Clean Georgia
Georgia Center for Law in the Public Interest
Protecting Georgia’s Natural Resources
The Georgia Center for Law in the Public Interest is a non-profit public interest law center dedicated to empowering Georgia’s citizens by promoting the development and effective implementation of public policy and laws to protect our natural resources. At the cornerstone of the Center’s mission is the belief that alone, no single organization can affect the change necessary for long-term environmental protection. Instead, environmental advocacy organizations are most effective when working cooperatively and sharing expertise and experience. To that end, the Center provides significant legal and technical expertise to local, state, and national environmental groups.
The Georgia Center works closely with community-based groups, providing valuable legal assistance in their efforts to protect Georgia’s natural resources from unlawful pollution. Confronted with industry and government unresponsive to citizen concerns, the Center empowers these groups by providing them with the legal assistance necessary to compel governments to enforce the law and to compel industries to remedy serious water and air pollution problems throughout the state. The Center will continue its efforts to improve federal and state laws and regulations and to secure compliance with laws in order to:
- Protect Georgia’s rivers, lakes, and wetlands
- Prevent unlawful air pollution
- Protect Georgia’s rich biodiversity
- Preserve valuable coastal areas
Promoting Government Accountability
The Georgia Center’s efforts also help create open and responsive government enabling the public to participate meaningfully in civic affairs. The Center provides education and legal representation to citizens whose rights to participate in the public arena are jeopardized by closed government decision-making processes.
Protecting the Environment of the Rural Community
A changing global economy, with its focus on large-scale production, threatens the health of Georgians living in rural agricultural communities. Sprawling development and the industrialization of the farming industry have come at a heavy price both to the environment and to Georgia’s small family farms. The Georgia Center is working to:
- Prevent millions of tons of animal waste and other pollutants from entering Georgia’s waterways
- Hold industry responsible for the environmental costs of industrial farming
