A judge in Montana has dismissed a lawsuit brought by a youth organization and targeting the Trump presidency for pivoting away from decarbonization to more hydrocarbon production.
Per an AP report, Judge Dana Christensen said the plaintiffs, led by NGO Our Children’s Trust, had shown “overwhelming” evidence that climate change was affecting their well-being and its effect was going to get worse but said it was not the court’s job to create climate policies.
“This court would be required to monitor an untold number of federal agency actions to determine whether they contravene its injunction. This is, quite simply, an unworkable request for which plaintiffs provide no precedent,” Judge Christensen said, as quoted by Reuters.
Our Children’s Trust specializes in climate change-based lawsuits brought to court by young people, often large groups of them.
“Every day these executive orders remain in effect, these 22 young Americans suffer irreparable harm to their health, safety, and future,” Julia Olson, chief legal counsel at the legal nonprofit, said. “The judge recognized that the government’s fossil fuel directives are injuring these youth, but said his hands were tied.”
Youth-led climate lawsuits allege that climate change—and government policies that do not focus on arresting this change—are robbing the plaintiffs of a future and interfering with their well-being at the moment by violating their right to things such as clean air and water.
Courts have become the go-to venue for critics of President Trump’s policies due to the lack of many other alternatives. For now, the results are mixed, with some courts siding with some of the Trump administration’s challengers and ruling against others.
Our Children’s Trust said they would appeal the Christensen ruling immediately. “We will appeal — because courts cannot offer more protection to fossil fuel companies seeking to preserve their profits than to young Americans seeking to preserve their right, the NGO’s chief legal counsel said.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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