Johanna Epke
Staff Attorney | CLF Massachusetts | She/Her
Johanna Epke is a Staff Attorney working in transportation, environmental justice, and climate resilience. Johanna brings her diverse legal, political, and organizing experience to bear to advance CLF’s goals in these areas. Prior to joining CLF, Johanna worked in election reform, and served as general counsel for American Promise in Massachusetts and grassroots organizer for Move to Amend in California and New York. She previously practiced environmental law in California, working in air pollution, energy, and environmental justice.
Johanna has a J.D. and Certificate in Environmental and Natural Resource Law from Lewis & Clark Law School, and a B.A. in Environmental Studies with a Minor in Legal Studies from University of California, Santa Cruz. She is licensed to practice in California.
Recent Posts
Nov 1 2023
Like most people, I prepare when it looks like a major storm will sweep through my neighborhood and knock out my power. I locate candles, set out flashlights, and make sure my phone and laptop are fully charged. Shockingly, Massachusetts’ electric companies aren’t doing their share of preparation for big storms. Sure, they send out…
Jul 6 2023
Extended heat waves, stronger winds, more intense rainstorms – these are some of the climate impacts already affecting New England. According to scientists, these impacts will only worsen in the coming years. Unfortunately, these problems often hit communities of color and low-income residents first and hardest. Federal and state governments have taken steps to tackle our…
Nov 29 2022
On January 29, 2022, over 115,000 Massachusetts residents were left without power as blizzard-strength winds raged outside and the sky dumped several feet of snow. Twenty-four hours later, nearly 3,000 people still shivered in the dark. This storm was not the first devastating nor’easter New Englanders have suffered, and it won’t be the last. Every…
Feb 14 2022
It hasn’t been a year since the deadly storm that woke Texas and the nation up to the fragility of our electricity grid, yet it seems like we’ve already forgotten the lessons learned. Watchdogs in Texas say that regulators are falling down on the job, and the state still may have no winterization standards by…
Sep 17 2021
When it comes to investment in transportation infrastructure in this country, communities of color and low-income communities have been overburdened and underserved for decades. Transit policy and planning decisions between the 1950s and 1970s were particularly harmful. The build-out of our national highway system divided neighborhoods and displaced Black, Brown, and low-income communities. It also…
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