When the legislative and executive processes fail us, let’s go the judiciary route. That is the strategy behind the legal campaign spearheaded by the Oregon-based nonprofit Our Children’s Trust. Its goal is to have the courts acknowledge that the atmosphere is part of the commons and, as such, should be protected by governments as mandated by the principle of common law known as Public Trust Doctrine. Of the dozens of petitions and legal actions that have been undertaken in the U.S. by child petitioners (one in each state, plus a Federal lawsuit that the Supreme Court refused to hear last December,) the one case that has gained the most traction thus far is in Oregon. Oral arguments were heard this week and the judge is expected to render a decision later this year. If nothing else, the climate change conversation about public trust needs to be had. We’d love to see the debate get out of the courtrooms and into mainstream public spaces, including the media.
Could litigation prompt governments to do the right thing about climate change?
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