Current:Home > ContactAppeals court rejects climate change lawsuit by young Oregon activists against US government -ProsperityStream Academy
Appeals court rejects climate change lawsuit by young Oregon activists against US government
View
Date:2025-04-18 01:40:24
SEATTLE (AP) — A federal appeals court panel on Wednesday rejected a long-running lawsuit brought by young Oregon-based climate activists who argued that the U.S. government’s role in climate change violated their constitutional rights.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals previously ordered the case dismissed in 2020, saying that the job of determining the nation’s climate policies should fall to politicians, not judges. But U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken in Eugene, Oregon, instead allowed the activists to amend their lawsuit and last year ruled the case could go to trial.
Acting on a request from the Biden administration, a three-judge 9th Circuit panel issued an order Wednesday requiring Aiken to dismiss the case, and she did. Julia Olson, an attorney with Our Children’s Trust, the nonprofit law firm representing the activists, said they were considering asking the 9th Circuit to rehear the matter with a larger slate of judges.
“I have been pleading for my government to hear our case since I was ten years old, and I am now nearly 19,” one of the activists, Avery McRae, said in a news release issued by the law firm. “A functioning democracy would not make a child beg for their rights to be protected in the courts, just to be ignored nearly a decade later. I am fed up with the continuous attempts to squash this case and silence our voices.”
The case — called Juliana v. United States after one of the plaintiffs, Kelsey Juliana — has been closely watched since it was filed in 2015. The 21 plaintiffs, who were between the ages of 8 and 18 at the time, said they have a constitutional right to a climate that sustains life. The U.S. government’s actions encouraging a fossil fuel economy, despite scientific warnings about global warming, is unconstitutional, they argued.
The lawsuit was challenged repeatedly by the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations, whose lawyers argued the lawsuit sought to direct federal environmental and energy policies through the courts instead of through the political process. At one point in 2018, a trial was halted by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts just days before it was to begin.
Another climate lawsuit brought by young people was successful: Early this year the Montana Supreme Court upheld a landmark decision requiring regulators to consider the effects of greenhouse gas emissions before issuing permits for fossil fuel development.
That case was also brought by Our Children’s Trust, which has filed climate lawsuits in every state on behalf of young plaintiffs since 2010.
veryGood! (23)
Related
- Could your smelly farts help science?
- 'Scared everywhere': Apalachee survivors grapple with school shooting's toll
- Dak Prescott beat Jerry Jones at his own game – again – and that doesn't bode well for Cowboys
- FACT FOCUS: A look at false claims and misinformation by Trump and Harris before their first debate
- Bill Belichick's salary at North Carolina: School releases football coach's contract details
- Unbeatable Walmart Flash Deals: Save Up to 79% on Home Cleaning Essentials, Bedding, Kitchen Items & More
- Aaron Rodgers will make his return to the field for the Jets against the 49ers
- Are you working yourself to death? Your job won't prioritize your well-being. You can.
- What to watch: O Jolie night
- West Virginia governor to call on lawmakers to consider child care and tax proposals this month
Ranking
- Biden administration makes final diplomatic push for stability across a turbulent Mideast
- Dave Mason, the 'Forrest Gump of rock,' shares tales of Traffic, Beatles in memoir
- Kentucky bourbon icon Jimmy Russell celebrates his 70th anniversary at Wild Turkey
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, I Love a Parade
- Have Dry, Sensitive Skin? You Need To Add These Gentle Skincare Products to Your Routine
- Don Lemon, with a new book on faith, examines religion in politics: 'It's disturbing'
- Feds say white supremacist leaders of 'Terrorgram' group plotted assassinations, attacks
- NFL Week 1 overreactions: Can Jets figure it out? Browns, Bengals in trouble
Recommendation
How to watch the 'Blue Bloods' Season 14 finale: Final episode premiere date, cast
Dak Prescott beat Jerry Jones at his own game – again – and that doesn't bode well for Cowboys
Beyoncé snubbed with no nominations for CMA Awards for 'Cowboy Carter'
Chiefs fan wins $1.6M on Vegas poker game after Kansas City beat Baltimore
McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
James Earl Jones Dead at 93: Mark Hamill, LeVar Burton and More Pay Tribute
Beyoncé talks music, whiskey, family — and why no 'Cowboy Carter' visuals — in GQ
Kyle Larson expected to return to Indianapolis 500 for another shot at ‘The Double’ in 2025