Court lets youths’ case demanding action proceed

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday refused to halt the trial in a lawsuit brought by 21 young people seeking to force the federal government to take action to address climate change.

The court’s unsigned order said the Trump administration had raised substantial questions about the plaintiffs’ legal theories and the sweeping relief they sought. But the court said it would not intercede, instructing the plaintiffs to take the case back to an appeals court.

Julia Olson, the lead lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in a statement, “The youth of our nation won an important decision today from the Supreme Court that shows even the most powerful government in the world must follow the rules and process of litigation in our democracy.”

In an earlier encounter with the case in July, the Supreme Court expressed some skepticism about its legal theory, which is based in part on what the plaintiffs say is their constitutional right to a “climate system capable of sustaining human life.”

In a brief, unsigned order in July, the Supreme Court said the breadth of that theory was striking. But the court let the case move forward, saying its intervention would be premature.

The federal government returned to the Supreme Court last month, again asking that the trial, which had been scheduled to start Monday, be put off while the justices considered whether to hear the case. Chief Justice John Roberts entered a temporary stay, blocking the trial. Friday’s order vacated that stay, meaning that the trial can proceed unless the appeals court acts.

The case was filed in 2015, when President Barack Obama was in office. It sought to hold the federal government accountable for its role in creating a “dangerous climate system,” and it asked a federal judge to order federal agencies to address the matter.

Judge Ann Aiken, of U.S. District Court in Eugene, Ore., rejected the government’s attempts to dismiss the case. So far, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has declined to intervene. The first phase of the trial is to last 50 days.