The Environmental Legal Wins Bringing Us Hope
In this episode, we explore the environmental legal wins and resources keeping us hopeful. Learn what keeps us hopeful amidst the start of a new Presidential administration, how young people are creating pathways for environmental success through the courts, and ways we can all stay involved in the fight to protect people and the planet. Laws are certainly not the only climate solution, but they are one of the many tools we have at our disposal to help create a better world. Tune in to explore how radical imagination is propelling new solutions in the courts and through legislation.
Hosted, Scripted + Researched by @ariellevking
Audio Engineering + Music by @awesomenostalgia
Produced by @diandramarizet + @sustainablesabs
Graphic Design by @enzo.enez
Sponsored by @earthjustice
Episode Transcript
Introduction
Welcome to The Joy Report, a podcast dedicated to sharing stories about climate solutions and environmental justice, grounded in intersectionality and optimism. This show is brought to you by the organization, Intersectional Environmentalist. I’m your host, Arielle V. King, an environmental justice strategist and educator passionate about making environmentalism irresistible. Tune in for a dose of climate joy and actionable steps you can take to help protect people and the planet.
This episode is brought to you with the support of Earthjustice, the premier nonprofit environmental law organization founded on the belief that everyone has the right to a healthy environment.
The Problem
On January 20, 2025, the US introduced a new presidential administration. As promised, they have announced a barrage of hate-fueled mandates and Executive Orders aimed at rolling back regulations and dismantling much of the legislative progress we’ve seen in recent years, especially advancements related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and environmental justice. With an administration set on destruction, exploitation, extraction, and undoing years of environmental protection, the fight for climate justice and a livable planet may seem more insurmountable than ever before. These rollbacks will undoubtedly have far-reaching but disproportionately felt impacts— harming low-income communities, communities of color, and other marginalized groups the most. However, no one is immune from environmental disasters— as seen with the Southern California wildfires earlier this year, where luxury cars were abandoned on highways and celebrity homes were just as affected as those in other parts of LA.
While our hearts may be filled with emotions—anger, grief, anxiety, uncertainty, hopelessness, and anything in between—we cannot let this lead us to a state of inaction, because this is the time when we need each other most. With destruction comes an urgent need for recreation, which grants us all the opportunity to get involved in creating the futures we want to see. In a newsletter immediately following the inauguration, the organization Taproot Earth reminded us, “True power has never lied within the systems or leaders that continue to fail our people and our planet. Our power has always— and will always— live in each other.”
In this episode, we’re providing context to the current political moment; sharing inspiration from the past and present to maintain our resolve— highlighting wins and things to look forward to in the environmental legal landscape; and reminding you of the importance of radical imagination, solidarity, and community as we continue working toward a better world.
Progress is never linear, and generations before us have overcome worse with far fewer resources than we have today. We must learn from, acknowledge, and continue to teach that history, use the tools we have at our disposal, and remain steadfast in believing that better is possible.
This presidential administration has already made clear its desire to de-regulate the environment and dismantle key agencies and groups dedicated to protecting our planet in the name of economic improvement, and this is something we should all be concerned about.
DONALD TRUMP: “When I hear these people talking about global warming, that’s the global warming you have to worry about. Not that the ocean’s gonna rise in 400 years an eighth of an inch… and you’ll have more seafront property right? If that happens. I said, ‘Is that good or bad?’ I said, ‘Isn’t that a good thing?’ If I have a little property on the ocean, I have a little bit more property, I have a little bit more ocean.’
We saw the harm inflicted during Trump’s first presidency, we’ve heard his promises on and off the campaign trail, and we’ve seen who he aligns himself with. As the iconic poet Maya Angelou once said, “When someone shows you who they are the first time, believe them”. The Supreme Court’s decisions also indicate that key environmental and administrative laws are at risk. Rulings from recent years collectively constrain the federal government's capacity to address environmental challenges effectively— shifting more responsibility to Congress and potentially leading to less stringent environmental protections.
Many of us take for granted the protections created through federal agencies like the EPA and federal environmental laws like the Clean Water Act. That’s mostly because many of us have not experienced a world without these essential services and protections.
To better understand how the modern environmental movement took shape federally, we have to take a look back to the 1970s.
Due to the passage of landmark laws and regulations like the Clean Water Act, NEPA, the Endangered Species Act, and CERCLA, this time is often considered The Environmental Decade. In 1970, Senator Nelson of Wisconsin advocated for the first-ever Earth Day, drawing 20 million Americans to demonstrations, and later that year, the EPA was established to monitor pollution, set industry standards, and assist state programs.
