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Youth Group Asks Supreme Court to Revive a Landmark Climate Lawsuit
The case argues the government violated young people’s constitutional rights by failing to curb the use of fossil fuels. A lower court had thrown it out.
A group of young people who filed a landmark climate change lawsuit in 2015 against the federal government, only to have their suit thrown out, are turning to the Supreme Court in an attempt to revive the case and get their day in court.
This kind of request to the Supreme Court is unusual, but the plaintiffs argue that the federal government had stymied the process with similar courtroom maneuvers over the years, justifying their request.
“The Department of Justice has entirely blocked our path to trial,” one of the plaintiffs, Sahara Valentine, 20, said in an interview. “It’s really important to us that we get a fair say in court.”
The case, Juliana v. U.S., accused the federal government of violating the constitutional rights of the plaintiffs by failing to curb the use of fossil fuels despite voluminous evidence of the dangers of climate change. It was first filed in federal court in Oregon, and almost went to trial. But the Justice Department during the Obama administration began a push to get the case thrown out, and succeeded at an appellate court in 2020. An amended complaint filed by the plaintiffs was also dismissed.
On Thursday, the group filed a petition with the Supreme Court asking it to vacate the ruling of the appellate court and send it back to the district court to stand trial. The filing argued that the government had bogged down the case in procedural issues rather than letting it be decided on its merits.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The plaintiffs are represented by Our Children’s Trust, a nonprofit law firm based in Eugene, Ore., that has filed similar lawsuits and legal actions based on constitutional claims across the country. Their strategy scored a big win in Hawaii in June, when Gov. Josh Green announced a settlement with the plaintiffs, who had sued the state’s Department of Transportation over its use of fossil fuels. As part of the agreement, the state said it would decarbonize its transportation system within 20 years, expand bicycle lanes and increase spending on electric-vehicle chargers.
