Our Advocacy

The laws we count on to protect human health and the environment don’t work without advocacy, citizens’ involvement and citizen enforcement. Congress understood that when it passed the nation’s environmental laws and so it made many provisions for citizens to participate in governmental decisions and to step in when enforcement is needed.

NWEA steps in! We bring lawsuits to start programs that states and U.S. EPA fail to implement. We bring lawsuits to stop environmental damage. We bring lawsuits to plug loopholes that government agencies make for polluters. We bring lawsuits to enforce permits.

But advocacy is much more than just litigation. NWEA helps craft policies through government advisory committees. We write public comments.We urge agency action. We obtain and release government documents. We provide public education. We encourage and assist citizen involvement.

NWEA holds polluters and government agencies accountable by:

• working with others for common goals,
• negotiating to move the ball forward,
• public education and organizing,
• obtaining information to ensure open government, and
• going to court when needed.

At every step of the way we seek to make the law work and to plug the loopholes. Here’s what we do in a nutshell: