Juliana V. U.S. Lawsuit
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 op-
portunity, 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 atmospher-
ic CO2...may be significant to produce measur-
able 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 green-
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BEND HEALTH GUIDE | Spring 2018
by Tia Hatton
house gas effect had arrived, along with predic-
tions 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 con-
tinue 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 fos-
sil 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 Depart-
ments of Energy, Department of Transportation,
Department of Agriculture, and the Environmen-
tal Protection agency. Now, the lawsuit is against
President Trump and his executive branch. With
the help of our lawyers from Eugene, and the
nonprofit Our Children’s Trust, we argue the gov-
ernment’s affirmative actions, along with the long
standing knowledge of the harms of fossil fuels,
violates our constitutional right to life, liberty,
and property, and fails to protect essential public
trust resources. We are asking for the courts to
order the government to prepare a science based
climate recovery plan that reduces atmospheric
carbon dioxide levels to 350 ppm by the year 2100.
In the same year we filed the lawsuit, I became
curious and began to understand the science of
climate change. As a competitive Nordic skier
throughout high school, I enjoyed every practice
and race. In 2015, my senior year, Central Oregon
received little snow, causing cancellations and
limited time spent at Meissner. It got me think-
ing about the future of the snow pack in the Cas-
cades. I knew the term “climate change”, but until
that point, I had not seen the link between rising
carbon dioxide level and rise in temperatures. In
Spring of 2015, I went to a meeting with other
local high school students to hear about how we
could take action. Our Children’s Trust presented
the story of youth in Eugene who successfully
got their city council to pass a climate ordinance
to curb carbon emissions according to scientif-
ic standards. Through this connection, Kelsey
Juliana, who is now my co-plaintiff, emailed me
asking if I was interested in joining the landmark
lawsuit against the federal government. My an-
Photographer Robin Loznak/Our Children's Trust
swers was yes!
In the time since we filed the suit, the U.S. gov-
ernment has tried to dismiss our case. The fossil
fuel industry joined as intervenors, unsuccess-
fully tried to dismiss the case, and then left the
case. Most recently, the U.S. government filed a
rare writ of mandamus, bringing the case out of
the Federal Court in Eugene, to the Ninth District
Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Three judges
unanimously denied the attempt, and sent it back
for trial to continue. I’ll admit our success has
been surprising to many and the lawsuit is un-
conventional. However, our lawsuit has the char-
acteristics of a suit similar in magnitude to Brown
V. Board of Education or Obergefell V. Hodges.
In her decision to deny a motion to dismiss, U.S.
District Judge Ann Aiken wrote “I have no doubt
that the right to a stable climate system capable of
sustaining human life is fundamental to a free and
ordered society.”
The trial date is expected to be set shortly, we
are hoping for fall 2018. I would like to extend an
invitation to all of you to attend the start of trial in
Eugene, OR. We can always use more resources,
as Our Children’s Trust not only does work on this
federal case, but also on the state level and inter-
nationally. Donate to Ourchildrenstrust.org.
To stay up to date on the proceedings, please
visit Youthvgov.org. I look forward to seeing you
at trial!
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