User:Uptonl854/Southern Environmental Law Center

The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) is the largest 501(c)(3) environmental nonprofit organization in the southeastern United States, with more than 100 attorneys and 200 staff members overall working at the local, state, and federal level.

The purpose of SELC is to protect the physical environment of the southeastern United States. Areas such as the Appalachian Mountains, thousands of acres of National forest (United States) in southeast United States, and the Atlantic Coast are just some of the special places the non-profit organization is trying to protect. [[Energy Weekly News states, granted the publication is from 2011, "The South's energy choices aren't just affecting our own backyard. If our six states region were a country, it would be the seventh largest emitter of carbon dioxide." SELC has been a very effective defender for the region winning multiple court cases and protecting the region of its air, water, land, and people.

SELC’s Solar Power Initiative is boosting solar growth in the South by removing disincentives and regulatory roadblocks. As of 2022, rates of solar are up to 23,000 megawatts, and homes with solar are up to 100,000. The benefits of using solar energy is lower electricity bills, creating new local jobs, and providing advancements towards a cleaner energy economy.

SELC has prevented the construction of roadways and logging for 700,000 acres of land in the six-state region. For example, they prevented the doubling of Interstate 81 in Virginia, and continue to seek new sustainable land use strategies and funding public transit.

Has been in partnership with multiple other non-profits supporting the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for shutting down the Southeast Energy Exchange Market (SEEM) and overruling the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission(FERC) for unlawfully approving the market at the start. SEEM was a proposal that was meant to facilitate bilateral trading allowing members to buy and sell energy close to the time most energy is consumed, which would utilize the unavailable unreserved transmissions. In reality, it was creating unequal terms between members and encouraged lucrative trading between utilities.

Partners and Community
SELC works alongside 300 local, state, national, and international partner organizations to help converse in ideas and knowledge of environmental activism. For example, they work with the Lumber River community in North Carolina to maintain clean and safe water, the Pine Grove community working to preserve their endangered historic black school in Cumberland County, Virginia, local rural and predominantly black communities to help fight against the building of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, and so much more.

The organization also has a podcast called Broken Ground telling the stories of environmentally active people in the southeastern region either dealing with or conquering environmental injustices.

SELC also has a magazine that tells the stories and experiences of their communities playing their part. The first issue came out during the Summer of 2023.

Charity rating
SELC has a 100% score and the highest four-star rating from Charity Navigator, an independent charity assessment organization. In order to receive the score the organization was graded on four different categories: impacts and results, accountability and finance, culture and community, and leadership and adaptability. They also were awarded the Platinum level GuideStar Exchange that represents their commitment to transparency, meaning they are very open to their people and represent good leadership skills.