Environmental Defense Center Welcomes New Staff Members
July 01, 2024The Environmental Defense Center (EDC) – one of the nation’s longest-running nonprofit environmental law firms working to protect the California coast, natural resources, and the earth’s climate – has added three highly qualified new staff members to its team. Jeremy Frankel, a Goleta native, has joined the legal team as a Staff Attorney. Matt Campa, who was serving as a Legal Fellow with EDC, is starting in a new position: Staff Attorney/Environmental Justice Program Outreach Coordinator. And Brandi Webber, a long time Santa Barbara resident, has filled the position of Office Manager & Event Coordinator. The new hires support the organization’s long-term goals to defend nature and advance environmental justice on the Central Coast.
Read MoreEnvironmental Defense Center to Honor Hillary Hauser of Heal the Ocean with 2024 Environmental Hero Award
May 20, 2024The Environmental Defense Center – one of the nation’s longest-running nonprofit law firms working to protect California’s coast and the earth’s climate – today announced that its 2024 Environmental Hero award will be presented to Hillary Hauser at the organization’s annual event on Sunday, June 9th. Ms. Hauser is the founder and Executive Director of Santa Barbara nonprofit Heal the Ocean (HTO), which focuses on wastewater infrastructure (sewers and septic systems) and on protecting the marine environment from dumping and other forms of pollution. Ms. Hauser will accept the award at EDC’s annual fundraising event, Green & Blue: A Coastal Celebration, on June 9th at the Stow House in Goleta, CA. Prior recipients of the Environmental Hero award include Jane Fonda, Northern Chumash Tribal Council leader Violent Sage Walker, and Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard.
Read MoreLegal Fight to Preserve Agricultural Heritage in Santa Ynez Valley Ends in Success
March 25, 2024The Environmental Defense Center (EDC) and Santa Barbara County Action Network (SBCAN) celebrated the withdrawal of an appeal by developers, leaving in place a Superior Court decision in favor of preserving agriculture in the Santa Ynez Valley. The multi-year effort by developers to subdivide the 4,000-acre historic Rancho La Laguna into 13 parcels could have resulted in construction of over a dozen high-end residential estates. The owners of Rancho La Laguna, including a Hollywood producer, sued the County in 2017 after the Board of Supervisors denied the subdivision. EDC, on behalf of SBCAN, intervened in the lawsuit to defend the County’s action. In 2023, a Santa Barbara Superior Court ruled against the developers in their lawsuit, upholding the County’s denial of Rancho La Laguna’s proposal to subdivide. The developers appealed the Superior Court’s decision, but they have now withdrawn the appeal, formally ending the litigation.
Read MoreExxonMobil Drops Court Bid to Truck Oil in Santa Barbara
February 16, 2024ExxonMobil’s dangerous proposal to truck massive amounts of oil along California highways is dead after the company dropped its lawsuit challenging Santa Barbara County’s denial of the plan. Exxon’s plan would have helped the company restart three drilling platforms off the Santa Barbara coast. The platforms, built in the 1980s, have been shut down since the disastrous 2015 Refugio oil spill that leaked more than 140,000 gallons of heavy crude on the Gaviota Coast and into the ocean. Exxon notified the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California late Thursday that the company is dismissing its lawsuit.
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