These new federal laws aimed to curb pollution, regulate hazardous waste, and protect wildlife. While some states had environmental policies before the 1970s, national action surged after the widespread popularity of Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring, Cleveland, Ohio’s Coyouga River catching fire, and deadly urban smog events in the 1960s and before. In response, Republican President Richard Nixon proposed a 36-point environmental plan, leading with bipartisan support. In his 1970 State of the Union address, Nixon declared, “Clean air, clean water, open spaces—these should once again be the birthright of every American.”
If that belief had been fully embraced, environmental justice wouldn’t be necessary—yet today, it faces defunding and erasure by the current administration. Until now, the federal environmental movement has achieved major victories: cleaning up 18 million acres of hazardous waste, cutting car emissions by 90%, and reducing toxic chemical exposure. But it also excluded people of color—layering new environmental policies over discriminatory practices like redlining. As a result, marginalized communities bore the brunt of pollution while seeing few benefits. True environmental justice demands prioritizing those most harmed to ensure the most equitable future for all.
Intervention
Political leadership has never stopped movements— more than anything, who’s in power merely dictates how much harder we must fight to create the world we believe is possible. The movement for climate justice is no exception.
Radical imagination must be a key tool in continuing to create the world we’re fighting for. We’ve explored the framework of radical imagination in previous episodes, but I think a little reminder in this context might be helpful…
Activist and scholar Angela Davis once reminded us that “radical” simply means “grasping at the root,” a term derived from the Latin radix, referring to the root of a plant—emphasizing the logical, scientific nature of getting down to the core of problems to address them most effectively.
Civil Rights activist Ella Baker once told a group of college students during a lecture that radical thinking means “facing a system that does not lend itself to your needs and devising means by which you change that system.” With this mind, Radical imagination is the ability to envision a future different from the present and take action to make it happen. It’s about being courageous enough to learn and unlearn– to ask questions, then boldly and audaciously think through and act on solutions in ways you might not have ever seen before.
Radical imagination invites us to look beyond the work of dismantling, and think about what we must look toward building. At an EarthSessions show in 2022, IE’s founder Leah Thomas shared this,
“I realize through that that, if someone was asking me what systems I was dismantling I could give a whole dissertation and I could talk about racism and capitalism and all these other systems of oppression and the oppressor that I felt that I was fighting. I could go on and on and on, but if someone were to ask me last year, or in 2020: ‘What is the future that I am building towards?’ I couldn't answer it with as much clarity and that made me sad because I think it is important to understand the systems that you are dismantling, but it’s even more important sometimes to think of the beautiful future that you want to create— one where Black and brown folks are liberated. So, I’ve been spending more time thinking about that future and thinking about joy because I feel like joy is such a powerful motivator when shame can never motivate you in the same way.”
As the book The Radical Imagination: Social Movement Research in the Age of Austerity by Alex Khasnabish and Max Haiven beautifully articulates:
The radical imagination often emerges most brilliantly from those who encounter the greatest or most acute oppression and exploitation and is often stunted and diluted in those who enjoy the greatest privileges.
That’s largely because those who benefit most from the status quo have little incentive to imagine a different world. But privilege is not static. As wealth accumulates at the top, the number of people struggling to meet basic needs will grow. The middle class, once a symbol of stability, is increasingly locked out of opportunities our parents navigated with more ease—buying a home, affording groceries, or even accessing clean air and water. As the margins widen, radical imagination becomes more urgent for more of us. It is a reminder that the future can and must be fueled by our own hope and action.
When feeling hopeless about the world, we can turn to history for lessons in resilience, persistence, and radical imagination—the same force that helped past generations develop visions for a better future and work tirelessly to help turn those visions into reality.
As individuals committed to protecting people and the planet, we stand on the shoulders of those who refused to sit idly by and accept what was happening around them. Many activists we know rightfully uphold as giants in the field started as everyday people who rose to the occasion because they refused to allow their communities to be sacrifice zones. Take Hazel Johnson for example, who is widely considered the Mother of the Environmental Justice movement.
