Oct 30, 2023

CLF Report Examines Future of Bioenergy

“It’s critical that we separate fact from fiction when it comes to biofuels,” said Caitlin Peale Sloan, Vice President of CLF Massachusetts. “The fossil fuel industry is pushing solutions like renewable natural gas as a silver bullet to confront the climate crisis with little evidence. The truth is these fuels will still pollute our climate and our air, and they must be used only in limited cases.”

gas is an expensive, polluting fossil fuel
May 11, 2023

EPA to Propose Strict Pollution Limits for Power Plants

“Communities across New England have been living in the shadow of polluting fossil fuel plants for decades,” said CLF President Brad Campbell. “Slashing emissions from these power plants is an essential step to meeting our climate goals and cleaning up the air in these communities. We can’t afford to allow this damaging pollution to continue, and EPA’s approach proposes to drive down those emissions over time and will increase opportunities for proven technologies like solar and wind.”

Merrimack Station in Bow, New Hampshire
Nov 01, 2022

Emergency Petition Seeks to Shield Right Whale Moms, Calves From Ship Strikes

“A newborn calf spends most of the first few months of its life on the surface with its mother,” said Erica Fuller, senior attorney at Conservation Law Foundation. “Given that these whales are tough to see under the best of circumstances, slowing boats down is the only way to prevent collisions like those that have killed whales, injured people, and caused major vessel damage in the past.”

A right whale adult and calf near the water's surface
Sep 22, 2022

Manchin ‘Side Deal’ Would Roll Back Bedrock Environmental Protections

“This bill is a thinly veiled attempt to shut out community input and roll back bedrock environmental protections like the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act — effectively green-lighting scores of bad fossil fuel projects and stymying the just and clean energy transition President Biden says he supports,” said CLF President Bradley Campbell.

Jul 12, 2022

Federal Appeals Court Reinstates Right Whales Seasonal Protection

“With an extinction crisis unfolding in real-time, this decision is necessary for the recovery of North Atlantic right whales,” said Erica Fuller, senior attorney at Conservation Law Foundation. “The fact is, this area wasn’t chosen at random. It’s an area where science showed a deadly trifecta of dense lobster gear, heavy lines, and whales for a few months of the year. The court made the right call in reaffirming the decision, which will have a significant impact on this dwindling whale population.” 

A right whale swimming off the coast of New England
Jul 12, 2022

UnitedHealth Group Commits $25 Million to New England
Healthy Neighborhoods Fund

“For too long, low-income communities have been excluded from investments in healthy and sustainable housing and small businesses,” said Gina Foote, director of Impact Investment at Conservation Law Foundation. “With help from UnitedHealth Group and the Healthy Neighborhoods Equity Fund, that’s finally beginning to change. This investment will lead to more vibrant and inclusive neighborhoods across southern New England.”

Jun 30, 2022

Supreme Court Deals Severe Blow to EPA

“The Supreme Court’s new majority has hobbled EPA’s ability to reduce pollution from power plants, expanding an obscure doctrine into an all-purpose tool for the Court to stop agencies from acting on the most significant threats to human health and the environment,” said CLF President Bradley Campbell.  “By arbitrarily limiting EPA’s explicit and broad authority under the Clean Air Act to require the use of less polluting systems, the Court has consigned millions of Americans to more illness, shorter lives, and greater poverty in an overheated climate, while giving itself nearly unlimited authority to invalidate protections and safeguards intended by Congress.”  

smoke stack emissions
Jun 14, 2022

CLF Intervenes in Marine Monument Case

“With our ocean in peril from unsustainable human use and climate impacts, now is not the time to be rolling back necessary protections,” said CLF Senior Attorney Erica Fuller. “The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts is a biological hotspot that provides a refuge for a remarkable diversity of wildlife and has enormous scientific value. We look forward to standing up for the monument in court.”

Nov 12, 2021

Court Rejects Federal Attempt to Sink Right Whale Ship Strike Lawsuit

“At this juncture, the fact NMFS hasn’t already addressed deaths due to vessel collisions is beyond incomprehensible,” said Erica Fuller, a senior attorney at Conservation Law Foundation. “We hope this will force the agency to take emergency action rather than wait until next spring to start a new rule-making process. That kind of delay does little to protect the moms traveling up and down the coast now.”

North Atlantic right whales help our climate and make our ocean more resilient. We must push for better protections to protect our valuable partners in this fight. Photo: NOAA