SELC

06/18/2026

BREAKING: This week, we filed a lawsuit challenging the North Carolina Utilities Commission’s unconstitutional order that effectively cancels North Carolina’s 2026 solar and storage procurement.

“The state utilities commission issued an unconstitutional order that blocks low-cost, reliable, and homegrown solar and storage energy resources for North Carolinians,” said Nick Jimenez, a senior attorney at SELC. “Keeping solar and battery energy off the grid will impact our energy costs over the long term, especially with the increasing demand from data centers and other large loads.”

At a time of escalating energy costs and demand, the 2026 solar procurement would improve affordability and reliability for North Carolinians who buy electricity from Duke Energy and communities burdened by increased rates.

The complaint filed by SELC on behalf of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Vote Solar, Sierra Club, and EJCAN, outlines how the order violates due process according to the North Carolina constitution.

Learn more about our lawsuit and the unlawful aspects of the order here: https://selc.link/4oCudoR

06/17/2026

Along with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Appalachian Voices, we're calling for Virginia legislators to implement legislation — whether through the budget process or potentially a special session — that establishes reasonable safeguards on data centers now.

Specifically, data centers should:

→ Power their facilities with clean energy on their own dime;

→ Be prohibited from building dirty power sources on-site that burden Virginia communities with harmful air pollution;

→ Cut harmful impacts of backup diesel generators by maintaining at least two hours of non-polluting backup power at all times; and

→ Fully offset their water consumption in water-scarce areas by using recycled water for cooling.

“Data centers continue to flock to our state, and it is hurting everyday Virginians. But this unfortunate dynamic is also an opportunity. Virginia can stand up and demand this industry be better neighbors and citizens," says Senior Attorney Nate Benforado.

Photo by Sanjay Suchak

Read more: https://selc.link/4owmJ6C

06/16/2026

In our Clean Air Act lawsuit against Elon Musk’s company, xAI, the U.S. Department of Justice just intervened — arguing that xAI should be allowed to break the law solely because the Trump administration says so.

This is a blatant attempt to take power away from local communities, the courts, and Congress and consolidate it in the hands of the Trump administration.

The DOJ’s claim comes after the NAACP filed a Clean Air Act citizen suit against xAI over its unlawful use of polluting gas turbines to power its Colossus 2 data center in Memphis. To meet the data center’s massive power needs, xAI installed and is operating 59 unpermitted turbines at a nearby site in Southaven, Mississippi — a clear violation of the Clean Air Act. The NAACP is represented by SELC and Earthjustice in the case.

“With this filing, the Trump administration is launching an unprecedented attack on the public’s ability to defend themselves from illegal pollution. This is an attempt to let well-connected corporations like xAI unlawfully pollute without any consequences, putting communities across the country at risk and threatening to open the door to large-scale pay-to-pollute corruption in the process,” said SELC Litigation Director Kym Meyer. “The Department of Justice’s frivolous arguments fly in the face of decades of well-established legal precedent and we look forward to fighting them in court.”

https://selc.link/4eLfggG

06/12/2026

BREAKING: Great news for communities and our climate.

We sued the Trump administration when they illegally terminated a $2.8 billion federal grant program that communities were counting on to reduce pollution, lower energy costs, improve public health, and prepare for climate impacts.

A federal court agreed and ruled that the administration's termination of the Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant Program was unlawful — requiring EPA to implement the grant program and send these critical funds to communities as Congress intended.

The decision also sends a clear message: No administration is above the law and communities cannot be denied the resources they were promised for political reasons.

For more than a year, our legal team fought through motions, appeals, and countless hours in court to defend these investments. Today’s win belongs to the communities that never gave up and everyone who helped make this fight possible.

The work isn't over. We'll continue fighting attacks on clean air, clean water, climate progress, and environmental justice across the South.

Because everyone deserves a safe, healthy environment where they can thrive.

Photo by Lauren Petracca

06/12/2026

For hundreds of years the Gullah Geechee people have called coastal areas and islands in the South home as descendants of formerly enslaved Africans who were brought there.

Through their stories, the Guardian highlights the challenges facing these communities when it comes to preserving their ancestral lands amid rapid growth and development in the South’s coastal regions.

Fragmented ownership, rising property taxes, and climate change impacts have left much of the historically Black-owned land vulnerable to developers.

“The loss of property can be seen in the dwindling Gullah Geechee population: in 1940, most of Hilton Head’s 1,100 residents were the descendants of freedmen, while in 2020, only 6% of the island’s population was Black, down from 8% in 2000,” writes Melissa Hellmann.

