In H.B. 96, the Ohio General Assembly snuck anti-environment provisions into the bill at the last minute that removed important protections for Ohioans who want to file complaints against polluters while also invalidating community air monitoring data. These statutory changes have no relationship to Ohio’s budget and thus violate the Ohio Constitution’s requirement that all legislation include only one subject.
Have you ever gone for a walk outside, heard the birds, and felt it clear your mind? Even lift your mood? There's a reason why people say they need to "get outside" – our surroundings have a profound impact on the way we think, feel, and cope with our situations. But what is the effect when those surroundings are polluted, neglected, or even unsafe? Our environment impacts more than just our physical health; it has a substantial impact on our mental health too.
How Can We Help You?
As environmental justice and law nonprofit, we are excited to support systems-change that strengthen environmental justice outcomes. This can include:
Building Connections
Legal “Translation” + Bridging Information
Researching, Strategizing, and Educating about Legal and Policy Levers
Drafting Generalized Legal and Policy Templates
Engaging Community and Amplifying Issues
We can provide any of this support to nonprofits, coalitions, residents, and municipalities at no-cost. Please reach out today and let’s get to work.
Ohio has recently passed legislation that will protect activists against SLAPP suits - so what are these suits and why is this legislation so important?
SLAPP stands for Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation. These are lawsuits aimed at silencing criticism and draining the resources of those who speak up against certain organizations.
An Environmental Justice Advisory Board (EJAB) is a group that advises government agencies on issues related to environmental justice, ensuring that policies and actions address the needs and concerns of marginalized communities disproportionately affected by environmental harms. These boards play a crucial role in promoting fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of race or income, in environmental decision-making processes.
Our fundamental right to clean water rests on three cornerstone waterway characteristics: fishable, swimmable and accessible. The barriers that exist to achieving each of those cornerstones come in social, cultural and legal forms. Today, we are releasing a guidebook to address legal barriers to accessible waterways in the Delaware River Basin.
When the topic of estate planning is brought up, many people tend to think of the traditional nuclear family, maybe a hefty amount of assets, and the drafting a will or trust based on those variables. But given the opportunities that estate planning provides, we at Fair Shake ELS view this area of law as becoming a steward of the land— on smaller scale.
Jen joins Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services as a Staff Attorney in our new Philadelphia, Pennsylvania location. She started her early professional career as an engineer with Armstrong World Industries and The Boeing Company, working mainly in developing and improving manufacturing processes. While at Boeing, she became interested in advocating for people on an individual level and started attending law school in pursuit of that endeavor. In law school, Jen participated in the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic at Widener University which she found combined her passion for advocacy and her love of the natural world.
In response to the Planning Director’s comments in the media that the proposed development is a better land use than electroplating or some of the other things that could go on this property, it’s simply a legal falsehood that the City has to grant a conditional use permit and allow this proposed development to move forward.
On October 22, 2020, the East Pittsburgh Borough Zoning Hearing Board voted to affirm the Borough Council’s earlier decision to rescind approval for a natural gas well pad proposed on the U.S. Steel Edgar Thompson property, just outside the City of Pittsburgh.
