Lawsuit part of coordinated filing against federal government and all 50 States to ensure reduction of carbon emissions and prevent climate catastropheColorado youth launched a legal action today against the State of Colorado , Governor John Hickenlooper, Colorado Department of Health and Environment, Colorado Air Quality Control Commission, and Colorado Department of Natural Resources as part of a coordinated effort to force action on climate change aimed at all 50 states and the federal government.
“This is something new – no climate litigation in the past has ever gone back to the first principal that the government must protect the public trust,” said Ashley Wilmes, an attorney for the Plaintiffs. “The large body of litigation brought under environmental statutes is too narrow for the crisis at hand. Science, not politics, defines the fiduciary obligation that trustees must fulfill – it’s the most common sense, fundamental legal footing for the protection of our planet.”
A nationwide team of top legal experts has been assembled by the nonprofit organization Our Children’s Trust to represent young people who, alongside their parents, are taking legal action out of fear of hitting a tipping point wherein global climate change cannot be stopped.
Xiuhtezcatl Roske-Martinez, a 10-year-old leader with the Colorado-based Earth Guardian group, is one of the plaintiffs. “Our future is in jeopardy because of the environmental and climate crisis. Our Earth won’t even be worth inheriting because of the decisions that the leaders of our country are making,” said Roske-Martinez. “We are in a planetary crisis, and it’s time for them to wake up and help us fight for our future and the future of their own children.”
The legal actions rely on the long established legal principle of the Public Trust Doctrine that requires the government to protect and maintain certain shared resources fundamental for human health and survival.
“The public trust law in our country and around the world says that common resources like water and air are held in trust by the government for the people and for future generations,” said Julia Olson, Our Children's Trust executive director. “Lawyers around the nation are providing legal assistance to young people to help them protect their future, since the government has abdicated that responsibility.”
The goal of the legal and administrative actions is to force reductions in carbon dioxide emissions and implementation of reforestation programs that will counter the negative impacts of climate change. The youth plaintiffs and petitioners are receiving legal support from Our Children’s Trust, an organization dedicated to protecting the Earth for current and future generations.
In Colorado , some of the expected economic, health and environmental impacts of climate change include reduced summer water flows, pine beetle destroyed forests, more massive wildfires, a shortened ski season, frequent heat waves, increased illness from insect-born diseases, loss of endangered species, and diminished water supplies.
The announcement of the lawsuits and administrative actions come just days before young people take to the streets in dozens of planned marches around the globe, including more than 65 cities across the United States , to demand the government act to halt climate change.
Fed-up with inaction to curb climate change, youth leaders including Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, Haiden Inskeep, and Cecelia Kluding-Rodriguez have announced plans for the iMatter March, the largest-ever mobilization of youth against climate change. Youth leaders across the globe are preparing to march in the streets May 7 - 14. The Marches will culminate in Denver with the largest national gathering of thousands of young people on May 14th. For details on the march happening in Denver , Colorado
on May 14, 2011, visit: http://imattercolorado.org/.
“Young people will be affected most by climate change and by our government’s inaction. We can't vote, and we don't have money to compete with lobbyists,” said Alec Loorz, the 16-year-old founder of iMatter, who has been tirelessly working on the issue of climate change and global sustainability for the past three years. “We do, however, have the moral authority and the legal right to insist that our future be protected.”
Our Children's Trust is a nonprofit focused on protecting earth’s natural systems for current and future generations. We are here to empower and support youth as they stand up for their lawful inheritance: a healthy planet. We are mothers, fathers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers. We are adults, part of the ruling generation, and we care about the future of our children--and their children's children. http://www.ourchildrenstrust.org/
iMatter is a youth-led campaign of the nonprofit group, Kids vs Global Warming, that is focused on mobilizing and empowering youth to lead the way to a sustainable and just world. We are teens and moms and young activists committed to raising the voices of the youngest generation to issue a wake-up call to live, lead and govern as if our future matters. http://www.imattermarch.org/
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