WASHINGTON (CN) – Ringing in the first meeting of the House Select Committee on Climate Crisis, a group of young leaders and activists called on Congress Thursday to take a bipartisan stance against manmade climate change before time runs out.
Unlike a traditional congressional hearing where invited panelists are typically well over 18 years old and considered experts or longtime industry leaders by lawmakers on Capitol Hill, Thursday’s hearing featured candid testimony from impassioned young people – all under 25 - who have taken it upon themselves to call out what they perceive is the federal government’s slow-walking of climate change policy and legislation.
Aji Piper, who turns 19 in July, has been on the forefront of this challenge to the U.S. government. He, along with 20 other plaintiffs, sued the United States four years ago in Oregon, claiming that the government’s own actions – including subsidizing fossil fuels for decades – infringed on his constitutional right to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness.
“It is a constitutional duty for the government to protect resources on which we all depend,” Piper said Thursday. “Instead, the government is taking actions that are directly contributing to the destruction of our planet. This abuses the trust of its most vulnerable citizens.”
In the Juliana v. United States lawsuit, the blame for inaction does not fall squarely to one political party or one administration. Both President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump have been named as defendants, and both administrations have fought the lawsuit, arguing that the claims should be sorted out through the halls of Congress.
“Courts don’t make the laws, they interpret them, but we need laws to be made clear to move forward,” Piper told the House today.
Earlier this month 30,000 young people signed an amicus brief in support of Juliana, saying that they, too, believe the U.S. Constitution protects their right to a safe climate. The Ninth Circuit is set to hold oral arguments June 4 on the effort by the government to head off a trial.
Thursday’s hearing also featured testimony from Chris Suggs, a sophomore at the University of North Carolina who was spurred to action by the constant threat hurricanes pose to his community of Kinston, North Carolina. Since 2014, Suggs has led a nonprofit organization that brings young people and communities together to rebuild.
Describing how Kinston becomes cleaved in two when flooding overtakes area highways, Suggs said his experience with repeated, and increasingly severe, weather events has taught him the importance of practicality when local, state or federal government’s scramble for long-term solutions.
“I want ambitious action, but no action that would disparage the recommendations made by scientists who say there is a need to protect natural resources and avoid the dangerous effects of climate change,” Suggs said.
Several Democratic lawmakers on the committee emphasized that the bold ideas discussed today should not be pushed aside as youthful intemperance.
“I know you are dismissed as being unreasonable,” Representative Jared Huffman said. “You are urged to think incrementally. That might have been the right conversation a few decades ago.”
The California lawmaker added that any lawmakers who think incrementalism will work now “may be in the wrong room.”
“Or in the wrong century,” Huffman continued. “Don’t let anyone tell you your demand to have a livable planet is extreme or radical. It is not. It is essential that we hear your voice. You’re calling for swift action. That is the right message.”
Recounting the difficulty in reasoning with individuals who have “such strong illogical climate denial,” Piper took a jab at the recommendation President Trump made in November about wildfires ravaging California.