A federal appeals court panel on Wednesday dismissed a long-running lawsuit brought by young Oregon-based climate activists who argued that the U.S. government's role in climate change violated their constitutional rights.
SEATTLE — A federal appeals court panel on Wednesday ruled against a long-running lawsuit brought by young Oregon-based climate change activists who argued that the U.S. government's role in climate change violates their constitutional rights. was rejected.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit previously ordered the case dismissed in 2020, saying the job of determining the nation's climate change policy should fall to politicians, not judges. But U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken in Eugene, Oregon, instead allowed the activists to amend their case, ruling last year that the case could go to trial.
At the request of the Biden administration, the three-judge Ninth Circuit panel on Wednesday issued an order asking Aiken to dismiss the lawsuit, which Aiken dismissed. Julia Olson, an attorney with the nonprofit law firm Our Children's Trust, which represents the activists, said the activists are asking the Ninth Circuit to have more judges rehear the issue. He said he is considering making a request.
“I've been begging the government to hear our case since I was 10 years old, and now I'm almost 19 years old,” said Avery McRae, one of the activists. This was stated in a news release issued. “In a functioning democracy, children would not go to court begging for their rights to be protected, only to be ignored almost 10 years later. I am tired of the constant attempts to silence voices.
The lawsuit, known as Juliana v. United States after one of the plaintiffs, Kelsey Juliana, has received attention since it was filed in 2015. The 21 plaintiffs, who were between 8 and 18 years old at the time, are seeking a constitutional right to a life-sustaining climate. They argued that despite scientific warnings about global warming, the U.S. government's actions to encourage a fossil fuel economy violate the Constitution.
The lawsuit was repeatedly challenged by the Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations, whose lawyers argued that the lawsuit sought to direct federal environmental and energy policy through the courts rather than the political process. . At some point in 2018, the trial was halted by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts days before it was scheduled to begin.
Another climate change lawsuit brought by young people was also successful. Earlier this year, the Montana Supreme Court upheld a landmark ruling requiring regulators to consider the effects of greenhouse gas emissions before issuing permits for fossil fuel development.
The lawsuit was also brought by Our Children's Trust, which has been filing climate change lawsuits in states on behalf of young plaintiffs since 2010.
