L4GG Stands With the Southern Poverty Law Center

On April 21, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice announced an indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), an organization that has spent decades documenting hate groups, defending vulnerable communities, and holding extremist organizations accountable in court. The indictment is the latest escalation in a coordinated pattern we have watched unfold for well over a year: law firms targeted by executive order, judges threatened for lawful rulings, civil rights protections unlawfully rescinded, and now civil rights organizations themselves pulled into the crosshairs.

Traci Feit Love, Founder and Executive Director of Lawyers for Good Government, released the following statement in response:

“This administration is using the Department of Justice to punish organizations that protect Americans from hate and discrimination, and to send a message to every nonprofit, law firm, and advocate in this country: fall in line, or you are next. We refuse that choice. As lawyers, we swore an oath to support the Constitution, and we will act in accordance with that oath. Lawyers for Good Government stands with SPLC, with The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and with every civil rights organization under attack. An attack on one is an attack on all. We will not be intimidated, and we will not stay silent.”

— Traci Feit Love, Founder and Executive Director of Lawyers for Good Government

Lawyers for Good Government is part of the broad coalition of civil rights organizations that signed the Unity Pact committing to stand together when any one of us comes under attack. We call on Congress, the legal profession, and every person who believes dissent is not a crime to say so publicly, and to say so now.

CLIENT STORY: To Save the Planet, We Must Change the System

Written by Sharon Lewis, the Executive Director of the CT Coalition for Economic and Environmental Justice.

Every Earth Day, we’re told to plant trees, clean rivers, and recycle more. Those actions matter. But on this Earth Day, we must also demand that policymakers change the systems that are harming both people and the planet. We talk about sustainability as if it can exist apart from justice. It cannot.

On this Earth Day, let’s move beyond one-day cleanup events and demand that decision-makers stop routing pollution through the same overburdened communities.

In Connecticut, this is not theoretical. Communities like Hartford and Bridgeport have lived for decades with the cumulative impacts of waste incineration and regional trash disposal—policy decisions that concentrated pollution in the same neighborhoods generation after generation. In cities across our state, families are paying some of the highest energy bills in the country—not because they use more energy, but because they live in poorly insulated, inefficient housing that current building codes still allow. And in places like New Haven and Bridgeport, repeated flooding is no longer a future threat—it is a present reality, exposing how unprepared our infrastructure is for the climate conditions we already face.

Ending this cycle means saying no to new fossil fuel infrastructure, incinerators, and waste-burning facilities that add to the burdens on people already living with the worst air, water, and energy costs. 

For too long, environmental protection has been treated as separate from human survival. This Earth Day, that must end.

We should call not only for stricter pollution limits, but also for polluters to pay for the damage they cause. That means requiring fossil fuel companies and the industries they insure to help fund climate-resilient infrastructure, community recovery after climate disasters, and the work of making neighborhoods more flood-resistant, heat-resilient, and energy-efficient.

That is why Connecticut must also examine the role of the insurance industry—not just as a responder to disasters, but as a system that determines which communities can rebuild and which are left behind. Proposed legislation to hold insurers accountable for their role in climate risk, and to require contributions toward resilience and recovery, is a critical step toward aligning financial systems with climate reality.

Connecticut is also considering policies that would require fossil fuel companies and the industries they insure to help pay for the damage they have helped create. This is not punishment—it is the same principle that underlies insurance itself: shared responsibility for risk.

At the same time, emerging proposals in Connecticut recognize that pollution is not evenly distributed. In valley communities, where geography traps emissions at breathing level, residents experience intensified exposure—yet current policy still evaluates pollution source by source instead of accounting for these cumulative, place-based impacts.

