The Environmental Law and Policy Center (ELPC) is a Midwest-based non-profit environmental advocacy group, with offices in Chicago, Columbus, Des Moines, Duluth, Jamestown, Madison, Sioux Falls, and Washington, D.C. ¹

Background and Activities

Environmental Progress has referred to ELPC as “the most influential anti-nuclear environmental organization in Illinois.” ¹ In 2016 ELPC opposed a proposal in the Illinois Legislature that would have allowed two nuclear facilities to receive the zero-carbon energy subsidies that the state provides to wind and solar energy producers. ¹

Nuclear power plants produce no carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gas emissions, and as of 2021 accounted for 20 percent of American electricity production—the largest source of zero carbon electricity in the United States. ² An  October 2018 proposal from The Nature Conservancy noted that zero-carbon nuclear plants produced 7.8 percent of total world energy output and recommended reducing carbon emissions by increasing nuclear capacity to 33 percent of total world energy output. ³

Environmental Progress has accused ELPC of taking donations from natural gas energy firms. Environmental Progress asserts that natural gas and coal firms have an interest in supporting wind and solar energy over nuclear because wind and solar are a less likely than nuclear to replace the carbon-emitting fuels. In April 2016 ELPC president Howard Learner told an Illinois newspaper: “The Clinton nuclear power plant is not competing very well in the competitive economic power market. . . . Everybody looks with excitement when a new natural gas plant is built. People look with excitement when a new wind farm comes, creating construction jobs.” ^{1  4}

According to an April 2026 report from Open the Books, since 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has paid millions in attorney legal fees representing environmental nonprofits involved in law litigation against the U.S Government under the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Endangered Species Act (also dubbed as “sue and settle” practices). The reporting showed the highest amount between 2013 and 2025 was paid during the Biden Administration with the five litigants receiving the largest attorney fee payouts being Northwest Environmental Advocates (over $1.26 million), the Sierra Club (over $1.2 million), the Center for Biological Diversity (over $1.03 million), the Environmental Law and Policy Center ($868,842), and the State of California ($653,000). ⁵

1. “ELPC.” Environmental Progress. October 13, 2018. Accessed August 16, 2021. https://environmentalprogress.org/elpc
2. “Nuclear explained.” U.S. Energy Information Administration. Accessed August 16, 2021. https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/nuclear/us-nuclear-industry.php
3. “The Science of Sustainability.” The Nature Conservancy. October 13, 2018. Accessed August 16, 2021. https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-insights/perspectives/the-science-of-sustainability/
4. Brady-Lunny, Edith. “Absent legislative action, Clinton Power Station faces dark future.” Herald-Review: Lee News Service. April 24, 2016. Accessed August 18, 2021. https://herald-review.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/absent-legislative-action-clinton-power-station-faces-dark-future/article_d3e54de9-e80a-5eb3-a500-dd0df2b61b9c.html
5. “Trump EPA Ends Exorbitant Pay-Outs to Litigious Environmental Nonprofits.” Open The Books, April 1, 2026. https://openthebooks.substack.com/p/trump-epa-ends-exorbitant-pay-outs?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=775254&post_id=192675092&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=zicm2&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email