Earthrise Law Center

04/08/2026

The photos and videos from NASA's Artemis II mission provide another batch of striking "Earthrise" photos. These amazing new images add to the famous photo from the Apollo 8 mission that was called "the most influential environmental photo ever taken" -- and which gave Earthrise Law Center our name. This Legal Planet piece links to NASA's photos and also even highlights a couple of recent Hollywood projects that portray efforts to solve our biggest environmental challenges -- work the students and faculty at Earthrise do every day.

There's nothing like space exploration for changing our POV. The Drain is a weekly roundup of climate and environmental news.

12/02/2025

Rosie the Earthrise dog, thinking about the importance of legal efforts to protect the environment while educating the next generation of advocates (actually Rosie is just one of the clinic's four-legged helpers, but she's the best dressed!). If you'd like to support the work of Rosie's human -- Senior Earthrise Fellow Zach Nacev -- and his colleagues, just click on the link in the comments below.

11/16/2025

Fall is a beautiful time of year in the Northwest. Earthrise has been hard at work to protect places in our region and beyond. Check out some of our recent activities in our latest newsletter: https://t.e2ma.net/message/cppohr/gofr9e

09/24/2025

Earthrise is delighted to welcome Megan Sweeney as our 2025-27 Founder's Legacy Fellow. Megan received a BA from the University of Missouri in 2021, and graduated magna cm laude from LC Law Law School in May, earning Certificates (with distinction) in Animal Law and Environmental and Natural Resources Law. While in law school, Megan was an active member of Animal Law Review and Northwest Environmental Defense Center, served on the board of Animal Legal Defense Fund, and participated in Earthrise’s clinical class her 2L year. In her spare time, Megan enjoys hiking and camping throughout the Pacific Northwest, as well as paddleboarding and spending time with her cat. Megan is of course already making herself invaluable to the clinic's ongoing work.

07/25/2025

A beautiful summer day in Earthrise's hometown. (Photo by Earthrise Director Dan Rohlf, taken on his bike ride to work)

07/23/2025

The staff at Earthrise sends best wishes to all the Earthrise and Lewis and Clark Law graduates getting ready to take the bar exam next week. May the owl-like wisdom you gained from your clinical experience and your law school classes (plus your own hard work, of course) carry you to success!

06/13/2025

Clinical Prof. Tom Buchele enjoys summer on the beautiful Lewis and Clark College campus with Earthrise summer clerks David Fusco and Henry Sollitt.

06/09/2025

On Friday, Earthrise and Telegyn Law (led by Lewis and Clark law alum Bryan Telegin) filed a motion for summary judgment in their Puget Sound water quality lawsuit on behalf of Northwest Environmental Advocates. The case challenges the Environmental Protection Agency's approval of water quality improvement plans under the Clean Water Act (technically called Total Maximum Daily Loads or TMDLs) for Washington's Deschutes River and Puget Sound's Budd Inlet. These areas are key habitat for Puget Sound steelhead. Fish (and people!) need cold, clean water!

12/09/2024

On behalf of our client, the Center for Biological Diversity, Earthrise filed suit against the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in mid-November. The Center has submitted several Freedom of Information Act requests against these agencies, seeking information about the protection of endangered species and their critical habitat, including the red knot shorebird pictured here. However, these requests have gone unanswered and are long overdue, depriving the Center of important information about environmental protections for these species. Click here to read more about this case and find the complaint: https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/lawsuit-seeks-documents-from-secretive-white-house-on-interference-with-endangered-species-protections-2024-11-14/

Photo: Red knots are common shorebirds along Delaware Bay near Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge; credit: Gregory Breese/USFWS

12/03/2024

Happy Giving Tuesday!

This year, please consider supporting the essential work of Earthrise Law Center. With a new Trump Administration on the horizon, the need for committed and skilled environmental advocates is greater than ever. Fortunately, we're training a new generation of students eager to take up the mantle of using the law to protect the environment.

Here's what Courtney McCoy, current Earthrise clinical student, has to say about her clinic experience: "Earthrise has given me the opportunity to apply the substantive material learned in my law school courses to real world issues. It has been a highlight of not just my 3L year, but also my experience here at Lewis & Clark Law School. Earthrise has further solidified my desire to continue working on environmental issues post-graduation, while giving me invaluable experience to effectively do so."

Your support makes a real difference in advancing Earthrise's efforts to train legal advocates with the passion, skill, and determination to fight against any planet-destroying agenda.

Click below to read our 2024 Year-End Letter and Update for a more in-depth review of our achievements and updates about transitions at the clinic.

11/22/2024

This past Tuesday in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, former Earthrise legal fellow and current Public Justice staff attorney Haley Nicholson delivered her first (of many, we are certain) appellate oral argument on behalf of our client, American Whitewater. The case involves a challenge to FERC's decision to allow a hydropower company to surrender its operating license but leave two obsolete dams in the Salmon Falls River, on the Maine/New Hampshire border, that continue to fragment aquatic habitat, block migratory fish passage, and disrupt recreational boating opportunities. We're so proud of Haley - she was fantastic. You can find a recording of her argument here: https://lnkd.in/gdjwgBDN. Our co-counsel, Bob Nasdor of American Whitewater, Senior Staff Attorney Kevin Cassidy, and current Earthrise student Riley Sanders were instrumental in briefing this case and helping Haley prepare for oral argument (also thanks to Craig Johnston and Allison LaPlante, and all the folks at Public Justice for helping with many of Haley's moots). This case is part of Earthrise's collaboration with American Whitewater and others on the Deadbeat Dams Law Project, which you can read more about here: https://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/Article/view/article_id/zhPl3Ya8KGqSCZXWSrq2S/.

Lewis & Clark Law School Lewis & Clark Environmental, Natural Resources, and Energy Law Program

11/04/2024

U.S. EPA calls for better protection of Massachusetts rivers and streams. Learn about the proposed regulations to safeguard water resources.