Juliana V . U . S . Lawsuit by Tia Hatton
Plaintiff Tia Hatton grew up in Bend . She is now one of 21 plaintiffs in the lawsuit suing our Government to protect the Environment .
Since the industrial revolution , use of fossil fuels has brought the human population tremendous progress and opportunity , but it has also created a perpetuating global problem . A cause for alarm : increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide from pre-industrial levels of 280 parts per million ( ppm ) to current levels at over 400 ppm . The process of humans burning carbon based fossil fuels to increase the greenhouse gas effect is a scientific phenomenon our government has known about for a long time . The story of climate change , or global warming , is surprisingly well documented within various agencies of the executive branch , not excluding the office of the president . For example , the 1965 President ’ s Science Advisory a Committee Report of the Quality of the Environment that concludes :
By the year 2000 an increase in atmospheric CO2 ... may be significant to produce measurable and perhaps marked changes in climate and will almost certainly cause significant changes in the temperature and other properties of the stratosphere .
In 1988 , NASA ’ s top climate scientist Dr . James Hansen testified in front of congress saying greenhouse gas effect had arrived , along with predictions of outcomes we are beginning to see today , such as rising sea levels and increased droughts . Thirty years later the federal government has not heeded any advice of these warnings , they continue to affirmatively promote a national energy system dependent on fossil fuels by giving tax breaks to the industry , subsidizing fossil fuels , and promoting exploration and development of fossil fuels on public lands . The federal government failed to ratify the Kyoto protocol and has pulled out of the Paris Climate agreement . Effects of human caused climate change include rising sea levels , increased droughts , increased wildfires , increased risk of diseases related to warmer and wetter weather , the mass movement of climate refugees , food insecurity , psychological harm , and damage to unadaptable ecosystems .
The youngest generations will inherit this enormous , emerging burden . In August 2015 , twenty young people and myself decided to take meaningful action to help stop this and get to the root of the problem : we sued the U . S . federal government . The defendants included President Obama , and heads of agencies such as the Departments of Energy , Department of Transportation , Department of Agriculture , and the Environmental Protection agency . Now , the lawsuit is against President Trump and his executive branch . With the help of our lawyers from Eugene , and the
8 BEND HEALTH GUIDE | Spring 2018