Teens sue federal government over climate change inaction

[IDemo]

A group of teenagers from Ventura, California has filed suit against the federal government for its failure to address the risks facing their generation from climate change, according to an article at The Atlantic.com. Led by 18-year-old Alec Loorz and represented pro bono by the law firm of Earth Day co-founder Rep. Paul “Pete” McCloskey (D-CA), the young people feel that they must act now to address a problem that could have drastic consequences for their generation, one that their elders seem frustratingly unwilling to address.

The suit, Alec L, et. al vs. Lisa P. Jackson et. al pits the teens against “not only Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson but the heads of the Commerce, Interior, Commerce, Defense, Energy, and Agriculture departments,” the Atlantic said. It was filed last May in Oregon, but has been moved to Washington, D.C., where it goes before U.S. District Court Judge Robert L. Wilkins on Friday, when the defendants will file to have the complaint dismissed.

As far-fetched as it may seem, the lawsuit does have legal grounds under what is known as the “public trust doctrine,” which states that certain resources are preserved for public use, and that the government has a responsibility to maintain these resources. Previously these laws have been used to defend public waterways and shorelines, but now these laws are being applied for the first time to the environment, in what is called Atmospheric Trust Litigation. Oregon attorney Mary Christina Wood, director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program at the University of Oregon, has devoted her career to the study of public trust doctrine and how it can be applied to preserve the environment.

Wood’s colleague Julia Olson has also been instrumental in helping the teenagers. She founded an environmental advocacy group called Our Children’s Trust after viewing former Vice President Al Gore’s climate change documentary An Inconvenient Truth when she was seven months pregnant.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/05/10/teens-sue-federal-government-over-climate-change-inaction/

[abelenkpe]

1. Everyone should do the same.

[pscot]

2. Good for them

[burrowowl]

3. Good on them!

[daaron]

4. My heros!! nt

[raouldukelives]

5. Hell yes! nt

[Josyphene]

6. McCloskey Was a GOPer

Just to set the record straight, McCloskey was in the GOP when he was in Congress - yes, at the same time he co-chaired the 1st Earth Day, wrote the Endangered Species Act, and called for the impeachment of Richard Nixon (the first Congressperson of either party to demand this, despite the fact that this President was from his own party). Still a GOPer in 2005, he came out of retirement and bludgeoned the hated/corrupt Rep Richard Pombo in a primary challenge so badly he lost a gerrymandered "safe" Republican seat to a Dem unknown. Shortly after that, and fed up with GOP, McCloskey became a Democrat. Yes, they don't make Republicans like they used to - McCloskey, though fiscally conservative, was more socially progressive than 95% of his Dem colleagues.