After moving to the South Side of Chicago from New Orleans in the late 1960s, Johnson’s husband died of lung cancer and her children began experiencing health issues. After talking to her neighbors, doing some investigation, and learning that her neighborhood had the highest cancer rate in the city, she discovered that her public housing complex was built on top of a landfill, and was surrounded by at least 50 other landfills and toxic waste facilities to create what she called a toxic donut. So in 1979, she founded People for Community Recovery (or PCR), an organization focused on fighting against the environmental racism she and her neighbors were experiencing. Through this organization, she conducted health surveys, provided community education on toxic waste, and led many other advocacy efforts in Chicago and beyond— including national initiatives like the first environmental justice executive order, signed by Bill Clinton in 1994. She also frequently testified against landfill corporations that threatened her community’s health. Hazel Johnson’s legacy is felt through the entire environmental movement. Her daughter, Cheryl Johnson, is now the executive director of PCR, whose mission is to enhance the quality of life of residents living in communities affected by environmental pollution.
Hazel Johnson’s story is a reminder of the strength and power of community-led action and radical imagination. We are in a critical moment for climate action— one where we can either keep pressing forward with business as usual or make a major shift to maintain the possibility of a livable present and future. Fortunately, change is already underway, and despite what the news may suggest, there are far more people on the side of truth, justice, and solutions than not.
There are present-day examples of individuals and organizations across every industry radically imagining a better world to help keep us motivated. In this episode, we’re focusing on advancements in the legal system that reflect the power and promise of solidarity, inter-generational collaboration, and justice-centered action.
The legal system is notorious for being antiquated, reactionary, and protective of only certain interests. While all these things are true, the law is still an important and necessary way to create change. And despite the efforts of this presidential administration, there are still things to be hopeful about both in the courts and the legislature. Recently, we have had some remarkable advancements in environmental law that make it clear that a better world is already underway.
First, let’s hear from Earthjustice’s Vice President of Litigation, Sam Sankar,
“You might be thinking, ‘the courts are stacked against me and the President thinks he’s above the law.’ Well, you’re right to be concerned and there’s still hope in the courts. The right wing justices in the Supreme Court are getting a ton of public attention, but they only decide a very small number of cases. More than 99% of federal cases are resolved in the lower courts, so it’s those judges that really matter. The good news is over 55% of them are democratic appointees, all of those are mainstream legal thinkers who respect settled law. And so are many of the Republican appointees. And even when things do go to the Supreme Court, we can still win. In 2020 Earthjustice won a landmark Clean Water Act case before this hostile Supreme Court. Now I’m not saying that this work is easy. I’m saying that we can still do it, and we have to.”
And he’s absolutely right. We've seen major wins for the planet thanks to advocates, scientists, legal experts, and young people who refuse to give up on their future. There are many young leaders at the forefront of legal battles to protect our rights and demand adequate climate action. For example:
In Held v. Montana, 16 youth sued their state for violating their constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment by promoting fossil fuels. After years in court, the Montana Supreme Court ruled that a stable climate is part of this right, setting a historic precedent for future cases.
In Hawaii’s Navahine v. Hawaii DOT, 14 youth plaintiffs challenged the state’s transportation policies for exacerbating the climate crisis. In June 2024, a historic settlement recognized their constitutional right to a life-sustaining climate and committed to decarbonizing the state’s transportation system—establishing a model for nationwide action.
Then there’s Juliana v. United States, the landmark case filed in 2015 by 21 young people suing the U.S. government for violating their constitutional rights by fueling the climate crisis. Legal experts call it “the most important lawsuit on the planet.” After years of legal battles, the Juliana 21 petitioned the Supreme Court in December 2024, keeping their fight alive.
Youth-led climate lawsuits are also driving accountability globally, like Germany’s 2021 ruling that inadequate climate targets violated young people's rights. Many of these activists have never known a world untouched by climate disaster, yet they persist—organizing, lobbying, marching, and sharing vital information.
Believing a better world is possible isn’t always easy, especially when those responsible hold immense power. But these young leaders—and countless others—are showing us what radical imagination in action looks like. Their fight depends on our continued engagement, action, and support.
Law is certainly not the end-all-be-all for fixing the climate crisis, yet it serves as an important avenue to support our goals and legally upend systemic issues that lead to environmental oppression and climate catastrophe. There’s obviously still a lot of work to do, but we hope this episode is a reminder of how far we’ve come and what we’ve accomplished using the power of collective action and radical imagination.
Call to Action
There are lots of ways you can support this movement, so here are a few to keep in mind:
First, support organizations committed to continuing to protect people and the planet like this episode’s sponsor, Earthjustice, and countless others. The actions of this administration are already causing challenges for nonprofits, and they need your help. Follow their accounts on social media and share their content with your followers to help circulate critical information, sign up for their newsletters to stay up to date, and donate if you’re able.
