Press Releases
Press statement: Biden administration issues executive order to protect old-growth forests
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — The Biden administration has issued an Earth Day Executive Order directing federal agencies to conduct an inventory of mature and old-growth forests so that policies can be developed to protect them. In response,...
Birmingham Water Works Board and Alabama Attorney General Propose to Void Land Agreement Protecting City’s Drinking Water
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — In a response filed late last week, the Birmingham Water Works Board and the Alabama Attorney General asked to revise or void a 20-year-old settlement agreement designed to permanently protect land surrounding...
Release of highly endangered red wolves into wild gives hope to renewed conservation
Court action leads to USFWS release of rare wolves CHAPEL HILL, N.C.— Following a successful legal battle, conservation groups hope the recent release of nine highly endangered red wolves into the wild is the first...
Active Energy sells Lumberton facility and abandons plan for controversial wood pellet facility
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Facing ongoing problems and legal action against unpermitted pollution at its Lumberton NC facility, today Active Energy Group announced an agreement to sell the site, ending plans to build a controversial...
Advocates Reaffirm Rooftop Solar Net Metering Proposal’s Benefits in NC
RALEIGH, N.C. — This week, in comments to the NC Utilities Commission, clean energy advocates, including North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA), the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), and the Southern...
SELC sues Tennessee Valley Authority over the federal utility’s refusal to release records related to proposed methane gas pipelines
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Southern Environmental Law Center has filed a lawsuit against the Tennessee Valley Authority alleging that the federal utility violated the Freedom of Information Act when it refused to release unredacted records...
NC DEQ permit for Chemours allows avoidable GenX and other PFAS pollution in Cape Fear River
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.— Conservation groups called on the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality to impose stronger limits than proposed in a draft permit that would authorize Chemours’ discharge of toxic PFAS pollution into the...
SELC statement on proposed gas tax suspension
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) released the following statement in response to Governor Glenn Youngkin’s proposed gas tax suspension. The statement is from Trip Pollard, senior attorney and leader of SELC’s...
SELC statement on FERC’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline restoration order
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a restoration plan yesterday for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a gas pipeline that was canceled in 2020 after years of work by SELC and numerous allies...
Conservation groups object to Forest Service’s Revised Nantahala and Pisgah Forest Plan
ASHEVILLE, NC — This week, conservation groups formally objected to the US Forest Service’s revised Nantahala and Pisgah Forest Plan, arguing that it falls short of what is needed to ensure these popular, beloved, and...