Summer 2026 Program Report

The Summer 2026 Program Report by Earthjustice details the organization's legal, policy, and communications efforts to counter environmental deregulation and corporate pollution under the Trump administration. The report highlights key victories in securing electric vehicle funding and restoring Endangered Species Act protections, while outlining ongoing litigation against oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, AI-driven energy pollution in Mississippi, and mining threats in Minnesota.

• Earthjustice successfully challenged the Trump administration's illegal freeze of $5 billion in National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program (NEVI) funding. A federal judge unfroze the funds, allowing all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico to implement plans for EV charging stations every 50 miles on major corridors.
• In April 2026, Earthjustice sued the Trump administration over the approval of BP's Kaskida project, an ultra-deepwater oil drilling operation in the Gulf of Mexico. The project is noted as being six times more likely to experience an incident similar to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill, with drilling depths reaching 6,200 ft.
• Earthjustice and a coalition of groups sued the EPA in February 2026 to challenge the Trump administration's repeal of carbon pollution standards for vehicle emissions and the rollback of the 2009 "endangerment finding," which recognized that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare.
• The current Trump administration has seen a collapse in civil environmental enforcement, filing only 16 cases in its first year, compared to an average of 91 cases per year during the previous Trump administration. In response, Earthjustice has launched its own enforcement actions against xAI and a large plastics company.
• New York City's congestion pricing program, launched in January 2025, has reduced gridlock and improved air quality. Earthjustice successfully defended the program in court in March 2026 against an attempt by the Trump administration to block it. The program charges most vehicles a $9 toll during peak hours to enter Manhattan’s central business district.
• Earthjustice reached a settlement in November 2025 with Tyson Foods, the world's second largest meat producer, regarding claims that the company would be net-zero by 2050. The settlement prevents Tyson from making similar unsubstantiated claims for five years.
• Earthjustice is suing xAI, founded by Elon Musk, for installing 27 methane gas-fueled turbines in Southaven, Mississippi, to power the Colossus 2 data center without an air permit. The plant is alleged to release toxic smog-forming pollution and up to 19 tons of carcinogenic formaldehyde.
• In March 2026, a federal court restored Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections to their pre-Trump levels, reversing attacks that had allowed the destruction of critical habitats. This restoration supports a law that previously had a 99% success rate at preventing extinction.
• Earthjustice is fighting to protect the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota from sulfide-ore mining by the Twin Metals mining company. Although a 20-year mining ban was stripped by Congress in April 2026, Earthjustice is preparing legal challenges to prevent the restoration of mining leases.

APA

Earthjustice (2026). Summer 2026 Program Report. https://earthjustice.org/feature/program-report-2026-summer

Chicago

Earthjustice. Summer 2026 Program Report. 2026. https://earthjustice.org/feature/program-report-2026-summer.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Earthjustice |title=Summer 2026 Program Report |date=29 June 2026 |url=https://earthjustice.org/feature/program-report-2026-summer |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{earthjustice2026summer, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{Summer 2026 Program Report}}, institution = {Earthjustice}, year = {2026}, month = jun, url = {https://earthjustice.org/feature/program-report-2026-summer}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }