Earthjustice

We are doing a $40k match offer this weekend for Earthjustice. It was $30k as of yesterday morning, but this tweet changed that number yesterday afternoon:

So we are now matching up to $40k in donations to Earthjustice this weekend. If we fill up the entire match, we will raise $80k for Earthjustice this weekend.

So what is Earthjustice?

It is an organization that pursues legal cases against those who are doing things against the interest of our planet.

Here are some examples:

  1. Earthjustice recently won cases in New Mexico and Nevada in which utility companies were trying to reduce the amount of money they pay consumers for their solar power.
  2. Earthjustice litigation led to the shutdown of the Big Sandy coal plant in Kentucky.
  3. In 2014, Earthjustice helped to secure a landmark Supreme Court ruling that upholds the EPA’s authority to limit carbon pollution.
  4. Earthjustice is currently litigating to halt illegal dumping of oil waste into California’s water supplies.

These are just a small sampling of the legal work that Earthjustice does. You can read more here.

If not Earthjustice, who would file and work on these cases? The interested parties, the polluters, utilities, carbon industry, etc have massive balance sheets that allow them to work the system in their favor. Society needs well funded organizations to fight back for all of us. And that is what Earthjustice does.

Our match offer is good all weekend. If you want to participate, please do so today.

Here is how you can do that:

  1. Go to our EarthMatch page on Crowdrise and give any amount (minimum is $10).
  2. After you complete the donation, tweet your donation out using the blue Tweet button on the post donation page. That will register it for our match.
  3. If you don’t use Twitter, you can forward your email receipt by following the instructions on the post donation page. Tweeting is much better though as it will amplify the campaign.

And please post this match offer [https://www.crowdrise.com/EJMatch] on social media and wherever else you might find people who want to support Earthjustice.

#climate crisis#hacking philanthropy

Comments (Archived):

  1. LIAD

    1. In the past collective action was signing a petition or going on a march. Now it’s taking the actual fight right to the perpetrators.2. In the past people would lobby the government to fight the perpetrators. Now we circumvent them and do it ourselves.People power on the ascent. Nation state on the descent – all made possible by the continuing emergent wonder that is the internet.

    1. Richard

      https://uploads.disquscdn.c… In the mid 90s, close to 1 million Russians paid to see Metallica perform in moscow. Let’s not over hype this macro trend of lobbying.

      1. Prokofy

        Oh, I wouldn’t rhapsodize too much about people power; people power brought us Trump. The litigation strategy here depends on a country with the rule of law, with a justice branch of government independent of others, ready to serve to check and balance them. That’s a nation-state, and that’s a good thing. A nation run only by radical lawyers and not judges appointed by democratically-elected figures is an anarchic or socialist authoritarian nation, not a liberal democracy.

  3. William Mougayar

    Those 3 examples really helped to crystallize the benefits and value of EarthJustice. I supported it yesterday, knowing only vaguely what they did. I wonder if there is something similar in China? I hear there are lots of earth related abuses and violations.

  4. Richard

    Support their efforts but sunlight is always a good thing. Note: environmental defense fund president earns < 100KSalary $380,377 Donnell Van NoppenPresident of Earth Justice According to the National Association for Legal Career Professionals, the average salary for an entry-level public interest attorney is $42,000 per year.

    1. Ruth BT

      Yes he does, but they also get a 4 star rating from Charity Navigator (so does the Environmental Defence Fund), which believe me is not that easy to do. I applaud anyone who questions the efficacy of a charity and this one stands up to the test.https://www.charitynavigato…

  5. Prokofy

    This sounds like a group doing real things. This kind of litigation which is not “direct action” like Greenpeace activists climbing on to oil rigs or activists blocking roads around the Dakota pipeline just makes more sense. If you have a case, bring it. Otherwise, it is just ideological crap-trap leading to crime on your part, i.e. trespassing, throwing rocks, etc.This approach also sounds a lot more effective than “carbon exchange” which seems like a racket to me.And while I’m here, Fred, I hope you can respond to this — bro culture, and how it ruins startups. Very interesting piece, because it’s not just about misogyny, which as important as it is, fails to really get attention (because of misogyny itself); it’s about stupid, cocky, recklessness. I never take Uber because of bro culture, not just sexism, but the whole arrogant mix of indifference to communities where people’s jobs are killed off. The culture of disruption, if you will.https://www.nytimes.com/201…