A group of twenty-one students is suing the government for inaction on climate change. The students are arguing that there should be action by the Trump administration to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the air produced by the burning of fossil fuels. The students claim that Trump’s administration is violating their rights under the United States Constitution’s Fifth Amendment. The amendment states: “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of the law,” by not protecting the earth and the people in our country from potential harm. Trump attempted to put a halt to the suit, in saying that it “is unprecedented in its scope, in its potential to be protracted, expensive and disruptive to the continuing operation of the United States Government.” Judge Aiken denied Trump’s request to not continue the right to trial. Trump then requested appellate review which needs to be confirmed by Judge Aiken.
Understanding the impact the on-going use of fossil fuels has on the environment is essential to this case. Trump’s administration decreased funding to protect the environment by twenty-three percent and is furthering the use of fossil fuels. Although evidence of global climate change has been presented by many scientists, the facts have been distorted by the media because of the money hungry government we currently have. Trump’s administration has failed to address the people of our country’s concern for the need to act regarding the pressing issue in oil and coal burning. We are at a vital point to begin recognizing the blatantly obvious, which is human destruction of the earth.
This case is special and speaks volumes. Unfortunately, the previous generation refused to recognize the fact that the actions we take as humans are hurting the earth. My generation is taking steps to take early action considering the lack of attention by our administration and previous generation.
Slowly reducing and eventually limiting the use of fossil fuels and moving toward cleaner energy will make a large impact. Education is key in this matter. It is comforting to see that not only one, but twenty-one students are sacrificing a part of their childhood to take action to protect our earth for our future generations.
St. Lawrence has done a tremendous job in educating and recognizing the on-going issue of climate change. Educating people who do not have the means to learn the correct implications of climate change is important to this cause. Hopefully, in the Juliana vs. the United States case, there will be a step to educate and finally take action that should have been attended to long ago.
Some sources I used for this article and additional links you should check out are:
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/03/kids-sue-us-government-climate-change/
http://www.takepart.com/article/2016/11/15/young-people-suing-their-government-over-climate-change