Going beyond the headlines to examine the often overlooked issues and cases that highlight the wide-ranging impact and role of state attorneys general.
Taking the Initiative on Environmental Justice
December 17, 2018 / Sean Kiley
Findings show that people in poverty and people of color are much more likely to be exposed to harmful pollution. Due to budget cuts at the EPA, some have wondered if we lost the moment for environmental justice. But AGs in at least two states have made environmental justice a priority.
In late November, the NJ AG announced that it was making environmental justice a priority, and it filed eight lawsuits targeting environmentally hazardous sites in minority and lower-income communities across the state. The NJ AG also announced the creation of an environmental justice unit.
Earlier this year, the CA OAG announced that it was creating a bureau of environmental justice. It subsequently intervened in a lawsuit dealing with the building of an industrial park in a community already suffering from some of the highest pollution in California.
For more reading on this subject, take a look at our earlier post on state-level actions to protect the environment. Also, Columbia's Sabin Center maintains a database compiling environmental actions undertaken by state attorneys general.
December 17, 2018 / Sean Kiley/
Diverse Communities Initiative
Sean Kiley
Thank you, Barbara Underwood!
Bill Sorrell: Still Serving The ...
Professor James E. Tierney
StateAG.org was founded by James E. Tierney, former Attorney General of Maine and a Lecturer at Harvard Law School where he also directs the Harvard Attorney General clinic. For thirteen years he was Director of the National State Attorneys General Program at Columbia Law School.
Read more about this site ▸
AG Policy Areas
Blog > AGP Archive
AG 101
Consumer Protection Initiative
StateAG.org offers in-depth analysis of the role of state attorneys general in the American legal system. It was founded by James E. Tierney, former Attorney General of Maine and a Lecturer at Harvard Law School where he also directs the Harvard Attorney General clinic. For thirteen years he was Director of the National State Attorneys General Program at Columbia Law School.