Meet the kids demanding action.
A group of 21 students and a former NASA scientist have teamed up to sue the federal government, claiming that current fossil fuel policies are
bartering their future for short term economic gain:
The 21 plaintiffs, ages 8 to 19, argue in court documents that in continuing to promote the use of energy sources with a large carbon footprint, politicians in Washington are bartering America’s future for short-term economic gain.
“The current practices and policies of our federal government include sustained exploitation and consumption of fossil fuels. We brought this case because the government needs to immediately and aggressively reduce carbon emissions and stop promoting fossil fuels, which force our nation’s climate system toward irreversible impacts,” said 18-year-old Kelsey Juliana, a plaintiff in the suit.
They are asking for more urgent action:
The federal suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, asks the court to order federal agencies to develop a national plan to decrease atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide to a safe level of 350 parts per million by the year 2100.
Former NASA chief climate scientist James E. Hansen, a co-plaintiff, said meeting that target is necessary to avert catastrophe. He added that sensible means exist to rapidly phase down CO2 emissions, such as a “rising carbon fee” collected from fossil fuel companies, with funds distributed to the public.
The group's attorney, Philip Gregory, believes they have a Fifth Amendment right to a
safe environment:
"A key part of this is the defendants' conscious decision to continue to make the climate system worse to the point where the world will be uninhabitable for future generations," says Philip Gregory, an attorney representing the kids. "It's the court's job to determine whether these youth plaintiffs have a constitutional right under the Fifth Amendment to have a climate system in which they can exist."
Gregory says the Obama administration's Climate Action Plan is woefully inadequate and will not solve the problem in time. Climate scientist James Hansen, who joins the list of plaintiffs as a "guardian for future generations and for his granddaughter," agrees.
"Our President proposes ineffectual actions, demonstrably short of what is needed, and persists in approving fossil fuel projects that will slam shut the narrowing window of opportunity to ensure a hospitable climate system," Hansen says.
You can follow the case at the Facebook page of
Our Children's Trust.