An Earth Month Message

It’s a pleasure to address the Giving List Community during Earth Month. It is a time when we celebrate our beautiful, irreplaceable home, this Earth that gives us life and inspires so many of us to defend her and find a balance between human and ecosystems for the promise of a livable future.

As Executive Director of ClientEarth Americas — a nonprofit working for the planet in an entirely new, and unique way—I’m excited to share our recent progress in protecting people and planet through the power of the law. Our team of former “Big Law” business attorneys bring precedent-setting business cases that can change environmental systems. This is the new way we are holding corporate polluters accountable for a livable planet. If you’re new to us, it’s likely because we’re young in the US—four years old and a lean and tenacious team of 25.

I hope the overview below inspires you to get involved with our mission.

I am excited to share the precedent-setting achievements of our most impactful case to date—one that is still working its way through the courts but has already sent ripples across the country. It’s a great example of what it looks like to use new legal approaches to protect the health of earth, and all of us who live on it. I hope you find it to be interesting and engaging!

Advancing Accountability for Abandoned Wells

You may have noticed a growing concern among citizens, communities about the financial ticking time bomb and the profound environmental and public health harms posed by themillions of abandoned “zombie wells” littering the country. These are oil and gas wells left behind by fossil fuel companies that sit uncapped and unremediated, damaging ecosystems, threatening community health, and draining public funds as methane and other toxic pollutants leak unchecked. Many of these wells dot our own California coastline, from Long Beach through Los Angeles County, Santa Barbara, and up the Central Coast. Often out of sight, they are never without consequence, quietly releasing harmful gases into the air and compounding the climate crisis. Based on rigorous research, legal theory development, and careful case building, ClientEarth filed a case designed to reshape the legal landscape governing abandoned wells and, in doing so, help safeguard the physical landscapes they continue to threaten.

In February 2024, ClientEarth Americas filed McCormick et al. v. HRM Resources LLC et al., alleging fraud, conspiracy, and trespass (among other claims) against oil companies and their executives for transferring low producing well liabilities to an undercapitalized buyer in order to evade cleanup costs. The complaint contends that the buyer quickly became insolvent (as planned), leaving hundreds of wells abandoned and shifting the financial burden of remediation from corporations to landowners and taxpayers. In October 2025, in a first-of-its-kind development, a Colorado court granted class certification, transforming the case from an individual dispute into a high stakes action with sector wide implications for oil and gas producers.

Turning legal momentum into systemic impact

As we move into 2026, success in the “zombie well” case will be measured by turning our recent courtroom wins into strong outcomes as the case advances toward trial, and setting legal precedent that can be replicated across other jurisdictions.

Shielding America’s retirement savings from climate risk

In March 2026, ClientEarth Americas launched a landmark case against Cushman & Wakefield for putting its workers’ retirement savings at risk by funneling them into a high exposure fund filled with companies vulnerable to climate disruption. Although the firm publicly acknowledges that climate change threatens its business and advises clients on managing these risks, we allege that it has not applied the same protections to its employees’ 401(k)s, leaving the savings of thousands of American workers exposed to financial dangers from extreme weather, regulatory shifts, and the declining value of high carbon industries. With more than $12 trillion in American retirement accounts, this case reaches far beyond one company and could set a precedent requiring that those who safeguard workers’ futures to take climate risk as seriously as any other financial risk.

Protecting a threatened marine sanctuary

A UNESCO World Heritage site and home to more than one-third of all marine mammal species, the Gulf of California is where life flourishes in ways found nowhere else. Blue whales calve in sheltered waters, vaquita porpoises navigate by sound, and coastal communities draw sustenance from the sea. But its future is now under threat. Known as the Saguaro Energia project, it would industrialize pristine shores, cut gas pipelines through desert habitats, and unleash millions of tons of planet-heating methane pollution. In doing so, it puts irreplaceable species at even greater risk and accelerates the climate crisis.

By backing this project, major banks like JPMorgan Chase, Santander, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) are choosing to prop up a fossil fuel system that is already pushing our communities, ecosystems, and climate to the brink. At ClientEarth Americas, we are working to expose and challenge this destruction and hold corporations accountable. We have alerted JPMorgan Chase to the serious financial, legal, and reputational risks of its involvement and written to MUFG to raise concerns about its role as financial advisor to Mexico Pacific. Those concerns include threats to the Gulf of California’s biodiversity, alleged human rights violations raised by affected communities, growing financial uncertainty from legal challenges and market risks, and misalignment with MUFG’s own climate, human rights, and sustainability commitments.

This year, in coalition with our partners in Mexico and around the world, we are mobilizing to demand better from the companies backing this plan and to make clear that the Gulf of California is not a sacrifice zone for fossil fuel profits.

Advancing Change Together

None of this work would be possible without the steadfast support of generous donors across the Los Angeles and Santa Barbara regions. It feels especially meaningful to share this work during Earth Month, a time to celebrate the wonder of our living planet and to reckon with the threats that endanger its future.

Your leadership and generosity enable our attorneys to drive systemic change, protect ecosystems, and help restore balance between human activity and the natural world. If this message resonates with you and you share belief in the power of the law to deliver lasting environmental accountability, please reach out .

Yours sincerely,
Danielle Lackey
Executive Director, ClientEarth Americas