In Their Own Words: Plaintiffs & Their Lawyers Speak About Youth Climate Cases, Part 4 – Juliana v US

On February 14, 2024 the Centre for Law and the Environment held part four of a four-part series on youth climate cases. The series, "In Their Own Words: Plaintiffs and Their Lawyers Speak About Leading Youth Climate Cases", covered four leading cases from Canada and the US in which youth are demanding climate accountability and action from their government. Each session in the series delved into a particular case and attendees got to learn about the case from one of the youth plaintiffs and one of their lawyers. Part 4 focused on Juliana v US.

About Juliana v. US

In 2015, twenty-one young Americans filed a constitutional climate lawsuit against the US government, asserting that, because of the government’s affirmative actions contributing to climate change, it has violated the youngest generation’s constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property and has failed to protect essential public trust resources. In 2016, rejecting the government's motion to strike the claim, Judge Ann L. Aiken declared that “the right to a climate system capable of sustaining human life is fundamental to a free and ordered society.” Since then, the Department of Justice's long string of attempts to dismiss and delay the case has meant that Juliana has yet to make it to trial. A June 2023 ruling put the case back on track, and in December 2023 Judge Aiken denied the government’s latest attempt to derail the case and ordered the parties to meet to schedule the case for trial. If this happens, it will be the first climate trial in federal court in U.S. history, following closely on the heels of the country's first climate trial in state court, Held v. Montana--the subject of our previous webinar.

Access the Recording

This session is eligible for 1 hour of CPD credit.

 

About the Speakers

Andrea Rodgers

Andrea is Senior Litigation Attorney at Our Children’s Trust, where she serves as cocounsel on Juliana v. United States and as lead counsel on Aji P. v. State of Washingtonand Reynolds v. State of Florida. After graduating from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1998 and Arizona State University School of Law in 2001, where she served as co-Executive Editor of Jurimetrics: The Journal of Law, Science and Technology, Andrea clerked for the Hon. John C. Gemmill on the Arizona Court of Appeals. She has served as an Honors Attorney for the U.S. Department of Transportation, In-House Legal Counsel for the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe, and Staff Attorney for the Western Environmental Law Center. Her law practice has focused on reducing pollution from industrial agricultural operations, protecting and enhancing instream flows for people and fish, and fighting climate change for young people and future generations.

Alex Loznak

Alex Loznak grew up on an Oregon farm that has been in his family for seven generations. His great, great, great, great grandmother, Martha Poindexter Maupin, founded the farm in 1868 (she was one of the first women in Oregon to own a ranch) after arriving in the area by way of the Oregon Trail.

 

The Maupin Century Farm is a foundational piece of Alex's life and heritage. However, the drought conditions, unusually hot temperatures, and abnormally large nearby wildfires are harming and will increasingly harm Alex’s home.

 

Alex started a Climate Change Club at Roseburg High School, started the League of Umpqua Climate Youth (“LUCY”), and has lobbied his state legislators to pass comprehensive climate legislation. He has also conducted extensive research for this lawsuit, including uncovering President John F. Kennedy's knowledge of human-caused climate change.