My name is Kelsey Juliana and Iām suing the United States government
for causing and accelerating the climate change crisis. Iām 22 years old
and Iāve been a climate activist for more than half of my life.
I know that young people like me, and others who have yet to be born,
have a right to a safe climate system. The constitution guarantees all
Americans the right to life, liberty, and property. But how is anyone
supposed to live a life of freedom amid a climate crisis? My own
government is violating my constitutional rights by its ongoing and
deliberate actions that cause climate change and itās not right.
I, along with 20 other young people from around the country, filed a lawsuit against the federal government in 2015, called Juliana v. United States.
Weāre not asking for money. Instead, weāre asking the court to order
the government to develop and implement a National Climate Recovery Plan
based on the best available science.
This plan should end the reign of fossil fuels and quickly
decarbonize our atmosphere so that we can stabilize our climate system
before itās too late.
The longer we go without climate recovery, the more we risk allowing our climate to spiral completely out of control.
And the climate is spiraling out of control, no matter how many
politicians claim weāre experiencing normal fluctuations or, worse, a
āhoax.ā All of the expert witnesses in our lawsuit say that we are
currentlyāalreadyāin the ādanger zoneā and an āemergency situationā with
only 1Ā°C of planetary heating. Allowing the planet to heat up any more
is not safe for our species, as well as so many others. And according to
the Trump administrationās most recent environmental impact statement,
the planet could heat as much as 7Ā°F before the end of this century. We
cannot allow this to happen because we simply will not survive.
We originally filed our lawsuit against the Obama administration.
That administration tried to have the case dismissed, but the judge
ruled in our favor and found that we should be allowed to go to trial.
In 2017, the Trump administration inherited the lawsuit and it has
done everything in its power, employing every conceivable tactic, to
deny my fellow plaintiffs and me our right to present our case in court.
This administration is so fiercely attempting to silence our voices.
At this point, every level of the federal judiciaryāthe U.S. District
Court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Courtāhas
denied the Trump administrationās efforts to have the case thrown out.
Yet it will not halt its efforts to avoid standard legal procedures and
confront us, the nationās youth, in court.
Our trial is officially scheduled to begin on October 29, 2018 in Eugene, Oregon.
What weāre asking for could change everything.
My fellow plaintiffs and I want you with us as we head into the
courtroom to confront the United States government for knowingly
violating our constitutional rights. Supporters will hold rallies in
every state around the country, so if you canāt be with us in Eugene, find your local rally here.
Get regular updates by following @youthvgov on social media.
AlexTheGhost 