Luke Winthrop Cole (July 15, 1962 - June 6, 2009) was an environmental lawyer and the co-founder of the Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment, in San Francisco, California.

[1] Cole was raised with his three siblings, Peter, Thomas, and Sarah in Manhattan,[2] and Nigeria then moved to Santa Barbara in 1968 as a result of his fathers career.

[6] Cole died while on a sabbatical with his wife Nancy Shelby, who sustained an eye injury on June 6, 2009, in a car crash in Queen Elizabeth National Park,[7] Uganda.

[4] In the fall of 1989, Cole would Co-found the Center on Race, Poverty, and the Environment with his longtime mentor and fellow environmental lawyer Ralph Abascal of California Rural Legal Assistance.

The monolingual population of Kettleman is roughly forty percent Spanish, who were vocal in an effort to for participation in environmental decisions.

The Citizens of South Camden argued that due to the direct impact of trucking routes through residential communities (200 Cement trucks a day), and the exposure to articulate matter, mercury, lead, manganese, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides, and volatile organic compounds emitted by the SLC's granulated blast furnace slag grinding facility, they unreasonably interfere with the enjoyment of their homes, and caused harm and is a nuissance.

[11] The United States District Court in New Jersey ruled in favor of the South Camden Citizens, Cole, and the CRPE in 2001.

This has been overturned (2006) due to a precedent set after that individuals did not have the right to bring a claim of anti-discrimination regulations, only the federal government.

"[13] Cole co-founded the Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment as an 501(c)(3) Public Charity meaning its non-profit and for a specific charitable cause.