The highest US court rejects the Trump administration's bid to put an end to the climate lawsuit

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The US Supreme Court on Friday rejected the government's adoption of President Donald Trump to block a lawsuit in a lawsuit filed by young activists accusing the US government of ignoring the dangers. of climate change.

This loss to the administration means that it must now be subject to an in-depth review of US climate change policy during a trial scheduled to begin Oct. 29 in Eugene, Oregon, but which since been postponed by the judge.

On October 19, Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily suspended the case while the court as a whole decided what to do.

In the Supreme Court's three-page order, it was noted that the administration could still have reasons to present its arguments to the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeal in San Francisco.

Conservative judges Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch said they would have agreed to the administration's request. Nothing indicates how the new member appointed by the Supreme Court, the Conservative Brett Kavanaugh, voted on the issue.

In the trial, 21 activists between the ages of 11 and 22 said that federal officials had violated their due process rights under the US Constitution by failing to adequately address carbon pollution, such as emissions resulting from the burning of fossil fuels.

The lawsuit was filed in 2015 against former President Barack Obama and government agencies in federal court in Eugene, Oregon. The Obama and Trump administrations have both failed in their efforts to ensure that the trial is dismissed.

The administration said that a courtroom was not the appropriate place for a debate on climate change policy.

"This lawsuit is an attempt to re-direct federal environmental and energy policies through the courts rather than through the political process, by affirming a new, unsupported, formal process that respects certain climatic conditions," the Attorney General of New Brunswick said. Trump administration, Trump administration.

Francisco pointed out that the plaintiffs sought to hold the US government accountable for the cumulative effects of carbon dioxide emissions "from all sources in the world over the decades."

Young activists led by Julia Olson of the Eugene-based group, Our Children's Trust, who launched the lawsuit, said their clients had suffered "irreparable harm" as a result of climate change.

"This is a case concerning the fundamental rights of children and the question of whether the actions of their government deprived them of their inalienable rights," Olson said in court documents.

On July 30, the High Court dismissed an earlier request from the Trump administration, calling it premature.

Federal Judge Ann Aiken, based in Eugene, Oregon, has repeatedly allowed the case to proceed despite government objections. The trial will continue if neither the high court nor the 9th circuit intervene.

In its decision of 15 October, Aiken stated that, although the case raises questions about the role of the judiciary in dealing with a policy issue, these concerns are not sufficient to justify the rejection of the case as a whole.