Though Trump may be intent on killing wind energy, the fact is that it already accounts for a significant share of the nation’s electricity. In 2023, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, wind energy made up 10.2% of utility-scale electricity generation. Before the Trump administration attacks, wind energy also supported approximately 131,000 U.S. jobs.
CLF has doubled down on our clean air and water litigation over the past year. CLF built its reputation enforcing bedrock environmental laws, including leading milestone lawsuits that led to the cleanup of Boston Harbor and the construction of a new Green Line subway line as redress for the air pollution caused by the Big Dig tunnel project. Today, we are building on that legacy by serving as an essential stopgap in the absence of federal oversight. And we’ve been successful – doggedly enforcing laws against powerful corporations content to dump toxic chemicals into our waterways or choke our air with dangerous fumes.
Vermont’s ground-breaking Climate Superfund Act is the first law in the nation designed to make fossil fuel companies pay their fair share of cleanup costs after the increasingly frequent, severe storms we are experiencing because of the climate change their products cause.
In South Providence, Rhode Island, residents near the Port of Providence have lived under the hulking shadow of Shell Oil storage tanks for years. Twenty-five aging tanks sit on 75 acres along Allens Avenue, directly in a flood zone, as luck – or rather carelessness – would have it.
“These facilities are ticking time bombs,” says Darrèll Brown, vice president for CLF Rhode Island.
There’s no denying that powerful actors (or countries) have stepped away from their responsibility to the planet.
But it’s not all bad news. There are some surprisingly positive developments afoot when it comes to the environment.
Despite this year’s backflip to the polar temperatures and snowfall totals of a bygone era, winters are undeniably becoming shorter and milder. The last decade of relatively warm, dry winters has made that clear, with temperatures accelerating upward over the last five years.
You’re not just where you live or what school you go to, or what medical diagnosis you might have. You have many different identities, and they impact how you experience the world and how the world experiences you.
Mashapaug pond, which at times turns an artificial neon green, has been a no-go zone for years. Stormwater pollution flows here from roughly 70 industrial and commercial properties in the neighborhood. Every time it rains or snowpack melts, oil, grease, chemicals, and other sediment wash from nearby paved surfaces – around industrial facilities and a shopping center – into the pond.
Only about a third of Americans talk to family and friends about climate change, but conversation is a catalyst to change.
It’s been a tough year. But in all the chaos and drama, CLF staffers found many things to be grateful for.
