Down to Earth: an Earthjustice Podcast

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.

Tom Murphy is a wildlife photographer who has spent countless hours documenting the beauty and wildlife of Yellowstone National Park. He shares experiences from decades of hiking, camping and skiing across Yellowstone, a place he refers to as "one of the finest wild land ecosystems in the world." During that time he's had plenty of grizzly bear encounters, but he is still waiting to cross paths with the ever-elusive wolverine. Tom spoke with Associate Editor Jessica Knoblauch in August of 2013.

Author Jon Mooallem describes the haphazard, and often inspiring, efforts of conservationists to protect endangered species. Jon Mooallem is a contributing writer to the New York Times Magazine and author of the book "Wild Ones: A Sometimes Dismaying, Weirdly Reassuring Story About Looking at People Looking at Animals in America." Mooallem spoke with Associate Editor Jessica Knoblauch in July of 2013.

Douglas H. Chadwick is a wildlife biologist and journalist. As a volunteer for the Glacier National Park Wolverine Project, Doug helped researchers track wolverines, fierce members of the weasel family who regularly face down grizzly bears. Climate change is threatening the wolverines' existence.

Environmental justice advocate Vernice Miller-Travis discusses why the fractured nature of green groups and the environmental justice movement undermines our overall political effectiveness.