Sarah Stokes is a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center and leads SELC’s infrastructure group throughout its southeast region. For sixteen years, she has fought for clean water and air in dozens of courthouses and at the Alabama state legislature. Her proudest accomplishments are wins for (and with) communities that have borne the brunt of environmental injustice. For example, she authored a settlement between Bluestone coke plant, the Jefferson County Department of Health, and GASP instructing the plant to pay the highest penalty in the history of the Department and to provide funding to projects in historically redlined North Brimingham. She also forced a settlement between the EPA and ABC Coke that stopped the plant from illegally discharging carcinogens in a historically Black neighborhood. Most recently, she is working with the Shiloh community and the Bullard Center to obtain engineering and legal technical assistance as they continue to fight for their rights against the Alabama Department of Transportation.
Because of her success, she has been recognized by her clients, the Cahaba River Society as the Cahaba Conservationist of the Year, and the Alabama Rivers Alliance, as a River Hero. The University of Alabama School of Law also recognized her as a 2018 Profile in Service, and she was named to the 2021-2022 Alabama Leadership Initiative class. She has taught “Environmental Litigation” as an Adjunct Professor at Sanford University and has been a speaker for several continuing legal education courses. Sarah received her undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College, a masters from the London School of Economics, and a juris doctorate from the University of Alabama School of Law. Before law school, she served in the Peace Corps in Paraguay as an environmental educator.