In response to the first Trump administration’s assault on environmental and public health protections, NRDC went to court 163 times. And the results spoke for themselves: We won nearly 90 percent of all resolved cases.
It was a testament to the persistence of our people—attorneys, scientists, advocates, and others—uniting to protect our air and water, environmental justice, endangered wildlife, and more. It was also a dizzying period of work.
“The pace at which we were litigating was completely unprecedented,” says NRDC’s chief litigation officer Michael Wall. A significant proportion of cases throughout the organization’s entire history were fought during just those four years, he notes. On average, NRDC filed a new case every 10 days.
On the surface, some may, at first glance, seem small—like the defense of a single insect pollinator or of energy efficiency standards for a specific appliance category. But the impacts of these rulings add up and often ripple out beyond the given case because they create legal precedents that can apply far more broadly.
“Litigation can make a difference—and what are we here to do if we’re not here to make a difference? Sometimes people feel a little bit frozen by the fact that we may not get all the way to where we want to be. But what we should be asking ourselves is, Can we leave this place better than we found it or better than it would be without us? We can absolutely do that.”
Michael Wall, NRDC chief litigation officer
“You know, if you protect a bumblebee, it may be the bumblebee that protects an entire habitat,” Wall explains. “Because the habitat protection follows the protection of the species.” What’s more, he adds, “The reasoning of the court’s ruling may affect the way that the federal government considers endangered species protections for scores of other species.”
As we look to the path ahead, it’s worth taking a glance back at what NRDC faced down during the first Trump administration. Below, we rounded up 10 of those wins—victories made possible by millions of activists standing with us to speak truth to power.
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