Jenny Brennan, SELC Senior Policy Analyst, provides insight into how sea level rise and flooding are compounding these issues for Gullah people.

As neighbors, advocates, and community leaders come together to defend their land and heritage, the stakes extend beyond property lines — the preservation of a centuries-old culture depends on these efforts.

Read more in the Guardian:

Property disputes, predatory development and surging sea levels are putting the historic Black community at risk

06/11/2026

Richmond, Virginia facility leaks over a year's worth of cancer-causing pollution in less than 1.5 hours

Sterilization Servies of Virginia leaked nearly 600 pounds of ethylene oxide (EtO) into the air on April 9, drastically exceeding the facility’s legal pollution limits.

Even though 260,000 people and 100 schools/childcare centers sit within five miles of this facility, residents weren’t notified.

SSV is just one of many commercial sterilizer facilities pumping out toxic EtO across the region. It’s also one of 40 facilities nationwide granted a two-year exemption from the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2024 health standards. We're currently fighting these exemptions in federal court, but right now we need immediate local action.

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality is proposing a trivial $53,000 penalty for these catastrophic violations. This fine is not enough to protect our families and communities.

How you can help:

DEQ is accepting public comments through June 19. Alongside Virginia Interfaith Power & Light, we’re urging Virginians to demand accountability.

Don’t let toxic pollution be swept under the rug. Visit the link in our bio to submit your comment to urge DEQ to revoke the facility’s permit and help protect Richmond communities: https://selc.link/4vHYNzE

06/10/2026

The numbers are in and more Virginians are choosing rail.

Ridership surged to a new record in 2025, and the momentum is only growing in 2026 across the country. This March, Amtrak reported a 5% increase in ridership nationwide compared to last year as more people turn to trains to avoid high gas prices.

Transportation is the largest source of climate pollution in the U.S. Expanding passenger rail is a great way to cut emissions while giving people a more affordable way to get where they need to go: https://selc.link/4uBIP9O

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Amtrak carried a record number of passengers in Virginia in 2025, according to the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority. Nearly 1.5 million people climbed aboard one of the…

06/09/2026

As North Carolina weighs the possible expansion of Wilmington Harbor, The Moore Charitable Foundation offers an important look at the tradeoffs facing the Cape Fear River.

“The proposal — which would deepen the river channel from 42 to 47 feet for approximately 28 miles and widen significant stretches of the channel by several hundred feet — promises marginal economic gain at extraordinary environmental cost,” the Foundation writes.

Accelerated flooding in coastal communities, destruction of important conservation land, and irreparable harm to bird nesting sites are among the project’s many potential impacts.

The proposed expansion would leave North Carolina communities, ecosystems, and wildlife paying the price for a billion-dollar project so that large corporations can save marginally on shipping costs. SELC stands with our local partners opposing this proposal, which would not meet environmental standards nor drive any meaningful local economic development.

Read more: https://moorecharitable.medium.com/a-river-at-risk-the-true-cost-of-wilmingtons-port-expansion-23a680171e36

Photo by Cornell Watson

06/09/2026

TAKE ACTION: After living through everything from catastrophic coal ash spills to contaminated groundwater, SELC and communities across the South spent years fighting for safeguards that protect our families from toxic coal ash.

Yet the Trump administration just moved to gut a federal rule that protects us from this toxic pollution—giving polluters what they asked for and putting our drinking water sources at serious risk.

We need your voice now to stop this dangerous reversal. Act today and tell EPA and Congress to say NO to toxic coal ash in our water.

06/05/2026

In a recent announcement, Preservation Virginia named the site of WaHōnSeNaKah (Powhatan)’s birthplace one of Virginia’s most endangered places of 2026.

Located on the north bank of the James River immediately downstream from present Richmond, Powhatan’s birthplace is depicted as a prominent settlement on historic maps and initial archaeological work has uncovered tens of thousands of artifacts at the site. The site holds immense cultural significance to Virginia’s Tribes and reflects a long-standing and ongoing relationship between Tribal Nations and the landscape. The property was later home to a plantation and enslaved community and it is recognized as the site of Richmond’s surrender at the end of the Civil War.

Today, it is one of the last undeveloped parcels near Richmond on Route 5/Old Osborne Turnpike — one of the oldest roads in the state and designated as a Virginia Byway for its high aesthetic and cultural value. It is also in danger of being lost to development.

A private company is reviving plans to develop the 530-acre property. When this development was originally approved, Virginia’s Tribes had not received federal recognition and had far more limited capacity to engage in state and local decision-making processes.

Photo by Katie Orlinsky