Here in Connecticut, residents already face some of the highest energy costs in the country, and anyone living in an uninsulated, inefficient home—especially low- and moderate-income households—bears a crushing energy burden. On this Earth Day, let’s call for clean energy policies that lower costs through deep energy efficiency, stronger building codes, and weatherization for homes. We should also demand that new home construction does not lock in tomorrow’s energy crisis, but instead delivers safer, healthier, more affordable housing that reduces energy use and bills at the same time.

Ending fossil fuel dependence is not optional; it is necessary. How we do it will determine whether we advance justice or repeat history.

This Earth Day, let’s call for a just transition that protects workers, invests in communities harmed by decades of pollution, builds climate-resilient infrastructure, and ensures those communities benefit from green jobs and clean energy—not more debt and more risk. It also means holding polluters accountable for the climate disasters they help cause by requiring them to help fund community recovery, adaptation, and resilience upgrades.

Earth Day should not be a single day of symbolism. It should be a call to action to change the systems that shape our lives every day.

Yes, we should plant trees, clean rivers, and recycle more—but we should also demand an end to policies that allow pollution, high costs, and climate disasters to concentrate in the same places generation after generation.

Saving the planet is not just about what we do once a year. It is about who pays, who decides, and who benefits—and who is sacrificed—by the systems we allow to continue.

We're Suing the Trump Administration to Restore Funding for an Underground Railroad Museum

In Albany, New York, there is a brick townhouse where abolitionists Stephen and Harriet Myers once sheltered people escaping slavery — some of them led by Harriet Tubman herself. For over twenty years, the Underground Railroad Education Center has called that house home, using it to teach that the Underground Railroad wasn't just a historical footnote. It was a civil rights movement. And it still has something to teach us.

Last week, L4GG volunteer attorneys filed a federal lawsuit on the Center's behalf to get back the funding the Trump administration took from them. It is exactly the kind of case we exist to fight.

What Happened

In 2023, the National Endowment for the Humanities awarded the Center a $250,000 grant through a rigorous, competitive process. The money was meant to fund a new Interpretive Center — a space that would have expanded the museum's reach, preserved its growing collection of over 27,000 artifacts, and created jobs in one of Albany's most economically marginalized neighborhoods.

The Center met every single requirement. Then, in May 2025, the grant was canceled. No warning. No appeal.

The cancellation came on the heels of a sweeping directive tied to President Trump's executive orders banning DEI programs across federal agencies. Over 1,400 humanities grants were terminated including 98% of those that focused on Black history and culture.The grants that survived? Projects focused on white presidents and founding fathers.

Why This Case Matters

This isn't about paperwork or bureaucracy. It's about who gets to tell the story of America — and who gets erased from it.

Nina Loewenstein, a volunteer attorney on the case through L4GG, put it plainly: the cancellation is "just explicitly erasing things associated with the Black race." She and the team of volunteer lawyers argue that the Underground Railroad Education Center is just one of thousands of organizations unlawfully targeted by the Trump administration.

Our lawsuit argues three things: that the withdrawal was racially discriminatory, that it unconstitutionally punished the Center for its viewpoint, and that it violated the NEH's own legal mandate to support diverse and underrepresented communities — a mandate Congress reaffirmed as recently as 2025.

---

The Underground Railroad Education Center did everything right. It earned this grant. And the history it preserves belongs to all of us.

We're asking the court to reinstate the funding and strike down the directive that caused these mass terminations in the first place. Because if we allow the government to defund Black history and call it fiscal responsibility, the damage goes far beyond one museum in Albany.

This is what L4GG's network of attorneys shows up for — to stand with organizations doing vital work that have been wronged. We are proud to bring this fight.

###

Cases like this one are handled through L4GG’s Pro Bono Litigation Corps (PBLC) — our flagship program that mobilizes litigators to take on high-impact cases just like this. If you're a litigator looking to do meaningful pro bono work, learn more at L4GG.org/PBLC.

