Down to Earth: an Earthjustice Podcast Earthjustice

Hilton Kelley is a leading environmental activist who gave up a Hollywood acting career to move to Port Arthur, Texas, a town that's known for having some of the most toxic air in the country. For more than a decade, Hilton Kelley has worked to clean up Port Arthur's air by facing off against industrial polluters that literally surround the Texas town. These facilities include numerous refineries and chemical plants, a ship yard full of diesel-fueled barges, and even an incineration plant that just received a permit to burn chemical waste from Syria.

Earthjustice Campaign Manager Kathleen Sutcliffe speaks with Helen Holden Slottje, a lawyer in upstate New York, who discusses her pioneering legal strategy to keep the controversial oil and gas development process known as "fracking" out of communities. Thanks in large part to Helen Slottje's efforts, more than 170 communities in New York have fracking bans or moratoriums on the books. In 2014, Helen’s hard work and bravery were rewarded with the Goldman Environmental Prize, often referred to as the "Green Nobel Prize."

Earthjustice attorney Kristen Boyles discusses the fight to stop the expansion of crude-by-rail projects, which use trains to transport crude oil to facilities that then export it across the U.S. and internationally. Crude-by-rail has been around for some time, but recently it's received increased scrutiny due to a series of train accidents that have resulted in loss of life and leveled entire towns.

Marjorie Mulhall is a legislative counsel on Earthjustice's Policy and Legislation team, located in Washington, D.C. She works with Congress and federal agencies to protect the Endangered Species Act and prevent legislative rollback of our legal victories. Marjorie spoke with National Press Secretary Kari Birdseye in November of 2013.

From the California coast to Maryland ports, Earthjustice is fighting to protect communities and special places from fracking. Deborah Goldberg is co-Managing Attorney of the Northeast regional office. She spoke with Associate Editor Jessica Knoblauch in September of 2013.

Earthjustice Attorney Greg Loarie discusses his work to get a toxic pesticide known as sulfoxaflor off the market, due to threats it poses to honeybees. Over the last few years, honeybees, which pollinate billions of dollars of U.S. crops annually, have been dying at unprecedented rates. Studies suggest that toxic pesticides like sulfoxaflor may be partly to blame. Greg works in the California regional office and spoke with Associate Editor Jessica Knoblauch in August of 2013.