Justice Department asks Supreme Court to toss kids' climate change lawsuit



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WASHINGTON – The Justice Department Appeals to the US Supreme Court Thursday to put a stop to a massive environmental lawsuit, just over a week before it is scheduled to go to trial.

The following was filed in 2015 by a group of young people, ranging in size from 10 to 21, who said the federal government has failed to make the most of it. They claim that they have a right to a climate system capable of sustaining human life.

They seek sharp reductions in carbon dioxide emissions and a national plan for restoring the earth's energy balance. Despite repeated efforts by the federal government – under both the Obama and Trump administrations – to get the lawsuit tossed out, lower courts have allowed it to go forward. It is now set for 50 days of what the plaintiffs call the trial of the century, beginning October 29 in Oregon.

Solicitor General Noel Francisco said the case to proceed, the judge oversees the case of the young people's claim that they have a right to certain climate conditions.

"Their alleged injuries stem from the cumulative effects of CO2 emissions from every source in the world over decades," Francisco said. "Any additions to the global atmosphere that would somehow be attributed to the government" would be minimal.

And, he said, only Congress has the authority to impose the nature of fossil fuels that the lawsuit seeks.

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