EPA seeks dismissal of youth climate change lawsuit

Update:

• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) asked a federal judge in California to dismiss a lawsuit claiming the agency hasn’t done enough to protect children from climate change.
• The EPA claims the court does not have the authority to hold it responsible for climate change because it has not waived its sovereign immunity. It says the court can only review how the EPA asserts its authority.
• The EPA argues the group of minors who brought the lawsuit lacks standing and failed to make a valid claim.
• “The government does not dispute that climate change poses a serious threat, nor that any solution to addressing climate change will require the active involvement of the federal government,” the filing says. “The U.S. Constitution, however, does not explicitly recognize a right to a life-sustaining climate.”

Kids climate lawsuit overview: 

• Who: A group of kids filed a lawsuit against the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its administrator, Michael S. Regan. 
• Why: The kids argue the EPA has violated their constitutional rights and actively harmed them by allegedly allowing dangerous levels of climate pollution. 
• Where: The lawsuit was filed in California federal court. 

(Dec. 19, 2023)

A group of children has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over claims it is being actively harmed and discriminated against by the agency’s alleged “affirmative allowance of dangerous levels of climate pollution.” 

The kids argue the EPA has been given the responsibility of protecting the health of Americans from the effects of air pollution, but, despite this, has allegedly allowed levels of climate pollution that have “destabilized the very foundation, and ordered liberty, of Children’s lives.” 

“(The) EPA’s conduct in controlling the pollution that enters the Nation’s air actively discriminates against Children, and these Plaintiffs, knowingly causing them disproportionate harm compared to similarly situated adults and burdening them with a lifetime of hardship,” the EPA lawsuit states. 

The children claim they are disproportionately affected by the effects of climate change compared to adults, arguing that their “bodies and minds are still growing” and because of their “longevity of life this century and into the next one.” 

Kids in EPA lawsuit argue they are politically, economically powerless to affect climate change 

Despite this, the kids argue, they are “consistently ignored, overlooked, and undervalued” and are both “politically and economically powerless” to “meaningfully participate in and influence the policy decisions that cause the climate crisis.” 

“As compared to similarly situated people who are adults, EPA has acted to discriminate against Children and to diminish their opportunity to grow up safe and free, much less pursue their dreams,” the EPA lawsuit states. 

The kids claim the EPA has violated their constitutional right to equal protection, their right to life and their fundamental right to life-sustaining climate system, among other things, and are requesting the court to award them declaratory relief. 

Earlier this year, a federal judge in Montana sided with a group of 16 children in their claims the state violated their current and future constitutional right to a “clean and healthful environment.” 

Do you believe the EPA has allowed unsafe levels of climate pollution? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiffs are represented by Julia A. Olson, Andrea K. Rodgers and Catherine Smith of Our Children’s Trust, Philip L. Gregory of Gregory Law Group, Paul L. Hoffman of the University of California at Irvine, School of Law Civil Rights Litigation Clinic and John Washington of Schonbrun Seplow Harris Hoffman & Zeldes LLP. 

The kids’ climate lawsuit is Genesis B., et al. v. The United States Environmental Protection Agency, et al., Case No. 4:21-cv-06770, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

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