April 22, 2020 marks the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, celebrated worldwide annually since 1970. Earth Day began as a grassroots movement to raise awareness about our shared dependence on the earth’s environment for our lives and health, and our shared responsibility to protect it. Earth Day sparked the establishment of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and saw the passage of environmental laws including the Clean Air Act, the Water Quality Improvement Act of 1970, and the Endangered Species Act.
This year, Lone Star Legal Aid’s Environmental Justice team celebrates Earth Day with our community partner organizations as a founding member of CEER Houston. For us, the day emphasizes the meaning of environmental justice as our organization focuses on protecting and serving our most vulnerable communities during this global pandemic.
Part of a wider Equitable Development Initiative at Lone Star Legal Aid, the EJ Team works with communities across our 72-county service area to address systemic discrimination and degradation, creating a healthier, safer, and more equitable future. Our ongoing environmental law work includes advocating for individuals and communities who face neighborhood impacts from air pollution, groundwater contamination, large infrastructure projects, and other environmental concerns.
Learn more about our team’s environmental justice work in this video:
Lone Star Legal Aid is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit law firm focused on advocacy on behalf of low-income and underserved populations. Lone Star Legal Aid serves millions of people at 125% of federal poverty guidelines that reside in 72 counties in the eastern and Gulf Coast regions of Texas, and 4 counties of southwest Arkansas. Lone Star Legal Aid focuses its resources on maintaining, enhancing, and protecting income and economic stability; preserving housing; improving outcomes for children; establishing and sustaining family safety and stability, health and well‐being; and assisting populations with special vulnerabilities, like those who have disabilities, or who are elderly, homeless, or have limited English language skills. To learn more about Lone Star Legal Aid, visit our website at www.lonestarlegal.org.
Media contact: Clarissa Ayala, cayala@lonestarlegal.org
