Justices turned away an appeal of a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling.
The U.S. Supreme Court on March 24 declined to hear an appeal in a lawsuit led by minors that alleged the U.S. government has unconstitutionally deprived the children of rights to life and liberty by causing climate change to worsen.
Justices in an unsigned decision denied certiorari to a petition from Kelsey Cascadia Rose Juliana and 20 other minors. No justices offered an explanation for the decision.
Plaintiffs sued the government in 2015, alleging that the U.S. government for decades “has known that carbon dioxide (‘CO2’) pollution from burning fossil fuels was causing global warming and dangerous climate change, and that continuing to burn fossil fuels would destabilize the climate system on which present and future generations of our nation depend for their wellbeing and survival.”
Actions taken despite that knowledge, including the approval of a liquid natural gas terminal in Oregon, endangered the youth, the suit said.
In a split decision, a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit panel decided in 2020 that the relief the plaintiffs sought, including an order mandating the government develop a plan to phase out fossil fuel emissions, “is beyond our constitutional power.” The court instructed U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken to dismiss the case.
Aiken declined, allowing plaintiffs to amend their complaint. In 2023, she ruled in favor of the minors, finding that plaintiffs had adequately alleged that their constitutional rights were being infringed by the government’s actions. “The judiciary is capable and duty-bound to provide redress for the irreparable harm government fossil fuel promotion has caused,” the judge said at the time.
The Ninth Circuit in 2024 again sided with the government, upholding the 2020 ruling and telling Aiken to dismiss the litigation.
Plaintiffs lodged a petition with the Supreme Court, asking justices to intervene. That led to Monday’s denial.
