Supreme Court says young activists can sue government for climate change: NPR

A group of young people can sue the federal government for its climate change policies, the Supreme Court said Friday. Since it was tabled in 2015, the government has repeatedly called for Juliana c. United States to be fired.

"I want to be confident that we are really on the way to trial without further delays", Kelsey Juliana, a 22-year-old complainant, said in a statement"But these defendants treat this case, our democracy, as well as my safety and that of future generations, as if it were a game. I'm tired of playing this game."

The Department of Justice did not respond to NPR's request for comment.

The lawsuit – brought by 21 plaintiffs, many of them minors, before the US District Court in Eugene, Oregon – says the federal government has encouraged the production of oil, gas and other fossil fuels, causing global warming and violating many of the basic rights of claimants. He cites examples showing that the government knew that the Earth had been warming since 1965 and is asking the court to make a court order allowing it to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and develop a national plan to "restore the 39, energy balance of the Earth "and to" stabilize the climate ". climate system. "

"The scope of the defendants' claims is striking," the Supreme Court said in a previous court ruling. But he said the claims should not be rejected before the trial.

Leigh-Ann Draheim, whose 11-year-old son Levi is the youngest plaintiff, said the case was based in part on the doctrine of public trust.

"People have the right to running water, clean water and clean air," Draheim told NPR. "And then there is also the amendment with life, freedom and the pursuit of happiness, putting one's life at risk with health and having to leave one's home."

The trial was scheduled to open on October 29th. The group Our Children & # 39; s Trust, which provided support to the plaintiffs, said that he had requested a status conference to set a new trial date.

It could now start as early as mid-November, said Draheim.

"I loved the environment and I love being outdoors," said Complainant Levi. "And when I realized that there was such a thing called climate change, I realized that I had to do something about it."

At a rally in Eugene on Monday – the day scheduled for the start of the trial – Levi explained why climate change in particular had an impact.

"I personally had to evacuate my home because of hurricanes," said Rachael McDonald, of the KLCC member station. "I saw fish kill on my beach and I saw the weather changing and the days getting warmer."

Levi – who was 8 years old when the lawsuit was filed for the first time – and her mother were involved in local environmental activism at their home in Satellite Beach, Florida, she said.

"Many people say," Why not just recycle or ride a bike? "And he's doing all that," Draheim said. "It does not work, it's not enough to make people do little individual things, we have to do things much bigger as a country."