'The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a petition filed by young climate activists who argued that the federal government’s role in climate change violated their constitutional rights, ending a decadelong legal battle that saw many of the plaintiffs grow from children and teenagers into adults.
The landmark case was filed in 2015 by 21 plaintiffs, the youngest 8 years old. They claimed the U.S. government’s actions encouraging a fossil fuel economy violated their right to a life-sustaining climate.
The case — called Juliana v. United States after one of the activists, Kelsey Juliana — was challenged repeatedly by the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations, whose lawyers argued it sought to direct federal environmental and energy policies through the courts instead of the political process.
Julia Olson, chief legal counsel for Our Children’s Trust, the nonprofit law firm that represented the plaintiffs, said the impact of the lawsuit “cannot be measured by the finality of this case alone.”
“Juliana sparked a global youth-led movement for climate rights that continues to grow,” Olson said in a statement Monday. “It has empowered young people to demand their constitutional right to a safe climate and future. We’ve already secured important victories, and we will continue pushing forward.”'
https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-youth-climate-lawsuit-b90f095046663da0e693b6f2fc46e71e
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