NRDC Files 100th Lawsuit Against the Trump Administration

The president’s attacks haven’t rested since the moment he entered office. Neither have ours.
Credit: Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty

The president’s attacks haven’t rested since the moment he entered office. Neither have ours.

Marking NRDC’s 100th lawsuit against the Trump administration in just over 1,000 days, NRDC and a coalition of fishing and conservation groups today challenged the U.S. Department of the Interior’s moves to weaken protections for endangered fish species in California’s Bay-Delta watershed and allow massive water projects to increase diversions from the imperiled estuary.

In the past three years, NRDC and our litigators have gone toe-to-toe with half of the president’s Cabinet. Of the 61 cases that have been resolved—either by court decision or by the defendants’ yielding—we’ve scored wins in 92 percent of them. These victories represent stronger protections from harmful chemicals, conservation of our oceans, fewer greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere, less energy waste in our homes, and renewed chances for survival for endangered species.

“I started my job at NRDC five days after Trump’s inauguration and immediately got to work on our lawsuit against the president’s disastrous 2-for-1 executive order and our fight to stop the Keystone XL pipeline,” says Cecilia Segal, an attorney on NRDC’s litigation team. “Our Trump defense work hasn’t slowed down since—but the hard work is paying off.”

Left to right: Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, then Energy secretary Rick Perry, and EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler listen as President Trump speaks at the 2019 Shale Insight Conference in Pittsburgh.
Credit: Evan Vucci/AP Photo

Even with a winning record, the job of NRDC and our partners never gets easier. President Trump has shuffled his deck, replacing the scandal-laden Scott Pruitt and Ryan Zinke with former lobbyists Andrew Wheeler and David Bernhardt at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of the Interior, respectively. The administration’s attempts to skirt law and science have gotten more cunning, with attacks on the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, and other bedrock protections.

“Utilizing the legal experience of our attorneys, the expertise of our advocates and scientists, and the collective power of our partners, NRDC will continue to defend these protections from the administration and its industry friends,” says Segal.

No administration is above the law—and NRDC will continue to prove that.

 

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