Continue to make your voice heard on the things you care about. The 5Calls app has resources and contact details for your elected officials or you can visit https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials to get in touch. It only takes about 60 seconds to call, and here’s what a sample 5Calls script sounds like, with a few tweaks for emphasis and personalization:
‘Hello, my name is Arielle King, and I’m one of your constituents in New York City. I’m calling to urge Senator Schumer to demand oversight hearings to push back on the Trump administration’s efforts to devastate our national parks and public lands under the guise of ‘cutting costs’. These parks and public lands are already understaffed, and the recent firings of over 4,000 park workers was an extremely dangerous decision for both the lands and the people who enjoy them. It’s inappropriate for the Trump administration to take these drastic and dangerous actions without any oversight, so I am requesting that Senator Schumer do his part to rectify this egregious misuse of power. Thank you for your time and consideration.’
And make sure to check out Catch Us on the Record, an IE toolkit in partnership with Earthjustice that dives into the real impact of our phone calls, letters, and other direct actions.
Learn more about the climate cases happening near you. Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law keeps a regularly updated database of all climate-related cases in the US and abroad. You can find the link to this site in our shownotes.
Multiple organizations are working tirelessly to preserve vital data and information that the White House is erasing from federal websites, including the Urban Ocean Lab founded by Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, which we highlighted a few episodes ago. Go to “UrbanOceanLab.org/resource-hub” to find a permanent archive of over 100 key resources.
Remember that local elections directly shape the policies that impact our communities, making them just as crucial as national races. In 2025, over 20 cities—including New York City—will elect new mayors, while 38 states will hold elections for governor over the next two years. The 2026 midterms will also decide over 400 House and Senate seats. Stay informed about candidates in your area, volunteer, support those committed to protecting the planet, and please make sure to vote in these elections.
Never forget the importance of art. Artists, this is your reminder to create. In Imani Perry’s new book, Black in Blues: How Color Tells the Story of My People, she reminds us that craft is living history. So create to reflect the times; to invite people to dream of better worlds; to process and document your emotions; and to keep you connected to an inter-generational, worldwide legacy of people using their creativity as a form of resistance. To quote the late Toni Morrison, “this is precisely the time when artists get to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”
Work on finding and nurturing your community. If we’ve learned anything from the response to the fires that raged through Southern California at the start of this year, we witnessed in real time the power of that indispensable, renewable resource that is community. People have been responding and helping their neighbors at far faster rates than the government or corporations ever could. So talk to your neighbors, learn their names, and remember that being best friends with someone is not a prerequisite for being in community with them.
In addition to all of this, please don’t forget to rest. Let this also be your reminder to put your phone down, and maybe take a walk outside. Volunteer somewhere for a few hours. Find the moments of quiet, joy, and connection that exist all around you. Humans were never meant to process as much information as we do today, and the bombardment of news coming from the White House is meant to distract and overwhelm us and keep us from properly analyzing anything. As Tricia Hersey wrote in her book Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto, “You were not just born to center your entire existence on work and labor. You were born to heal, to grow, to be of service to yourself and community, to practice, to experiment, to create, to have space, to dream, and to connect.”
Other positive climate news
Here’s some other positive climate news you should know about:
The decision to approve the proposed Rosebank oilfield development in the UK has been reversed and ruled unlawful thanks to the work of climate campaigners and activists. This tremendous effort to protect the UK’s largest undeveloped oil and gas field is a huge win for us all.
The Portuguese Parliament recently approved a moratorium on deep-sea mining, protecting vulnerable ocean ecosystems through 2050.
Environmental activists in Kentucky recently purchased a tract of land that was once home to a mine and was slated to be turned into a federal prison; in its place, local nonprofits will be rewilding the land with bison, native flora, and fauna.
Additional IE updates
And in the world of Intersectional Environmentalist:
Support CTA: Thanks to all of our listeners like you, The Joy Report is one of the top climate optimism podcasts - and we need your help to keep growing! If you haven’t already, join the more than 8,500 who’ve already subscribed to and follow this podcast, give us a rating or write a review, share an episode with a friend, and visit intersectionalenvironmentalist.com/donate to help us continue this work.
Outro
And remember, fighting the climate crisis is a marathon, not a sprint. We need everyone to get involved in a way that feels right for them, now more than ever. Our individual positive actions do have power, and they’re strengthened when we do them as a collective. Tune in next episode where we’ll explore corporate solidarity in social movements.
I’m your host, Arielle V. King, and thank you so much for listening to this episode of The Joy Report.
Additional Resources
https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/e7cd788e274c45eeb313a94da849e7fe - Guide to Archived Federal Environmental Data, Tools, and Websites
