Supreme Court Refuses to Revive Youths’ Climate-Change Lawsuit

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to reinstate a novel and far-reaching lawsuit filed by young people who sought to force the federal government to take steps against climate change.

The justices without comment left intact a federal appeals court decision rejecting the lawsuit. The appeals court said the youths lacked legal “standing” to sue because they hadn’t alleged the type of concrete injury that the judicial system could redress.

The ground-breaking suit was filed a decade ago by 21 teenagers and children who said government policies have exacerbated global warming in violation of their constitutional rights and those of future generations. A federal trial judge in Oregon said in 2023 that the case could proceed to trial, but the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the suit thrown out.

In their appeal to the Supreme Court, lawyers for the young people argued they had evidence that “government conduct alone is responsible for over 25% of greenhouse gas pollution and the measurable increase in temperatures to which plaintiffs are exposed.”

Administrations from both parties have urged dismissal of the suit. The Trump administration’s top Supreme Court lawyer, acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris, told the justices that “this sprawling and unprecedented suit is far beyond the type of matter traditionally resolved by American courts.”

Forty-three Democratic members of Congress joined the young people in urging Supreme Court review.

The case is Juliana v. United States, 24-645.

Top photo: Emissions rise from the Valero Energy Corp. oil refinery in Memphis, Tennessee, U.S., on Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg.