One recent local item and a sampling of 2024 victories by several environmental organizations—some at the federal level but most at the state/local level, which experts say is a hopeful pathway during the incoming Trump administration.  Read about victories at the Ohio Environmental Council, Earthjustice, NRDC, and Sierra Club.

LOCAL

New access point to open in Peninsula for canoes and kayaks.  In May, this new access at Northampton Point will open off Akron off Akron Peninsula Road.  It will include a parking lot, a seating area, and a small changing room structure and a portable restroom. Summit MetroParks and Cuyahoga Valley National Park collaborated on this project.  This is in addition to the recently opened river access site at the Valley View Area of Cascades Valley Metro Park which is only a 6-mile paddle, which would take about 2 to 3 hours to complete—a reasonable trip.  Source:  Akron Beacon Journal–December 5, 2024

OHIO ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL (OEC)—From OEC’s 2024 Annual Report

• The OEC commissioned a critical analysis of the economic and health benefits of replacing lead water service lines.  Th cost-benefit analysis found it would result in a return of $32 to $45 for every dollar invested, a return between $145 billion and $185 billion over the next 15 years, as well as better physical and mental health outcomes for Ohio families. The updated federal Lead and Copper Rule Improvements mandates that most US service water systems replace 100% of lead service lines in the next 10 years, supported by funding from the bipartisan Infrastructure Law.  The OEC and the OEC Action Fund, as well as partners at the Alliance of the Great Lakes, helped draft Ohio House Bill 354 years ago, which supports this effort, and they will advocate for its adoption at the Statehouse.
• The OEC provided expert testimony, highlighting the Oak Run Solar Project, which was approved by the Ohio Power Siting Board in 2024. They noted this project’s potential to mitigate climate change and its design to reduce harmful stormwater runoff, as well as the estimation that it will create about 1,500 construction jobs and contribute $8.2 million annually to local governments and schools.  This project is an example of Ohio’s transition toward renewable energy while ensuring the integration of sustainable agricultural practices.  The OEC also supported a bill that narrowly passed to allow utility companies to restore energy restore energy efficiency measures that were rolled back by Ohio’s controversial HB6 in 2019.  The OEC Action Fund will continue to push for the Senate to pass this legislation too.
• The OEC is actively opposing the leasing for fracking in 40,000 acres of the Wayne National Forest which was proposed by the Bureau of Land Management in 2024.  They have filed extensive science-based public comments opposing this development because the leasing project could emit the greenhouse gas equivalent to all carbon sequestered by the entire Wane National Forest for the next 30 years, knocking it out of the climate fight.  They are working alongside the Center for Biological Diversity, Earthjustice, and Sierra Club.  The OEC successfully blocked similar leasing plans in 2020 because there was insufficient environmental review of harmful impacts.

EARTHJUSTICE—From their 2024 Victory Report and Earthjustice Climate & Energy Report

• Protecting Grizzlies & Wolves. Idaho opened a year-round wolf trapping season on private lands in 2021.  Earthjustice and a 13-client coalition showed in federal court that wolf traps and snares also injure and kill federally protected grizzly bears.  The court ruled to prohibit recreational wolf trapping and snaring on public and private lands in grizzly bear habitat for 9 months of the year, protecting bears, wolves and many other species.
• Preventing Cryptomining Pollution. Greenidge, a gas-fired power plant that occasionally bolstered New York’s grid in times of peak demand, began burning fracked gas around the clock to mine Bitcoin, nearly quintupling its emissions in one year. In response, the state denied Greenidge’s air permit renewal.  Earthjustice worked with local community groups to get that denial and to defend it in subsequent proceedings.
• Blocking reckless drilling. Off-shore oil and gas lease sales opened a million acres of federal waters in Southcentral Alaska, threatening critical habitat for endangered beluga whales and sea otters.  A coalition of national and community groups convinced the court to susp5end the sale and order that a new environmental review be done.
• Historic settlement—13 youth plaintiffs granted their constitutional right to a life-sustaining climate. In June, the Navahine v. Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation negotiated a settlement agreement, which the court has approved, which recognizes children’s constitutional rights to a life-sustaining climate and mobilizes HDOT to plan and implement transformative changes of Hawaii’s transportation system to achieve zero emissions in all ground transportation, and interisland sea and air transportation, by 2045. The court will retain jurisdiction to enforce the agreement for the next 21 years until its terms have been achieved.

NATIONAL RESOURCE DEFENCE COUNCIL (NRDC)—From Natures Voice: Winter 2025

• The Supreme Court Sides with Clean Air.  The US Supreme Court rejected 3 attempts by the fossil fuel industry to block federal rules to cut leaks of methane from the oil and gas sector, reduce pollution from power plants, and curb toxic air pollution from coal-fired power plants linked to asthma, heart attacks and other serious health hams. NRDC intervened in each lawsuit as did many other organizations and groups.
• Court to L.A. Port—Green Up! A California superior court ruled that the lease between the Port of Los Angeles and its largest shipping customer, China Shipping, must include enforceable measures to protect air quality and communities nearby. Residents have been fighting for this for over twenty years and NRDC partnered with them.  These commonsense safeguards will cut the port’s reliance on heavily polluting diesel will go a long way to address the single largest source of pollution in LA.
• Maine River Cleanup Begins. After approval of 13 beneficial environmental projects by the trustees overseeing the remediation of the Penobscot River, the work has begun to fulfill the 2022 settlement won by NRDC and the Maine People’s Alliance.  The $187 million award is to clean up industrial mercury contamination in the river.
• States Stand Up for Bees. New York became the first state in the US to clamp down on the most widespread uses of bee-killing neonic pesticides, and Vermont quickly followed suit.

SIERRA CLUB— From Sierra–Winter 2024 Issue

• Fracking Finale. A new California law which prohibiting fracking took effect on October first. It forbids regulators from issuing new permits, which Sierra and many others have advocated for decades, according to Jasmine Vazin, the deputy director of their Beyond Dirty Fuels Campaign.
• Standard Bearer. Sierra also joined the Supreme Court lawsuits regarding Maine’s air pollution mentioned by the NRDC above.  These decisions in these cases maintained standards limiting the amount of mercury and other hazardous pollutants that coal plants can release into the air and requiring oil and gas companies to do more to prevent methane leaks.
• Making Waves. Sierra Club’s Santa Lucia Chapter worked with local tribes and California leaders for many years to protect thousands of square miles off the Central Coast.  In October, 2024, NOAA announced the creation of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary, the first tribally nominated and third largest marine sanctuary in the US.