From the Inbox: Judge Halts Arctic Drilling

July 2010         At a Glance: In The News Trip Oil Disaster Features unEARTHED In The Win Take Action "The decision brought tears of joy in the village." -Reaction of Inupiat Eskimo community to drilling ban (AP) Oil/Gas Activities Stopped in Chukchi   Breaking News...   Earthjustice legal action has halted oil and gas exploration on leases in the Arctic's Chukchi Sea granted by the disgraced federal Minerals Management Service. A federal judge ruled that the government failed to follow environmental law. Read More Working To Prevent Another Oil Disaster: Earthjustice is taking strong court and other actions to make sure the BP oil tragedy is not repeated in the Gulf, in the Arctic, or anywhere along America's coasts. Our goal—to make federal agencies do their jobs and stop being cozy with companies like BP. Read | Comment Too Dangerous for Humans Decades ago, in one of my first cases as a young lawyer, I protected a young woman from the toxic pesticide chlorpyrifos. Today, I am proud to say, Earthjustice is filing suit to permanently ban the widespread spraying of this dangerous compound in fields and orchards across America. Read the full story | Comment "Chlorpyrifos can cause ... nausea, dizziness, confusion ... respiratory paralysis and death." — EPA, Chlorpyrifos Factsheet Support Us Protect Our Air and Water! Earthjustice is working through the courts and on Capitol Hill to keep our air and water free of toxins. Help safeguard our environmental health by making a special gift today. From Earthjustice's blog: John McManus: The fate of many wolves in Montana is in a judge's hands. Read Liz Judge: At this moment, Senate leaders are racing to prepare a climate and energy bill for a vote as soon as next week. Read David Guest: The Gulf oil threat is easing, but now we face cleanup and the sad task of assessing impacts on wildlife. Read Brian Smith: Four moms climbed Washington's iconic Mt. Rainier last weekend to make a statement about coal. Read Earthjustice and its allies won advances—or outright victories—across a broad front: Celebrating Survival of The Spotted Owl Twenty years ago, all that stood between old-growth forests and chainsaws was a shy bird with big eyes and an infamous name. Today, that bird—the northern spotted owl—continues to survive in ancient forests still standing because of a landmark Earthjustice victory.  Read More Fishermen Win in Fight To Protect Groundfish A federal magistrate has ordered the National Marine Fisheries Service to reconsider its rejection of a petition by New England fishermen to stop industrial herring trawl ships from slaughtering cod and haddock inside sanctuaries designed for their protection. The petition was filed by Earthjustice in 2007 on behalf of groundfish fishermen.  Read More Historic Limits On Greenhouse Emissions The first-ever national limits on greenhouse gas pollution from cars and light trucks went into effect July 6. Long-sought by Earthjustice, the rules are but a necessary step towards reining in the major causes of global warming. Next, we need passage of strong climate change / clean energy legislation.  Read More EPA Comes To Aid of Choking Communities Communities located near polluting industries may benefit from an EPA agreement to review and update hazardous air pollution rules covering 28 types of industrial facilities, including pesticide production operations, lead smelters, aerospace facilities and pharmaceutical plants, among others. The proposed decree results from a January 2009 lawsuit by Earthjustice, seeking to end years of delay by the Bush administration.  Read More MMS Waives Oil Industry Waivers In the aftermath of the Gulf oil spill—and following an Earthjustice lawsuit—the former Minerals Management Service ended its practice of allowing oil companies to exploratory drill without adequate plans to prevent and control oil well blowouts, and clean up after them. We still are striving to make sure all offshore drilling in the Gulf is done with adequate blowout prevention and oil spill response preparedness.  Read More | View Slideshow Legal Action Spawns Huge Salmon Run Court-ordered water releases—brought by Earthjustice legal action—have helped create the greatest sockeye salmon run in the Columbia-Snake River system in more than 70 years.  Read More Take Action EPA: Don't Let Big Polluters Trash Our Lungs! A reckless rule proposed by the EPA could expose us to the effects of toxic air pollution—respiratory illness, birth defects, cancer and other serious health problems. Tell EPA: Abandon this dangerous rule today! Only 1 week left to submit your comment! Take action today! Connect Join us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter! Watch us on YouTube! Earthjustice. Because the earth needs a good lawyer. Earthjustice is the nation's leading, non-profit law firm for the environment. To learn more about our work, visit our website, http://www.earthjustice.org. Photo Credits - Main photo, top: Kitiwakes resting on the sea ice. The impact of an oilspill in the arctic ocean environment would have devestating effects on marine species from birds to marine mammals. Chukchi Sea, Alaskan Arctic. Florian Schulz / visionsofthewild.com. Main photo, bottom: Oil in the Gulf of Mexico. U.S. Coast Guard Photo / PO3 Zac Crawford. Salmon: Steve Mashuda. Spotted Owl: Gerald & Buff Corsi / California Academy of Sciences. Oil Rig: Florian Schulz / visionsofthewild.com.