Making an Impact

For more than 60 years, CLF has gone head-to-head with those who would pollute our air and water, harm our communities, and damage our climate – in the courts, in state houses, and at the negotiating table.

1966

STOPPING IRRESPONSIBLE DEVELOPMENT

CLF is founded to save Massachusetts’ iconic Mt. Greylock from development as a ski resort.

1978

PROTECTING OUR OCEAN

Our legal challenge stops offshore drilling on Georges Bank, an area vital to the region’s fishing economy.

1978

PROTECTING ICONIC TREASURES

CLF works with partners to prevent a four-lane highway through Franconia Notch, protecting its dramatic scenery.

1983

CLEANING UP BOSTON HARBOR

CLF sues the EPA and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to force the cleanup of Boston Harbor, prompting its transformation from an open sewer to a thriving waterfront.

2002

SAFEGUARDING VERMONTERS

CLF opposes the “fire sale” of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. In 2014, after ears of advocating for the plant’s closure, CLF celebrates the announcement of plans to shutter the facility that year.

2006

PUSHING FOR CLEAN WATER

CLF prevails in requiring the City of Portsmouth to adopt stricter clean-up technology for its Peirce Island Wastewater Treatment Plant, one of the largest plants on the New Hampshire seacoast.

2006

PRESERVING OUR WILD PLACES

CLF acts as a leading member of the coalition that drove passage of the New England Wilderness Act of 2006 – protecting more than 80,000 acres of wild forests in the Green and White Mountains.

2008

CREATING CLIMATE LAWS

CLF pushes forward landmark legislation in Massachusetts that creates enforceable Limits on climate-damaging emissions.

In 2014, CLF successfully pushes for full enforcement of that law before the Massachusetts Supreme Court.

2016

CHAMPIONING CLEAN ENERGY

CLF advocates successfully for the opening of the nation’s first offshore wind farm off the coast of Block Island in Rhode Island.

2016

HOLDING BIG OIL ACCOUNTABLE

CLF launches groundbreaking lawsuits against Big Oil companies for failing to protect their vulnerable facilities from climate disaster, leaving New England communities at risk from toxic spills.

2016

SAVING AN OCEAN TREASURE

CLF and our partners successfully campaign for President Obama to designate the first marine national monument in the Atlantic: the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts.

2019–2021

LEADING THE NATION

CLF successfully advocates for Maine, Vermont, and Rhode Island to join Massachusetts and Connecticut in passing binding laws to limit carbon pollution. New England states lead the nation in this climate action.

2021

TACKLING PLASTIC POLLUTION

In an effort to stem the tide of plastic pollution, CLF and our partners in Maine push the passage of a first-of-its-kind law that makes big corporations pay the costs to dispose of their wasteful polluting packaging.

2023

SHUTTING DOWN EXXONMOBIL

Under pressure from CLF’s 2016 lawsuit, ExxonMobil shutters and sells its polluting oil terminal in Everett, Massachusetts. In a further win for the community, CLF and Exxon agree the site can never be used for oil storage again.

2024

ENDING COAL IN NEW ENGLAND

After decades of advocacy by CLF and our partners, New England’s last coal-fired power plants agree to shut down – marking the end of coal in New England.

2026

POWERING NEW ENGLAND WITH CLEAN WIND ENERGY

After years of advocacy for responsibly sited offshore wind, CLF celebrates when Vineyard Wind and Revolution Wind start sending power to hundreds of thousands of New England homes and businesses.