More good news! For the children, for the planet, for us all! - Molly
Looks like the historic lawsuit is headed to trial.
A federal judge
has denied the Trump
administration’s appeal in a climate change lawsuit, paving the way for the
unprecedented suit to go to trial.
The case — Juliana v.
United States — pits a group of
youth climate plaintiffs against the federal government and the fossil fuel
industry. The plaintiffs allege that the federal government, through its
actions and coordination with the fossil fuel industry, have violated their
constitutional right to a livable climate. It is the first climate lawsuit to
rely on a version of the public trust doctrine — known as
atmospheric trust — to make its case, and adds to a growing number of
attempts to force climate action through the judicial branch.
The lawsuit was initially filed in August of 2015,
against the Obama administration. The Obama administration, as well as three
fossil fuel industry groups as intervenors, all filed motions to have the
lawsuit dismissed, which was denied in November by U.S. Federal Judge Ann
Aiken. In February, after President Donald Trump was sworn in, the youth
plaintiffs filed notice with the court that they would be replacing Obama with
Trump.
Following that
notice, the Trump administration, again joined by fossil fuel
intervenors, filed motions to
appeal Aiken’s decision to let the trial move forward. The administration also
argued that an earlier request, which asked the government to retain records of
communication with fossil fuel companies about climate change, was overly
burdensome.
Earlier this week, the Trump administration filed a
notice to the District Court of Oregon, on which Judge Aiken presides, giving
the court until June 9 to issue a decision on the appeal. If the court did not
issue such a decision, the filing said, the defendants would seek a ruling
directly from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals — a move that Our
Children’s Trust, the organization behind the plaintiff’s suit,
called “remarkable.”
In her denial of the appeal, Aiken took a moment to
point out the irony in the defendant’s request for an expedited decision, writing that “the
government’s belief that it is legally entitled to an immediate ruling on a
motion it submitted three months ago is rather ironic given that it waited four
months to file the request for interlocutory certification in the first place.”
The denial of
the appeal means plaintiffs are one step closer to trial, during which they
will seek to prove that the United States government has taken action to harm
their right to a livable climate. They will also argue that the government has
failed to protect commonly held elements, like the atmosphere, in good
condition for future generations — a legal doctrine
known as the public trust. The plaintiffs will then ask for science-based
climate action by the federal government.
“The more
evidence we gather for our case, the more I realize how decisively we can win
at trial,” Alex Loznak, a 20-year old youth plaintiff from Oregon, said in a
statement. “It’s no wonder the Trump administration wants to avoid the trial by
seeking an unwarranted, premature appeal. Today’s ruling brings us one step
closer to trial and to winning our lawsuit.”
Aiken’s decision to deny the defendant’s appeal comes
just weeks after the three fossil fuel industry intervenors filed motions to
withdraw from the case. The motions were filed on the same day that crucial
discovery was required in the case, which asked fossil fuel companies to state
their positions on climate science.
The court has yet to rule on the intervenors’ motions to
withdraw.
Please go here for the original article: https://thinkprogress.org/youth-climate-lawsuit-trump-appeal-denied-db0f6a811c08
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