Just months after a Washington State Court ordered the state's environmental agency to promulgate a rule capping and regulating carbon dioxide (CO_2) emissions because "the climate crisis presents an urgent situation that youth petitioners cannot wait on," youth in the US secured another victory for the climate in court. On 10 November 2016, a federal district judge in the State of Oregon issued an unprecedented decision in a constitutional climate rights case brought by 21 young people against the federal government. The decision establishes a fundamental, constitutional right to a climate system capable of sustaining human life. Describing the "groundbreaking" case as "no ordinary lawsuit", Aiken J denied motions to dismiss filed by the federal government and the fossil fuel industry trade associations that intervened in the lawsuit to defend the case alongside the federal government. After discovery, the case will proceed to trial.
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