country’s inception.”

Jun 25, 2020

Right Whale Found Dead in U.S. Waters

“This death is a tragedy,” said Erica Fuller, CLF Senior Attorney. “Like most of the right whales before it, this one didn’t die of natural causes. NOAA must take the threat of ship strikes seriously. We urgently need more surveillance of whale habitats and mandatory vessel speed restrictions in these areas as soon as possible.” 

Right whale - protect right whales from vessel strikes