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Back in 2015 a group called Our Children’s Trust filed a climate change lawsuit on behalf of a group of kids and teens. The lawsuit asked the court to order the Obama administration (at the time it was filed) to take action to prevent climate change. Today a panel of three Obama-appointed judges dismissed the lawsuit in a 2-1 decision:QuoteIn a 2-1 decision, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the plaintiffs, who were 8 to 19 when the lawsuit began in 2015, lacked legal standing to sue the United States.Circuit Judge Andrew Hurwitz said the majority reached its conclusion “reluctantly,†given the “compelling†evidence that the government had long promoted fossil fuels despite knowing they could cause catastrophic climate change, and that failing to change policies could hasten an “environmental apocalypse.â€â€¦Hurwitz said the case left “little basis for denying that climate change is occurring at an increasingly rapid pace,†but that addressing it required “complex policy decisions entrusted, for better or worse, to the wisdom and discretion†of the White House and Congress.
In a 2-1 decision, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the plaintiffs, who were 8 to 19 when the lawsuit began in 2015, lacked legal standing to sue the United States.Circuit Judge Andrew Hurwitz said the majority reached its conclusion “reluctantly,†given the “compelling†evidence that the government had long promoted fossil fuels despite knowing they could cause catastrophic climate change, and that failing to change policies could hasten an “environmental apocalypse.â€â€¦Hurwitz said the case left “little basis for denying that climate change is occurring at an increasingly rapid pace,†but that addressing it required “complex policy decisions entrusted, for better or worse, to the wisdom and discretion†of the White House and Congress.
