This past week has seen youth all over the world stand up for protecting our environment. Youth climate activist Greta Thunberg was here for several days to meet with legislators and with other young activists.
At a press conference last week in front of the Supreme Court, lead plaintiff Kelsey Juliana, of the lawsuit Juliana v U.S., made an impassioned plea for help in addressing climate change.
Juliana v U.S. is a claim against the U.S. that failing to protect the climate is a violation of the constitutional right to life, liberty, and property.
The Juliana case was brought by 21 young plaintiffs, ranging from ages 12 to 23, and is supported under the non-profit Our Children’s Trust. The case was brought in 2015, and has had a complex legal history since then, but has overcome many challenges and is regarded as a landmark effort to try to protect the climate by legal means.
“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, in one of her rulings on the case
Some of the youth plaintiffs:
The youth leaders remain poised under intense media scrutiny:
There are just a few occasions where these leaders let their guard down and actually get to act their age, stopping to take selfies.
There was a large turnout at last Friday’s Youth Climate Strike in D.C., but how long and hard do we expect children to spend on this effort when adult society appears to be failing them?
