Abigail Dillen

Abigail Dillen is the president of Earthjustice, leading the organization’s staff, board, and supporters to advance our mission of using the courts to protect our environment and people’s health. She is based in San Francisco, California. Before stepping into her current role, Abigail served as the Vice President of Litigation for Climate & Energy, heading Earthjustice’s litigation and legal advocacy to achieve the essential shift from fossil fuels to 100% clean energy. Prior to that, Abigail was managing attorney of Earthjustice’s Coal Program, which has played a central role in forcing the overdue retirement of coal-fired power plants around the country. Abigail has litigated precedent-setting cases that have held polluters accountable and cleared the way for clean energy nationally. Requiring the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to promulgate first-ever standards to govern disposal of coal ash and limit the wastewater discharge of toxic pollutants from coal-fired power plants; Blocking a $2 billion transmission project to transport dirty coal energy from the Ohio Valley to East Coast cities; Blocking permits for new coal-fired power plants; and Cutting off federal funding of new coal plants. Abigail came to Earthjustice in 2000. Working first out of our Northern Rockies Office in Bozeman, Montana, she worked to protect public lands and the many imperiled species that depend on them, including wolves, grizzly bears, and native trout. Abigail received her B.A. from Yale University and her law degree from the University of California, Berkeley, where she graduated Order of the Coif. Earthjustice President Abigail Dillen addressed graduates of the Vermont Law and Graduate School on May 16, 2026. Earthjustice and Beyond Carbon partner to accelerate the clean energy transition and advance environmental justice. We must reject the false choice between quickly ramping up transmission and protecting communities from harmful permitting decisions. Centering justice and community at the UN Climate Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. “It’s hard to dismantle agencies and get a lot done at the same time.” “Perhaps the biggest race for the future is who will command clean energy. Even if you want to see more drilling, if you’re in the majority of Americans, you also want to see clean energy move forward.”