By Roy L Hales

The United States has known that burning fossil fuels destabilizes our climate for over fifty years, but taken few steps to prevent this. Even now, 18 months after President Obama declared “No challenge poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change,” the nation does not appear to be ready to switch away from a fossil fuel based energy system. According to Our Children’s Trust, this is discriminating against the rights of the very generations who will experience the worst effects of Climate change. So 21 Climate Kids are suing America.

21 Climate Kids Are Suing America

“The scientific persecution for getting back to 3500 (MtCO2, or Million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent) by 2100 calls for an average global reduction of 8% per year,” explained Julia Olson, counsel for the plaintiffs and executive director of Our Children’s Trust.

She Added, “If all of the policies that the Obama administration put in place were implemented, including the clean Power plan, they would either go up slightly, or they could go down slightly (compared to 1990 levels).”[1. Roy L Hales interview with Julia Olson, counsel for the plaintiffs and executive director of Our Children’s Trust]

At Best Schizophrenic, If Not Suicidal

In his declaration to the court, Dr James E Hansen, Director of the Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions program at the Earth Institute, Columbia University & a past Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, was more blunt:

“In my opinion, this lawsuit is made necessary by the at-best schizophrenic, if not suicidal, nature of U.S. climate and energy policy.
“On the one hand, our federal government has recognized a fundamental duty to protect the public resources of our nation; to safeguard our lives and property; to secure the blessings of liberty; to ensure equal protection under the law for “ourselves and our posterity”; and, pursuant to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to “protect the climate system for present and future generations.”

What The U.S. could have Achieved if emissions had been reduced 2% a year since 1990; What can be achieved through a 6% a year reduction now

“On the other hand, the federal government continues to permit and otherwise support industry’s efforts to exploit fully our reserves of gas, coal, and oil, even in the face of increasing overwhelming evidence that our continued fossil fuel dependency is driving the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) far beyond that in human experience, and constitutes one of the greatest threats to our nation, human civilization and nature alike.

“These antinomies cannot be explained away as the product of ignorance. Our government has known for decades that the continued burning of coal, oil and natural gas causes global warming and risks dangerous and uncontrollable destabilization of the planet’s climate system on which our nation and future generations depend.”[2. Paragraphs 5-8, Declaration of Dr. James E. Hansen in Support of Plaintiffs’ Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief, Exhibit A, In the matter Kelsey Cascade Rose Juliana, Xiuhtezcatl Tonatiuh M. et al. v. United States, Barack Obama et al. (D. Or. Aug. 12, 2015)]

The Legal Argument

Olson explained some of the legal arguments for this case.

There is a violation of the Fifth Amendment, which states no person shall be “deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”

The Government’s failure to act is putting the generations must likely to feel the negative impacts in a position of danger from climate change.

America’s children are being deprived of equal protection and due process to protect their lives, liberty and due property

Oral Arguments To Be Heard September 13

U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aiken will listen to the oral argument for youths’ landmark climate lawsuit for September 13, at 10 am PST in Eugene, OR.

“I am excited that Judge Aiken is interested in hearing our oral argument this September,” said plaintiff Kiran Oommen, in a press release. “The U.S. government’s continued support of the fossil fuel industry, despite the obvious high risks, is hurting people all the time and it’s getting worse. With incidents like the oil train derailment and proceeding disaster in Mosier, Oregon this month, we can see the direct negative consequences of the government’s blatant disregard for the health and safety of the people. The longer this case lasts, the greater the evidence will be condemning their actions.”