Our children's trust sues America for use of fossil fuels (James Hansen, legal staff) usofa

Link: https://www.ourchildrenstrust.org/ Link: https://www.ourchildrenstrust.org/us/federal-lawsuit/ Please see links above for original article, embedded hotlinks and comments.

Our Children’s Trust Home Page

SECURING THE LEGAL RIGHT TO A SAFE CLIMATE AND A HEALTHY ATMOSPHERE FOR ALL PRESENT AND FUTURE GENERATIONS

Mission Our Children's Trust elevates the voice of youth to secure the legal right to a stable climate and healthy atmosphere for the benefit of all present and future generations. Through our programs, youth participate in advocacy, public education and civic engagement to ensure the viability of all natural systems in accordance with science.

Our mission is to protect earth’s atmosphere and natural systems for present and future generations. We lead a game-changing legal campaign seeking systemic, science-based 1

emissions reductions and climate recovery policy at all levels of government. We give young people, those with most at stake in the climate crisis, a voice to favorably impact their futures.

OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES 1. Our Children's Trust advocates on behalf of youth and future generations.

2. Our Children's Trust advocates for legally-binding, science-based climate recovery policies.

Leading the game-changing, youth-driven, global climate recovery campaign to secure the legal right to a stable climate and healthy atmosphere.

OUR TEAM Julia Olson, J.D.

Lou Helmuth, J.D.

Nate Bellinger, Climate Law Fellow Elizabeth Brown, J.D.

Meg Ward

Matt McRae

B.S. Environmental B.S. Environmental Studies

Studies

Coreal Riday-White J.D.

Andrea Rodgers, Lawyer

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Curtis Morrison, J.D.

Andrew Welle, J.D.

Gordon Levitt, J.D.

Allison Kole, J.D.

Monica Chitre, B.A. Political Science

THE SCIENCE Our Children's Trust bases its work on current climate science.

The scientific community widely recognizes that CO2 is increasing in our atmosphere, and that it is having dramatic effects on our climate. Current science tells us that reducing atmospheric CO2 levels from over 400 parts per million ("ppm") to below 350 ppm is necessary to restore the Earth’s energy balance and to stabilize our climate system. We must do this soon if we are to leave a sustainable planet to our children and grandchildren. The longer we wait, the more drastic the consequences our children will face.

RECENT CLIMATE REPORTS Internationally renowned climatologist James Hansen provides his work in support of our youth's efforts. Read Dr. Hansen's most recent published works on the climate crisis here and here.

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CLIMATE SCIENCE MUST INFORM LEGAL STANDARDS OF PROTECTION AND POLICY-MAKING To understand how the climate science intertwines with our legal actions, take a look at the Declaration Dr. Hansen filed in our case now pending at the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. Read Dr. Hansen's Declaration here.

CLIMATE SCIENCE SUMMARY

Policies Must Be Based on 350 ppm and 1 Degree Celsius to Protect Young People and Future Generations The Best Climate Science Provides a Prescription for Restoring the Atmosphere, Stabilizing the Climate System, and Protecting the Oceans from Acidification and Warming. It Requires Us to Return Atmospheric CO2 Levels to Below 350 ppm by 2100.

In order to protect our planet’s climate system and vital natural resources on which human survival and welfare depend, and to ensure that young people’s and future generations’ fundamental and inalienable human rights are protected, government climate pollution policies must be based on the best available climate science. There are numerous scientific bases for setting 350 parts per million (ppm) as the uppermost safe limit for atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations.

First, returning CO2 concentration to below 350 ppm would restore the energy balance of Earth and allow as much heat to escape into space as Earth retains, which has kept our planet in the sweet spot for humans and other species to thrive.

Second, CO2 levels exceeding 350 ppm are creating a planet warmer than humans have ever lived in and are disrupting the physical and biological systems in which human civilization has developed. The consequences of even 1 degree Celsius of warming will be significant for humanity, but scientists believe we can preserve our ice sheets and most of our shorelines and ecosystems if we limit long-term warming to no more than 1 degree Celsius (short-term warming will inevitably exceed 1 degree Celsius but must exceed 1 degree Celsius for only a minimal amount of time). If we allow sustained global average temperature increases of more than 1 degree Celsius, we will suffer irreversible climate destabilization and a planet largely inhospitable to human civilization.

Third, marine animals, including coral reefs, cannot tolerate the acidifying and warming of our ocean waters that results from increased CO2 levels, 30% of which is absorbed by the oceans. At 400 ppm CO2, coral reefs and shellfish are rapidly declining and will be irreversibly compromised if we do not quickly reverse course.

All government policies regarding greenhouse gas/CO2 pollution and de/reforestation worldwide should be aimed at 350 ppm by 2100. Fortunately, it is still not only technically and economically feasible to get there, but transitioning to renewable energy 4

sources will provide significant economic and public health benefits and improve the quality of lives. But time is running out. We cannot continue to base life and death policies on politics rather than science. Read more here for details and references to the science that should govern policies that protect, rather than condemn, the future of humanity and other species on the planet. If we want our children and grandchildren to have a safe planet to live on, full of biodiversity and not chaos and conflict, we will heed the best science we have on how to stop the destruction of our only planet’s atmosphere, climate, and oceans.

JULIANA v. U.S. CLIMATE LAWSUIT “Exercising my ‘reasoned judgment,’ I have no doubt that the right to a climate system capable of sustaining human life is fundamental to a free and ordered society.” – - U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken Youth filed their constitutional climate lawsuit, called Juliana v. U.S., against the U.S. government in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon in 2015. Earth Guardians is also an organizational plaintiff in the case.

Their complaint asserts that, through the government's affirmative actions that cause climate change, it has violated the youngest generation’s constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property, as well as failed to protect essential public trust resources.

The fossil fuel industry initially intervened in the case as defendants, joining the U.S. government in trying to have the case dismissed. In April 2016, U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Coffin recommended the denial of both of their motions to dismiss, and U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aiken upheld Judge Coffin's recommendation, with the issuance of an historic November 10, 2016 opinion and order denying the motions.

When the defendants sought an interlocutory appeal of that order, Judge Aiken denied their motions in June 2017.

In June 2017, Judge Coffin issued an order releasing the fossil fuel industry defendants from the case, and setting a trial date for February 5, 2018 before Judge Aiken at the U.S. District Court of Oregon in Eugene.

In July 2017, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals requested attorneys for youth plaintiffs submit a response to the government's petition for "writ of mandamus" and invited the District Court to respond as well. In August, the District Court responded via letter and the youth plaintiffs filed their answer. In September, eight amicus briefs were filed with the Ninth Circuit in support of the youth plaintiffs.

In November, the Ninth Circuit issued an order setting oral arguments for Monday, December 11, 2017 at 10:00 a.m., in Courtroom One of the James R. Browning United States Courthouse, San Francisco. (Facebook RSVP) Youth plaintiffs, now age 10 to 21,

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and their attorneys are looking forward to the opportunity to argue their case before the Ninth Circuit so that they can move quickly to trial.

Photos of the world since 2000. There are plenty of signs of climate in normal ranges.

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