Charting an Uncertain Legal Climate: Article Ⅲ Standing in Lawsuits to Combat Climate Change

摘要

Like all plaintiffs in federal court, parties bringing lawsuits to fight climate change must demonstrate standing under Article III of the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted Article Ill's standing requirement to mean that a plaintiff must show: (1) an injury-in-fact that is concrete and particularized as well as actual or imminent; (2) that the injury was caused by and is fairly traceable to the action of the defendant, rather than the result of the independent action of some third party not before the court; and (3) that the injury is likely to be redressed by a favorable court ruling. If a plaintiff cannot establish these three elements of injury, causation, and redressability, a federal court must decline to hear the case.