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Priority Projects

SELC is tackling the major environmental issues affecting our region, and we are achieving results that have earned us a reputation as one of the most effective organizations in the nation.  SELC chooses its work for maximum impact—to set important precedents or to strengthen and enforce far-reaching policy—but we also pursue dozens of site-specific cases and projects to protect places too special to lose.

Featured Priority Projects

SELC Responds to the Trump Administration

Facing aggressive actions in Washington, D.C., aimed at gutting environmental protections, the Southern Environmental Law Center is defending the fundamental laws and policies that have been put in place to safeguard the quality of our air, water, and natural treasures.

The Changing Coast

Climate change and sea level rise contribute to costly, chronic flooding in cities like Charleston and Norfolk. In North Carolina, the shoreline is swiftly eroding. Rising seawater jeopardizes everything from wildlife refuges to military bases.

Industrial Chemical Pollution in Our Water

Attorneys: Geoff Gisler, Kelly Moser, Jean Zhuang

Protecting Alabama’s Water Quality

Attorneys: Sarah Stokes, Barry Brock, Amble Johnson

The Changing Coast

Attorneys: Christopher K. DeScherer, Sierra Weaver, Blakely Hildebrand, Morgan Butler, Jenny Brennan

Carbon cap-and-trade: A simple and proven climate solution for Virginia

Attorneys: Nate Benforado

Pollution from Industrial Animal Operations

Attorneys: Blakely Hildebrand, Geoff Gisler, Chandra Taylor, Jean Zhuang

Fighting Unnecessary Interstate 73

Attorneys: Catherine Wannamaker, Christopher K. DeScherer

Protecting Our Clean Water

Attorneys: Geoff Gisler, Bill Sapp, Frank Holleman, Keith Johnston, Jonathan Gendzier, Mark Sabath, Kelly Moser

A More Equitable Energy Future for Georgia

Attorneys: Kurt Ebersbach, Jill Kysor

Solar Initiative

Attorneys: Lauren J. Bowen, David Neal, Gudrun Thompson, Kurt Ebersbach, Jill Kysor, Christina Andreen Tidwell, Amanda Garcia, Will Cleveland

Offshore Drilling

Attorneys: Sierra Weaver, Christopher K. DeScherer, Deborah M. Murray, Bill Sapp, Nat Mund, Derb S. Carter, Jr., Catherine Wannamaker, Mary Maclean Asbill, Brooks Rainey Pearson, Blakely Hildebrand

Risky and Unnecessary Natural Gas Pipelines Threaten Our Region

Attorneys: Greg Buppert, Gudrun Thompson, David Neal, D.J. Gerken, Patrick Hunter, Jonathan Gendzier, Mark Sabath

Protecting Our Southern Appalachian National Forests

Attorneys: D.J. Gerken, David W. Carr, Jr., Sam Evans, Patrick Hunter, Kristin Davis

World’s Only Wild Red Wolves in Jeopardy

Attorneys: Sierra Weaver, Derb S. Carter, Jr., Ramona McGee

Coal Mining: A Threat to Alabama Waters

Attorneys: Catherine Wannamaker, Barry Brock, Christina Andreen Tidwell, Sarah Stokes

Fracking in the Southeast

Attorneys: Mary Maclean Asbill, Greg Buppert, Kristin Davis, Nat Mund, Brooks Rainey Pearson, April Lipscomb

Coal Ash

Attorneys: Frank Holleman, D.J. Gerken, Deborah M. Murray, Nick Torrey, Patrick Hunter, Chris Bowers, Keith Johnston, Leslie Griffith, Nate Benforado, Amanda Garcia, Christina Andreen Tidwell, Bob Sherrier, Amble Johnson, Megan Kimball

Defending the Georgia Coast

Attorneys: Bill Sapp, Megan Huynh, April Lipscomb, Hutton Brown, Bob Sherrier

Raleigh 540 Extension Would Toll Drivers and Environment

Attorneys: Kym Hunter, Ramona McGee

Birmingham, Alabama: Northern Beltline

Attorneys: Gil Rogers, Sarah Stokes

Uranium Mining - A Risky Experiment

Attorneys: Will Cleveland, Mark Sabath

Restoring the Harpeth River

Biomass Energy in the South

Attorneys: David W. Carr, Jr., Derb S. Carter, Jr., Heather Hillaker

Reed Environmental Writing Award

The Reed Environmental Writing Award is given annually for published works in two categories, Non-fiction Book and Journalism, and is judged by some of the top environmental writers, journalists and activists of our time. Learn More

Clean Power Plan: An Opportunity to Accelerate Our Clean Energy Transition

Attorneys: Frank Rambo, Kurt Ebersbach, Gudrun Thompson, Amanda Garcia, Will Cleveland, Keith Johnston

Energy Efficiency: The Cleanest, Cheapest Energy Resource

Attorneys: Gudrun Thompson, Amanda Garcia, Christina Andreen Tidwell, David Neal, Frank Rambo, Jill Kysor, Keith Johnston, Kurt Ebersbach, Will Cleveland, Nate Benforado

Blounts Creek, N.C. Faces Flood of Mine Wastewater

Attorneys: Geoff Gisler, Blakely Hildebrand

Retiring Outdated Coal Burning Plants

Attorneys: Frank Rambo, John Suttles, Amanda Garcia, Kurt Ebersbach, Will Cleveland, Keith Johnston, Gudrun Thompson

Offshore Wind

Attorneys: David W. Carr, Jr.

Balancing Cruise Ship Growth & Charleston Charm

Transportation Reform in Georgia

Attorneys: Brian L. Gist

Transportation Reform in North Carolina

Attorneys: D.J. Gerken, Kym Hunter, Ramona McGee

Transportation Reform in the South

Attorneys: Trip Pollard

Coal Mining in the Cumberlands

Attorneys: Deborah M. Murray

Smart Growth in the Southeast

Attorneys: Trip Pollard

Transportation Reform in Alabama

Attorneys: Gil Rogers, Sarah Stokes

Mid-Currituck Bridge, NC

Attorneys: Kym Hunter, Nick Torrey, Ramona McGee

Tennessee Wilderness

Attorneys: David W. Carr, Jr.

Corridor K: A Revived Relic of the 1960s

Attorneys: D.J. Gerken, Sam Evans

Washington, D.C. Outer Beltway Projects

Attorneys: Morgan Butler, Trip Pollard

Georgia Water Coalition

Attorneys: Gil Rogers, April Lipscomb

George Washington National Forest

Attorneys: Greg Buppert, Kristin Davis

Tri-State Water Wars (AL, GA, FL)

Attorneys: Gil Rogers, Sarah Stokes, April Lipscomb

Mountaintop Removal in Appalachia

Attorneys: Deborah M. Murray

Transportation Reform in Tennessee

Attorneys: Trip Pollard

Transportation Reform in Virginia

Attorneys: Trip Pollard

Mark Clark Extension

Attorneys: Christopher K. DeScherer