 |
Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, pictured in the
foothills of north Boulder, Colorado, on
August 11, is one of the young plaintiffs
in the climate case. |
After a week that sent advocates of a habitable Earth
reeling, new hope has emerged that could make way for substantial
climate action in the near term—even during a Trump administration: The
children and young adults suing the federal government for their right to a stable
climate can now proceed to trial, an unprecedented move in the American legal
system.
The path was cleared by a federal district court judge in
Oregon who wrote an opinion preliminarily finding that a stable climate is a
fundamental constitutional right. In the groundbreaking decision, announced on
Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aiken ruled in favor of a group of 21
children and young adults in their suit against the federal government. In
denying the government’s motion to dismiss, Aiken, based in Eugene, Oregon,
opened a path for an eventual court-mandated, science-based plan to bring about
sharp emissions reductions in the United States. The case, Juliana v. United
States, will now go to trial starting sometime in 2017 and could prove to be a
major civil rights suit, eventually finding its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
