Levi Draheim of Melbourne Beach in central Florida was just nine years old when he became part of a group of young people suing the United States government. They charge its deliberate contributions to global warming violates their “constitutional rights to freedom from deprivation of life, liberty, and property.”
Levi will be only 33 in 2040, the year the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns the world will start facing the dire consequences of 250 years of pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The panel predicts more intense forest fires, food shortages, and rising sea levels. The town of Melbourne Beach is a located at sea-level on the Atlantic coast and it could well disappear.
Levi joined the suit because "When I went out on the beach after the hurricane, I was just crying because there was so much dune lost." He can’t understand why President Trump is allowing things to get worse. "It was just a little bit disturbing he didn't believe that climate change was real."
The lawsuit, Juliana v. United States, was initially launched in 2015 when Barack Obama was still President. Juliana refers to Kelsey Juliana, who at age 22 is the oldest of the plaintiffs.
The lead lawyer, Julia Olson and her nonprofit organization, Our Children’s Trust, demanded that the Obama administration take more concerted action to prevent catastrophic climate change. The Juliana suit is temporarily stalled in a federal district court in Eugene, Oregon because of Trump Justice Department legal maneuvers. Children’s Trust has similar cases pending in eight other states including Alaska, Colorado, Florida, and Massachusetts, and in other countries.
The Juliana plaintiffs demand that the government “implement an enforceable national remedial plan to phase out fossil fuel emissions” to “stabilize the climate system.” They want the federal courts to supervise the government’s efforts.
A Trump Justice Department spokesperson has dismissed the lawsuit as “an unconstitutional attempt to use a single Oregon court to control the entire nation’s energy and climate policy.” Despite support from two of its more rightwing Justices, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, the United States Supreme Court had rejected a government request to block the suit from continuing. Federal District Court Judge Ann Aiken, who is scheduled preside at the trial is receptive to the plaintiffs’ claims. In an earlier decision she wrote “I have no doubt that the right to a climate system capable of sustaining human life is fundamental to a free and ordered society.”
In many states, social studies standards modeled on the National Council for the Social Studies College, Career, and Civic Life Framework, encourage students to engage in civic projects as a way of demonstrating their understanding of the responsibilities of citizenship. Schools and teachers are supposed to support informed decision-making and responsible action. Organizing support for the Juliana suit through school clubs and environmental science and participation in government classes just makes sense.
Students and teachers can learn more about the case at the Youth v. Gov website, volunteer locally, and sign the Juliana petition. Children’s Trust can be reached by email at info@ourchildrenstrust.org.
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