Air

Fighting for clean air

Clean air is essential to our day-to-day well-being, our long term health, and our ability to enjoy our natural heritage.  Just ask an emergency room patient with asthma, a parent facing the reality that the contamination of a home or school may be putting their children at risk, those hiking the Mt. Hood National Forest on a hazy day, or tribal children visiting the disappearing petroglyphs and pictograms of the Columbia River Gorge.  Not only are the threats posed by air pollution real, clean air is difficult, though far from impossible, to achieve and maintain in an industrial economy.   Those with vested interests in technologies and industries that pollute are backed by well-heeled law firms, vast war-chests for lobbying our leaders, and trained engineers to assure regulators and the public that things are just fine.  PEAC catalyzes, supports communities’ efforts to match the forces arrayed against them, and wins big for clean air across the country.

On behalf of our dedicated clients, PEAC has protected Oregon from the use of HCFC 142-b, an ozone depleting substance and potent greenhouse gas, halted the construction of a new coal plant along the Columbia River, ensured the shut-down of Oregon’s only dirty coal-fired power plant by 2020, facilitated a landmark agreement with a neighborhood polluter to reduce its air emissions, and reviewed countless permits and agency actions with regard to air quality.  As a litigation-focused law firm, PEAC provides the type of representation needed to decisively prevail in court, but also brings substantial skill to the table when public campaigns and negotiations provide the most effective way forward.