To maintain our energy for fighting climate change and the fossil fuels that spur it on, we need to feel the thrill of victory is possible. To that end, I am reviving my post from July 29, 2023 – Kids Fight Fossil Fuels In Court & Win – with a brief update on a few more reasons for hope.
Wins from 2023
Earlier this month, EarthDay.org offered some shining examples of successful climate action during the past year. Titled 7 Victories for our Planet in 2023, the article includes the Montana court victory on its list with other successes:
- The Ozone Layer is on Track to Heal by 2040
- The EPA Crackdowns on 5 Toxic Chemicals Commonly Used in Plastics
- 2 Scientists Discover Fungus Capable of Breaking Down Plastics
- 6 Species at Risk of Extinction Have Recovered in Australia
- Youth Activists Win Historic Victory Against the State of Montana
- Pepsi Cola Gets Sued for Their Part in the Plastics Crisis
- There Were More Investments in Solar Power Than Oil
A Pause in Permits for LNG Export Terminals
Earlier this week, in his newsletter The Crucial Years, author/activist Bill McKibben shared news that he hopes will be sustained as a victory.
“A few minutes ago the New York Times moved a story saying that the White House has decided to pause permitting for new LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) terminals—if it’s true, and I think it is, this is the biggest thing a U.S. president has ever done to stand up to the fossil fuel industry.”
What are LNG terminals, and why should we care? The LNG campaign by Third Act is explained further on their website.
“It’s time to convince the Department of Energy to stop licensing new export terminals for Liquefied Natural Gas. Time after time they’ve approved these proposals, so the U.S. is now the biggest exporter of gas on earth—and that volume could quadruple if the industry has its way. There’s no bigger climate bomb left on planet earth.
Because this fracked gas leaks methane, and then turns to carbon when it’s burned, LNG is as bad as coal for the climate, and once it’s been shipped around the world it’s even worse. But who cares about coal? The real comparison is with sun and wind, which now provide the cheapest power on planet earth, and which we must turn to if we have any hope of heading off the worst of the climate crisis.”
The fact that the Biden administration is even considering a pause in LNG exports is seen as a major step forward for efforts to reduce the production of greenhouse gases.
Battling on Over Fossil Fuels
We saw a more disappointing result from the U.S. Department of Justice in mid-January. Our Children’s Trust offered this update on the case Juliana v. United States that is mentioned in the original July post below.
“For over eight years, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has aggressively filed motions to delay or dismiss this landmark constitutional climate case. On December 29, 2023, U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aiken ruled in favor of the Juliana 21, putting an end to the DOJ’s motions to dismiss the case, and allowing the youth plaintiffs to continue on the path to trial. The parties were set to receive trial dates from Judge Aiken on January 19, 2024.
However, on January 18, 2024, the Biden Administration’s DOJ, following in the footsteps of the Trump Administration signaled their intent to file another Petition for Writ of Mandamus, an extreme legal tactic to subvert the legal process and prevent the case from proceeding to trial, again. This Petition for Writ of Mandamus would be the fifth filed in the Ninth Circuit and the seventh overall in the children’s constitutional climate case. That same evening, the DOJ also filed another motion to stay the case, pending their petition to the Ninth Circuit. Attorneys for the youth plaintiffs will issue a response to the motion to stay.”
Keep Your Eyes on the Prize
The attorneys at Our Children’s Trust will continue to fight for our planet and its inhabitants. So must we all. As the folk song says, “Keep your eyes on the prize.”
The content below was originally posted on July 29, 2023, with a news update in August.
Kids Fight Fossil Fuels & Win
The attorneys at Our Children’s Trust will continue their fight for hope, and so must we all. As the folk song says, “Keep your eyes on the prize.”
Young adults and children as young as five are fighting in court for a future free of fossil fuels. Led by the nonprofit legal firm Our Children’s Trust, cases in several state courts and federal court are moving forward in a climate action movement the firm calls “Youth v. Gov.”
In Held v. Montana, “The Heroic 16” kids, with the consent of their parents, have been litigating over their state’s constitutional right to “a clean and healthful environment” since March 2020. In June 2023, they rested their case, and as of this writing (July 18, 2023), they await the decision of Montana Judge Kathy Seeley.
NEWS FLASH: Aug 14, 2023 1:52 PM EDT HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A Montana judge on Monday sided with young environmental activists who said state agencies were violating their constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment by permitting fossil fuel development without considering its effect on the climate.
According to Our Children’s Trust website:
Over seven days at the First Judicial District Court in Helena, MT, Judge Kathy Seeley heard from world-renowned experts for the youth plaintiffs on how Montana is experiencing the effects of climate change, how climate change disproportionately impacts the physical and mental health of youth, how Montana’s government has for decades been actively exacerbating the climate crisis in their state, how Montana’s greenhouse gas emissions are substantial and make the climate emergency worse, and more.
The court also heard from the youth plaintiffs themselves, who took the stand to share the devastating ways they have each been impacted by the climate crisis, the ways in which they and their beloved Montana are being harmed by the actions of their own government, and what they need from the court and the state to rectify these harms.
This nonprofit law firm has filed similar claims in Hawaii, Florida, Utah, and Virginia. They expect the Hawaii case to proceed to trial.
Federal Case: Juliana v. US
In 2015, 21 young plaintiffs lent their names and time to a lawsuit against the federal government. Filed in U.S. District Court in Oregon, Our Children’s Trust says the complaint challenges the U.S. government’s energy policies, “through the government’s affirmative actions that cause climate change, it has violated the youngest generation’s constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property, as well as failed to protect essential public trust resources.”
So far, the Department of Justice, under successive Presidential administrations, has tried to have the case dismissed or delayed. Our Children’s Trust makes available a video of oral arguments held before a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit in 2018. Since then, motions and responses have flown back and forth between the government and the plaintiffs. On June 1, 2023, U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aiken granted the youth plaintiff’s motion to amend their case, ruling that they can proceed to trial.
On June 21, 2023, the “People vs. Fossil Fuels Coalition” delivered to the U.S. Department of Justice an online petition supporting the plaintiffs, signed by more than 255 organizations and over 50,000 individuals. The following day, the DOJ filed a motion to dismiss the case, and filed other motions to delay since then. It is unclear whether the current DOJ leadership will try to stop the youthful plaintiffs with a legal tool called a “writ of mandamus,” employed previously by the DOJ under Donald Trump.
“Kids Fight Fossil Fuels & Win” was first published here on July 29, 2023.
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