Produced by:
KBOO
Program::
Air date:
Wed, 03/09/2016 - 12:00am
Government and fossil fuel industry line up against youth and the future
Twenty-one youth, represented by attorney Julia Olson, defended their landmark constitutional rights climate case before Judge Thomas Coffin in District Court in Eugene this morning.
Their lawsuit, which argues that the federal government violates their rights to life, liberty and property by allowing and facilitating the exploitation of fossil fuels, is being challenged by a motion to dismiss from the government.
The case, which has been winding its way through the courts since 2011, saw two major developments in January of this year.
First the three largest fossil fuel industry lobbying groups were allowed to join the case on the side of the government.
Soon after two major Catholic groups—the Global Climate Action Movement, which includes Pop Francis, and the Leadership Council of Women Religious, intervened on behalf of the youth, who are represented by Our Children’s Trust, a non-profit organization.
The youth have asked the court to order the federal government to prepare and implement a science-based national climate recovery plan.
Today Judge Coffin heard oral arguments on the Motion to Dismiss from both sides, with a decision expected in the coming months.
The hearing was livestreamed to courtrooms at the Hatfield Courthouse in Portland because of intense interest in the case.
Kelsey Juliana of Eugene, currently a student at Warren Wilson College in North Carolina, has been a plaintiff in the suit from the beginning.
She was interviewed after the hearing by KBOO’s Paul Roland.
For more information:
http://ourchildrenstrust.org/
The young people who are plaintiffs in the case are part of "Rising Youth for a Sustainable Earth," or RYSE:
http://www.earthguardians.org/ryse/
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ryse-activating-the-youth-led-climate-movement#/
Their lawsuit, which argues that the federal government violates their rights to life, liberty and property by allowing and facilitating the exploitation of fossil fuels, is being challenged by a motion to dismiss from the government.
The case, which has been winding its way through the courts since 2011, saw two major developments in January of this year.
First the three largest fossil fuel industry lobbying groups were allowed to join the case on the side of the government.
Soon after two major Catholic groups—the Global Climate Action Movement, which includes Pop Francis, and the Leadership Council of Women Religious, intervened on behalf of the youth, who are represented by Our Children’s Trust, a non-profit organization.
The youth have asked the court to order the federal government to prepare and implement a science-based national climate recovery plan.
Today Judge Coffin heard oral arguments on the Motion to Dismiss from both sides, with a decision expected in the coming months.
The hearing was livestreamed to courtrooms at the Hatfield Courthouse in Portland because of intense interest in the case.
Kelsey Juliana of Eugene, currently a student at Warren Wilson College in North Carolina, has been a plaintiff in the suit from the beginning.
She was interviewed after the hearing by KBOO’s Paul Roland.
For more information:
http://ourchildrenstrust.org/
The young people who are plaintiffs in the case are part of "Rising Youth for a Sustainable Earth," or RYSE:
http://www.earthguardians.org/ryse/
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ryse-activating-the-youth-led-climate-movement#/
- KBOO
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