Federal Appeals Court to Hear Arguments in Lawsuit to Restore Environmental and Climate Justice Grant Program

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C Circuit will hear oral arguments to determine the fate of more than $3 billion in federal Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grants. These funds, authorized by Congress under the Inflation Reduction Act (which added Section 138 to the Clean Air Act), were abruptly terminated by the Trump Administration, stripping critical resources from communities working to ensure clean air, safe water, and climate resilience. 

Attorneys from Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG), the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), Earthjustice, and Public Rights Project, are representing a coalition of  community-based nonprofits, Tribes, and local governments in Appalachian Voices et al v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This coalition is appealing a U.S. District Court’s August 2025 decision that dismissed the case under the argument that it belongs in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. 

“The rule of law exists to ensure that the government remains accountable to the people and the laws enacted by Congress,” said  Jillian Blanchard, Senior Vice President of Climate Change and Environmental Justice at Lawyers for Good Government. “Communities across this country spent years advocating for these resources, and they made life-altering decisions based on EPA’s promise. To claw back those funds now undermines that trust. L4GG is fighting to restore these funds because a promise made with mandated funding should be a promise kept, and no administration is above the laws passed to protect our communities’ health and future.”

The grants in question were designed to fund projects ranging from air quality monitoring to the implementation of clean energy in over-burdened areas. 

“This argument is another step in our fight to restore the Environment and Climate Justice Block grant program. Congress mandated that EPA award grants to reduce air pollution and prepare communities for natural disasters and extreme weather. EPA’s decision to eliminate this program was unlawful and has harmed communities throughout the South and across the country,” said Ben Grillot, Senior Attorney at Southern Environmental Law Center.

“Local governments and Tribal nations began hiring staff, signing contracts, and launching projects to make their communities healthier and more resilient based on these federal awards — only to have the federal government abruptly pull the rug out from under them. Congress authorized these funds, and the administration cannot simply ignore the law,” said Jonathan Miller, Chief Program Officer at Public Rights Project.

“Communities across the country have lost out on projects that would have tackled environmental harms, reduced pollution, and increased climate resilience because the Trump administration thinks it is above the law,” said Hana Vizcarra, Deputy Managing Attorney at Earthjustice. “We’re fighting alongside our partners and clients to hold the administration to account for its wholesale elimination of EPA’s grant program, which unlawfully stripped these beneficial projects from communities across the country.”

The arguments  will determine whether the court will hear the case that compels the restoration of these funds. 

# # #

Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG) coordinates large-scale pro bono programs and issue advocacy efforts to protect human rights, defend the environment, and ensure equal justice under the law, and has a network of 125,000+ lawyers to assist in its efforts. lawyersforgoodgovernment.org

Public Rights Project is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that helps local government officials fight for civil rights. We do this by building their capacity to protect and advance civil rights, convening and connecting them on issues of civil rights, and providing legal representation to governments to help them win in court on behalf of their residents. Since our founding, we’ve built a network of over 1,300 partners, including elected officials and 227 government offices across all 50 states, and helped recover over $46 million in relief for marginalized people. www.publicrightsproject.org 

The Southern Environmental Law Center is one of the nation’s most powerful defenders of the environment, rooted in the South. With a long track record, SELC takes on the toughest environmental challenges in court, in government, and in our communities to protect our region’s air, water, climate, wildlife, lands, and people. Nonprofit and nonpartisan, the organization has a staff of 250, including more than 160 legal and policy experts, and is headquartered in Charlottesville, Va., with offices in Asheville, Atlanta, Birmingham, Chapel Hill, Charleston, Nashville, Richmond, and Washington, D.C. selc.org

Earthjustice is the premier environmental law organization in the U.S., and the legal backbone of the domestic environmental movement. For over 50 years, we have been fighting in the courts, in legislatures, and in the court of public opinion to stop the climate crisis, create healthy communities free of pollution, safeguard our precious lands and waters, and expand environmental legal frameworks to achieve these goals. Earthjustice.org

L4GG Welcomes Carol Khalil as Supervising Attorney for Clean Energy & Green Finance

WASHINGTON – Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG) is pleased to announce that Carol Khalil has joined the organization as Supervising Attorney for Clean Energy & Green Finance within its Climate Change & Environmental Justice (CCEJ) Program.

