Youths’ unique suit against U.S. gets OK

A federal appeals court gave a go-ahead Wednesday to an unprecedented suit by 21 young people who accuse the federal government of endangering their future, and the planet, by failing to act against global warming.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco did not delve into the merits of the lawsuit, saying those could be addressed, along with the government’s legal challenges, by the presiding judge as the case proceeds. But by denying the Trump administration’s request to dismiss the suit, the appellate panel moved the suit one step closer to trial in federal court in Oregon.

“We think we can be there in six months,” said Julia Ann Olson of Wild Earth Advocates, lead attorney for the youths. “There will now be a full trial on climate science and what our federal government did to create this dangerous situation.”

The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.

Olson said the plaintiffs, from different states, now range in age from 10 to 21. Their suit, filed in Oregon in 2015, said their future was imperiled, and their constitutional rights violated, by federal policies that worsen climate change.

Government officials have known for decades that oil, coal and other fossil fuels emit carbon dioxide that heats the atmosphere, but have promoted mining and use of those fuels while temperatures reach historic levels, said the suit, which has drawn support from numerous environmental groups. It relies on the “public trust” legal doctrine, which makes the government responsible for managing natural resources, like land, air and water, for the benefit of its inhabitants.

If they prove constitutional violations, the plaintiffs want the courts to order the government to establish a carbon-free energy system by midcentury.

The suit was filed during President Barack Obama’s administration, and Olson said “the evidence keeps building” under President Trump, who is named as a defendant in the case. Trump has denied human-caused climate change, and his administration has promoted coal mining and offshore oil drilling.

After a federal judge in Oregon refused to dismiss the case, the Trump administration asked the appeals court to intervene. Justice Department lawyers argued that the youths’ claims had no legal basis, that the court orders they sought would violate the constitutional separation of powers, and that the evidence they demanded from the government would be too burdensome to produce. The court was unconvinced. “Litigation burdens are part of our legal system” and the federal government is not immune, Chief Judge Sidney Thomas said in the 3-0 ruling. He said nearly onefifth of all suits filed in federal court last year named the U.S. as a defendant, and noted that the government can challenge specific demands for evidence before the lower-court judge and seek dismissal again before trial.

“There is enduring value in the orderly administration of litigation by the trial courts, free of needless appellate interference,” Thomas said.