Environmental Defense Fund is a private organization in the United States that works to protect the environment. It has achieved many of its goals through legal action. The organization sues private companies and federal, state, and local government agencies to make them stop polluting the environment. Its cases are based on the belief that Americans have a constitutional right to a healthy environment.
A lawsuit by the fund strongly influenced the U.S. government’s decision to gradually phase out all uses of DDT, an insecticide. This decision took effect in 1972. Other suits caused companies and government agencies to abandon or modify a number of projects that could have harmed the environment. These projects included the construction of canals, dams, and highways. A group of lawyers and scientists founded the fund in 1967. It has headquarters in New York City.
