Can Kids Sue the Government
We depend on fossil fuels for our electricity, heat,
Over
These kids felt the U.S. government wasn’t doing enough to stop climate change.
In 2015, they sued.
In 2015, a group of twenty-one young people ages eight
through nineteen came together to bring a lawsuit against
the U.S. government. They hail from all across the United
States—from Hawai‘i and Alaska to New York and Oregon.
The case—Juliana v. United States—is named after Kelsey
Juliana, the oldest member of the group. In an interview
with Scientific American in 2016, she discussed the reason
for the case: “We’re arguing that the U.S. government has
betrayed its youth by continuing to support the fossil fuel
industry and contribute to climate change. . . . They’re
threatening our access to stable, healthy, natural resources
protected under the public trust doctrine. . . . By allowing
for our water, air and land to become polluted, they are
neglecting their responsibility.”
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transportation, and manufacturing. But fuels must be
? burned to produce energy. Burning releases gases and soot
into the air. The emissions build up in the atmosphere,
causing global warming and polluting the air, water, and
land. Carbon dioxide (CO2) causes the most warming.
The lawsuit states that the government has known
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about damage from CO2 emissions for fifty years but has
paid no attention to experts’ warnings. It has allowed the
fossil fuel industry to extract, produce, move, and burn
fuels. It has funded the industry with public money and
let it use public lands. The suit states that the government
breaks with the public trust doctrine, which requires it
to protect natural public resources. These include land
and water for public use and the right to a livable climate.
The young people’s goal has been to get the government
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to create, and put into effect, a complete plan to greatly
reduce fossil fuel emissions.
Do You Know?
Coal, oil, and natural gas are the three primary fossil fuels
that we burn to produce energy.
CO2 and other gases trap the Sun’s heat close to Earth
and make it warmer, causing climate change.
Climate change causes extreme temperatures and
weather, rising seas, dangerous droughts, wildfires,
and acidic oceans.
Pollution causes health problems, food contamination,
and increased disease from mosquitoes and ticks.
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In 1972, the government passed the Clean Water Act. Its goal was to make sure all the
rivers in the United States are safe for swimming and fishing.
On the other side, the fossil fuel industry has played
down the problems with carbon emissions and is against
pollution-control regulations. It argues that regulations
make it more difficult to increase fuel production and,
therefore, their profits.
Pollution control has been a concern since the 1960s.
In 1970, the government established the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) to guard the health of people
and the atmosphere. Congress passed laws to bar the use
of pesticides and other dangerous chemicals. It set rules
for water quality and the protection of land. However, in
2017–2018, the EPA began to reduce or remove regulations.
Industries had argued that regulations were hard to deal
with and created “unnecessary hurdles.” They said that
regulations could make jobs disappear, yet researchers
report that more employees now work in the clean energy
workforce than in the fossil fuel industry.
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Since 2015, the U.S. government and fossil fuel
companies have asked the courts to dismiss Juliana v.
United States. For years, the courts found in favor of the
young people. In June 2019, the case reached the largest
U.S. court of appeals, the Ninth Circuit. In 2020, the judges
on that court ruled 2–1 to dismiss the case. The two judges
who ruled to dismiss agreed that climate change is a
serious problem. However, they said that because of their
ages, the young people didn’t have legal standing to sue.
They also said that government action on climate change
must come from the legislative branch.
Unlike some other forms of pollution, U.S. fossil fuel
emissions have decreased very little—not nearly enough
to prevent climate change. The young people who brought
the lawsuit believe the government should have stricter
control over these emissions. What is the government’s
responsibility for protecting health and the environment?
When it comes to CO2 emissions, how will it honor the
public trust doctrine?
Some Ways to Reduce Transportation CO2 Emissions
The government and the transportation industry have been working together
to reduce emissions.
Fuel Standards Improved Public Transit Alternative Vehicles
ensuring cars get more miles such as light rail, extended bus like hybrids and plug-in electric
to the gallon, reducing CO2 routes, and national rail lines cars reduce tailpipe emissions
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