Carol joins L4GG from the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), where she served as Vice President and Corporate Sustainability Officer. In that role, she founded and led the company’s sustainability office, developing strategies to integrate clean energy, energy efficiency, and climate resilience into housing finance and capital markets. Among a number of accomplishments, Carol helped design financing and tools to support communities in developing energy-efficient and resilient housing, and partnered with CDFIs, state agencies, nonprofits, and community organizations to expand clean energy and climate resilient investment in disadvantaged communities.

“Carol brings a rare combination of financial expertise, policy experience, and commitment to climate justice that will strengthen our ability to support clean energy deployment and defend critical federal climate investments,” said Traci Feit Love, Executive Director of Lawyers for Good Government.

In her new role, Carol will help lead L4GG’s effort to help finance community-driven clean energy and environmental projects, implementing a just transition to the green economy. She will develop and oversee L4GG's green financing services, build partnerships with green banks, CDFIs, and other mission-aligned institutions, and provide legal guidance to the hundreds of state and local agencies, green banks, and community-based organizations that rely on L4GG to identify and leverage green financing options.

“I’m honored to join Lawyers for Good Government at such a critical moment for clean energy and climate justice,” said Carol Khalil, Supervising Attorney for Clean Energy and Green Finance. “The work L4GG does to ensure that communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis have access to legal expertise and green financing resources is exactly where I want to be putting my energy. I look forward to helping build the financing infrastructure that can make the clean energy transition real for the people and communities who need it most.”

“Carol’s background at the intersection of clean energy finance, housing, and community investment will be a tremendous asset to our program," said Jillian Blanchard, Senior Vice President of Climate Change and Environmental Justice at L4GG. “Her work expanding access to solar, efficiency upgrades, and resilient infrastructure aligns directly with our mission to ensure the clean energy transition reaches the communities that need it most.”

# # #

Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG) coordinates large-scale pro bono programs and issue advocacy efforts to protect human rights, defend the environment, and ensure equal justice under the law, and has a network of 125,000+ lawyers to assist in its efforts. lawyersforgoodgovernment.org

L4GG Condemns EPA’s Final Repeal of the Endangerment Finding

WASHINGTON — Following today’s final action by the Environmental Protection Agency repealing the 2009 endangerment finding, Jillian Blanchard, Vice President of Climate Change & Environmental Justice at Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG), issued the following statement:

“By finalizing the repeal of the endangerment finding, the EPA has formally declared its loyalty to polluters over people. This decision rips out the scientific and legal foundation that has protected Americans from dangerous climate pollution for more than a decade, and it does so by ignoring decades of peer-reviewed science, sidelining expert consensus, and fast-tracking a change with enormous consequences for public health. 

“Section 202(a)(1) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. § 7521(a)(1)) clearly states that the EPA Administrator must regulate any air pollutant that can “cause, or contribute to, air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare.” Courts have been clear for years: the Clean Air Act requires EPA to follow the science and regulate climate pollution that endangers human health and welfare. This rule violates both the law and reality, and it will be challenged accordingly.  “Greenhouse gases don’t stop endangering people because an administration says they don’t. Heat waves, floods, wildfires, and toxic air will continue to harm communities whether EPA acknowledges the science or not.

“What makes this move especially egregious is the process itself. EPA rushed this rule through on an artificially short timeline, relied on discredited pseudoscience from a politicized ‘Climate Working Group,’ and dismissed thousands of public comments, claiming any related to climate science  were ‘out of scope.’ That is the definition of arbitrary and capricious decision-making and a failure to observe due process. 

“Communities, states, and advocates, including Lawyers for God Government, will continue to call for administrative reconsideration and push back against this repeal in the courts. This fight is far from over.”

