EUGENE, Ore. — A potential landmark lawsuit filed on behalf of a group of youths in Eugene says the plaintiffs’ rights have been violated by federal government actions that contribute to climate change.
Attorneys for the youths, known as the Climate Kids, filed the lawsuit against the government in 2015. For now, a trial in the case is scheduled to begin in October in Eugene, the Register-Guard reported .
But U.S. Solicitor General Noel Francisco on Tuesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to suspend proceedings until a federal appeals court can rule on a separate request the government has made to dismiss the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs’ attorney, Julia Olson, said Wednesday that Justice Anthony Kennedy has given the plaintiffs a Monday morning deadline to respond to the request.
Government attorneys repeatedly have sought the case’s dismissal. They again made that argument Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Eugene, where Judge Ann Aiken — who previously cleared the case for trial — listened largely without comment during a nearly two-hour hearing before a courtroom packed with the plaintiffs’ supporters.
The plaintiffs include 21 youths ages 11 to 22, along with climate scientist James Hanson.
In one of her few remarks, Aiken characterized the case as a “crisis-driven” matter similar to others in which federal courts have assumed oversight of prisons and other government systems.
The comment came in response to a point made by government attorney Marissa Piropato. She argued that national climate policy must be decided as part of the political process, rather than in the courts.
The government also asserts the plaintiffs lack standing to sue. They say the youths’ grievances are not traceable to any specific action made by a federal agency, and they argue that the lawsuit fails to state valid legal claims.
The lawsuit, meanwhile, asserts the young plaintiffs’ constitutional rights are being violated by a government that has known about the dangers of climate change for decades but nonetheless promotes fossil fuel production while failing to protect the nation’s national resources.
The lawsuit seeks a court order that requires the government to develop and implement a national plan that works to drastically and quickly reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
