U.S. Loses Bid to Stop Children’s Climate Change Lawsuit
Twenty one plaintiffs, aged between 10 and 21, have accused federal officials and oil industry executives of knowing for decades that carbon dioxide emitted from the burning of fossil fuels destabilizes the climate, but have done nothing about it, with the lawsuit dating back to 2015.
A federal appeals court rejected the U.S. government’s attempt to stop the lawsuit by a 3-0 vote, with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco saying that the administration failed to meet the “high bar” under federal law. The lawsuit claims that the lack of effort from the government and oil industry officials have deprived them the due process of life, liberty and property, including the ability to live in a habitable climate.
U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken refused to dismiss the lawsuit in November 2016, saying that dismissing the lawsuit prematurely could sanction the government’s alleged “knowing decision to poison the air.”
The government has tried to overturn this ruling, saying that allowing the case to proceed could provoke a “constitutional crisis,” however Chief Judge Sidney Thomas dismissed this request on Wednesday.
