Constitutional Accountability Center Constitutional Accountability Center

Environmental Protection

Protecting the right to clean air, water, and soil for all in America against attacks from special interests and government wrongdoing
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Maryland Water Pollution comm. Annapolis, Md. | Library of Congress

Summary

Corporations and special interests have poured millions of dollars into a coordinated effort to deny climate change and weaken the government’s ability to protect all Americans by attacking critical environmental safeguards. CAC defends every American’s right to a clean environment against such attacks.

Environmental Protection in Brief

Dakota Access Pipeline protest | John Duffy, Flickr

CAC works in the courts to defend the ability of the federal government to issue and implement environmental regulations issued to make our communities pollution-free. 

Featured Case

Environmental Protection May 29, 2025

Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County

In 2021, the federal Surface Transportation Board authorized construction of a railway that would connect waxy crude oil in the Uinta Basin in Utah to the national rail network, where the crude oil would continue its journey to specialized refineries. A coalition of environmental groups and Eagle County, Colorado, challenged the decision, arguing that when the Board conducted its environmental analysis, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), it failed to address all of the reasonably foreseeable environmental harms that could result from the project. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit agreed, holding that the...

Case Timeline

Current
  • The Supreme Court issues its decision
    RELEASE: Supreme Court Greenlights Railroad Project Despite Risk of Grave Environmental Impacts
  • The Supreme Court hears oral arguments
    RELEASE: Some Justices Seem Skeptical of Most Extreme Arguments Seeking to Limit the Scope of...
  • CAC files amicus brief in the Supreme Court

Related Issue Areas

Corporate Accountability See More
Rule of Law See More