Assignment 2
October 4th, 2016
No issue is more important than the threat to the planet posed by climate change. The courts must ensure that the government takes essential action to prevent it as much as possible.
To protect the world they will inherit, youth advocates have begun suing the government for more aggressive action on climate change. Their arguments are often unconventional, but some suits are making progress.
In 2007, the Supreme Court held that state governments could sue the federal Environmental Protection Agency to force it to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that are responsible for climate change. Last month, a federal magistrate judge in Oregon held that children could sue federal agencies and officials for not taking aggressive action to combat climate change. The young plaintiffs' argument is that the agencies are violating their duty to protect the resources of the United States, which they are obligated to safeguard as part of the “public trust.”