PORTLAND, Ore. (CN) - Continuing to burn fossil fuels violates the Ninth Amendment rights of future generations and today's children, according to a lawsuit filed by prominent NASA scientist Dr. James Hansen and nearly two dozen children.
Lead plaintiff Kelsey Cascadia Rose Juliana, along with the nonprofit Earth Guardians and Dr. Hansen, sued the United States; President Barack Obama; the office of the President of the United States; Council on Environmental Quality director Christy Goldfuss; Office of Management and Budget director Shaun Donovan; Office of Science and Technology Policy director Dr. John Holdren; the Department of Energy and its secretary Dr. Ernest Moniz; the Interior Department and its secretary Sally Jewell; the Department of Transportation and its secretary Anthony Foxx; the Department of Agriculture and Thomas J. Vilsack; the Commerce Department and its secretary Penny Pritzker; the Department of Defense and its secretary Ashton Carter; the State Department and Secretary of State John Kerry; and the Environmental Protection Agency and administrator Gina McCarthy in Federal Court, claiming Constitutional violations and violations of the public trust doctrine.
The plaintiffs are represented by Julia Olson with Wild Earth Advocates in Eugene, Ore.
Olson underscored the gravity of the case.
"This is a landmark case being filed to save the climate system for these kids and for future generations, and it's on par with cases like Brown v. Board of Education and Obergefell v. Hodges in that it seeks to uphold the plaintiff young people's Constitutional rights to life, liberty and property," Olson said in a phone interview.
The kids say the government has known for over 50 years that "continuing to burn fossil fuels would destabilize the climate system on which present and future generations of our nation depend for their well-being and survival."
"Defendants also knew the harmful impacts of their actions would significantly endanger plaintiffs, with the damage persisting for millennia," the children continue. "Despite this knowledge, defendants continued their policies and practices of allowing the exploitation of fossil fuels."
Specifically, the plaintiffs point to the government's June approval of the planned Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas terminal in Coos Bay, Oregon. The terminal would become the single largest generator of carbon dioxide emissions in Oregon, the kids claim.
The terminal "will significantly increase the harm that defendants' actions are causing to plaintiffs. Defendants have long-standing knowledge of the cumulative danger that their aggregate actions are causing plaintiffs. The Jordan Cove project enhances the cumulative danger caused by defendants' affirmative aggregate actions," the kids say.
They add that this is not news, since the government has known it needed to protect the environment for future generations for at least 50 years.
"In a 1965 White House Report on 'Restoring the Quality of Our Environment,' for example, the President's Science Advisory Committee stated: 'The land, water, air and living things of the United States are a heritage of the whole nation. They need to be protected for the benefit of all Americans, both now and in the future. The continued strength and welfare of our nation depend on the quantity and quality of our resources and on the quality of the environment in which our people live,'" according to the complaint.