This post was posted under the former name ‘Saving Our Planet’
In the courts, that is.
In what has been called “the trial of the century,” 21 youths aged 9 to 20 are suing the US President, federal agencies and the fossil fuel industry.
U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken has ruled that the climate kids have a claim for protection of their life and liberty if “governmental action is affirmatively and substantially damaging the climate system in a way that will cause human deaths, shorten human lifespans, result in widespread damage to property, threaten human food sources, and dramatically alter the planet’s ecosystem.”
During the Obama administration, the Justice Department has admitted that “officials and persons employed by the federal government have [long] been aware of a growing body of scientific research concerning the effects of fossil fuel emissions on atmospheric concentrations of CO2 [which could] cause measurable long-lasting changes to the global climate, resulting in an array of severe deleterious effects to human beings, which will worsen over time.” It admitted that the Federal Defendants “permit, authorize, and subsidize fossil fuel extraction, development, consumption, and exportation” producing CO2 emissions and thus increasing the atmospheric concentration of this greenhouse gaz.
Trump’s lawyers may withdraw the Obama Justice Department’s admissions. But climate deniers in the government would risk widespread ridicule. And it remains to be seen how long Trump can continue to consider himself above the law.
Watch this case – it is expected to reach the Supreme Court.
You can support the kids by signing this petition.