Twenty-one young people who are suing the federal government will ask the U.S. Supreme Court Monday to allow their climate change trial to go forward. That's after the nation's highest court temporarily blocked the lawsuit Friday.
The order issued Friday by Chief Justice John Roberts freezes the trial set to start Oct. 29 in U.S. District Court in Eugene. The plaintiffs' attorney, Julia Olson, told KLCC the tactics used by the Trump Administration and Department of Justice to avoid a trial are unprecedented.
“We’ve never seen a case go three petitions for a writ of mandate to the 9th Circuit. Two petitions for a writ of mandate now to the Supreme Court. Really trying to bypass the ordinary judicial process,” she said.
The lawsuit claims the federal government has violated young people's constitutional rights through policies that have encouraged the use of fossil fuels. They say their generation bears the brunt of climate change and that the government has an obligation to protect natural resources for present and future generations.
Roberts paused the case until the plaintiffs respond to objections filed by the Department of Justice last week. DOJ attorneys have asked the court to dismiss the case. They say the complaint is overly broad, and that climate policy shouldn’t be decided by the judicial system