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Elizabeth Putfark

Associate Attorney

Elizabeth is on the SELC team fighting unnecessary buildout of natural gas infrastructure in the Southeast. She advocates before the Virginia State Corporation Commission for effective emissions reductions strategies that protect consumers and promote energy and environmental justice. She also litigates before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to ensure that interstate pipeline proposals serve unmet need and comply with environmentally protective state and federal laws.

“We are at an inflection point in the world’s response to climate change, and I want to be a part of tangible solutions that get at the nut of the problem—namely, breaking our reliance on fossil fuels,” she said. “SELC’s place-based approach to problem-solving positions it to do exactly that, working on multiple fronts before myriad decision makers in the forums that matter, bringing the expertise and credibility that comes from knowing a place and the laws that govern it really well.”

Elizabeth also supports communities that oppose the pipelines, compressor stations, gas-fired power plants, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities that threaten to pollute the air and degrade the water.

She personally knows what this threat is like because she lives in Nelson County, Va., “a community that was once in the crosshairs of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which was canceled only after a years-long fight in which SELC played a leading role,” Elizabeth said. “I am so proud to tell my neighbors that I work for the organization that fought alongside them, and to continue that important work in other cities, towns, and rural communities like mine throughout our region.”

Her home county has mountain views, valley orchards, and rocky creeks. “It’s a magical place to raise my family, and a reminder every day of how much we have to protect,” she said.

  • J.D., University of Virginia School of Law; submissions editor, Virginia Environmental Law Journal
  • M.A., University of South Carolina
  • B.A., University of South Carolina Honors College