Ryan Hathaway, L4GG’s Director of Environment and Climate Justice and former Director for Environmental Justice under Biden, added the following:

“The EPA can’t just erase the endangerment finding with the stroke of a pen. By 2009, the science was unequivocal: greenhouse gases endanger public health. The Endangerment finding wasn’t political; it was the culmination of decades of measurement, modeling, and global consensus. To reverse it now would not only ignore overwhelming scientific evidence, but unravel one of the rare moments where policy caught up to facts. It would be like deciding, years after seatbelts saved millions of lives, that maybe we never needed them. It’s reckless, ignorant, irresponsible, and will hurt people. We are not going to stand for it.”

If you’d like to connect with Jillian or Ryan to discuss the legal and environmental stakes of this unprecedented rollback, and why courts are likely to view this proposal as unlawful, we’d be happy to arrange an interview.

# # #

Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG) is a nonprofit organization that harnesses the power of 125,000 lawyers, law students, and advocates in the fight for justice. We identify where lawyers can make the greatest impact and mobilize them to defend democracy and the rule of law, protect civil and human rights, and advance environmental justice through coordinated legal action and advocacy efforts that create meaningful change for all Americans.

L4GG Files Amicus Brief in Appeal Defending $20 Billion Clean Energy Fund From Trump Administration Power Grab

WASHINGTON — Today, Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG) filed an amicus brief as counsel for 40 U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives, in the appeal of Climate United Fund v. Citibank, N.A. over the Trump administration’s cancellation of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF).

The filing responds to the Trump administration’s appeal of a district court ruling that blocked EPA’s attempt to dismantle the program and reclaim funds already awarded. The brief argues that the Environmental Protection Agency’s termination of $20 billion in Congressionally mandated clean energy grants, and attempt to claw back already-disbursed funds, is unconstitutional and sets a dangerous precedent.

“Congress created, funded, and directed EPA to deliver this money to build clean energy projects that cut pollution and lower energy bills,” said Jillian Blanchard, Vice President of Climate Change & Environmental Justice at L4GG. “EPA cannot simply undo the law by executive fiat. That’s a violation of the Constitution’s separation of powers.”

The brief, which you can read in full here, argues:

• Congress has the exclusive “power of the purse.” Under the Appropriations and Spending Clauses, only Congress decides how federal funds are allocated.

• EPA’s termination was a power grab. By nullifying programs after money had already been awarded and transferred, the administration usurped Congress’s authority.

• The administration’s appeal asks the Court to rewrite precedent. By leaning on a misreading of Dalton v. Specter, the administration ignores clear Supreme Court rulings (Train v. New York, Clinton v. New York) that prohibit the executive branch from refusing to spend funds Congress appropriated.

• If allowed to stand, the ruling creates a de facto line-item veto. Any future administration could cancel duly authorized programs and seize funds Congress already appropriated, undermining democracy and destabilizing community investments.

“This is not a routine contract dispute—it is a constitutional power grab,” said Gary DiBianco, counsel at L4GG’s Pro Bono Litigation Corps. “If the executive can claw back billions that Congress has already spent, then the courts and the executive have stripped all meaning from Congress’s power of the purse.”

The GGRF was created by the Inflation Reduction Act to invest nearly $20 billion in projects that reduce pollution, lower energy costs, and build resilience in disadvantaged communities. Hundreds of organizations have already begun planning and hiring around these funds, which are now in jeopardy. 

If you’re interested in learning more about some of those communities and projects impacted, we’d be happy to potentially arrange interviews.

# # #

Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG) is a nonprofit organization that harnesses the power of 125,000 lawyers, law students, and advocates in the fight for justice. We identify where lawyers can make the greatest impact and mobilize them to defend democracy and the rule of law, protect civil and human rights, and advance environmental justice through coordinated legal action and advocacy efforts that create meaningful change for all Americans.