Dear NRDC Supporter,

163.

That’s how many lawsuits NRDC brought against the first Trump administration from 2017 through 2021.

We sued the administration an average of once every 10 days for four years — and we’ve won victories in nearly 90 percent of resolved cases.

Trump’s agenda threatens the future of our planet. But NRDC is ready to fight back against new attempts to harm public health, the environment, and climate progress.

We’ve defended our planet from the Trump agenda before, and we will do it again — and litigation is one of the most powerful tools we have to beat back the attacks.

Learn more about NRDC's courtroom strategy and how we’ve fought — and won — against the Trump administration’s environmental assaults.

The first Trump administration waged the worst White House assault ever on the environment and public health, weakening, or trying to scrap, dozens and dozens of commonsense laws, standards, and safeguards.

NRDC helped lead the resistance against those attacks — and here are just a few of our key victories:

• Keystone XL Pipeline: When the Trump administration attempted to revive the climate-busting Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, NRDC and our partners successfully challenged their illegal permits in federal court and stopped the pipeline from being built.
• National Monuments: Trump signed proclamations slashing the size of two critical national monuments, Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, leaving them open to harmful mining and oil and gas drilling. NRDC and our allies jumped into action, challenging the Trump administration’s rollbacks in federal court and compelling President Biden to restore protections to these monuments in 2021.
• Gray Wolf Protection: Shortly before leaving office in 2020, the Trump administration hastily tried to remove endangered species protections for gray wolves across 44 states. NRDC and our allies brought a lawsuit challenging this illegal act, which threatened this iconic species. Our lawsuit has saved hundreds of wolves from immediate threats, including state-sponsored hunts.
• Pollinators: NRDC and our allies sued the Trump administration’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for not designating “critical habitat” for the endangered Rusty Patched Bumblebee, a highly productive pollinator. In 2023, the federal court sided with us, ensuring habitat protection for the bee and other wildlife imperiled by habitat loss, and helping protect the future of our food supply — one out of every three bites of food we eat depends on pollinators!

Now, with a Trump administration poised to return with its Project 2025 agenda, NRDC is prepared to fight back against new attacks on our environment from all possible fronts — from the halls of Congress to state houses and city halls, from the streets to the courts.

NRDC will be ready to challenge day-one actions, such as unlawful executive orders reversing climate protections, expanding oil and gas drilling and mining in wild places, weakening clean air and clean water laws, and gutting laws protecting endangered wildlife.

We’ll also be ready to stand up to the billionaire oil and gas donors Trump courted to bankroll his campaign in exchange for the keys to the White House.

We know a new Trump administration and its allies are more prepared to wreak havoc this time around — but NRDC is ready for them. We will not stop fighting for a cleaner, safer, better future for people across the country.

Help NRDC protect our environment and take on the Trump agenda in the courts — and win.

Sincerely,

Mitch Bernard
Chief Counsel, NRDC