The Trump Administration is desperately trying to prevent a climate change trial scheduled for February 2018. His administration is getting sued by Our Children’s Trust and the group Earth Guardians. This climate change lawsuit has the potential to expose Trump and his EPA Director, Scott Pruitt as climate change denying frauds. It will pit Trump, Pruitt and their climate change denying hucksters vs. the world’s scientific community.
This climate change trial could rival the infamous 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial. Just as the Scopes trial was a battle over the science of evolution, the climate change trial will be the battle over the science of climate change. Both the truth of evolution and the truth of climate change are supported by America’s scientific and educational community. The opposition to both evolution in 1925 and the opposition to climate change today rests on many of the same myths, religious interpretations and fake science.
The Trump administration argued in the Ninth Circuit Appeals Court on Monday that the youths’ climate change lawsuit must be stopped. The 21 youth represented by Our Children’s Trust, first filed their constitutional climate lawsuit in 2015.
The youth assert in their lawsuit that “through the government’s affirmative actions that cause climate change, it has violated the youngest generation’s constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property, as well as failed to protect essential public trust resources…the goal of the lawsuit is to force the U.S. government to scale back its support for fossil fuel extraction and production and to back policies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
The lawsuit Juliana vs. United States was filed during the Obama administration to force the government to move faster in slowing global warming. It’s much more relevant today as the Trump administration’s EPA erases many of Obama’s positive climate initiatives.
Both Trump and EPA Director Scott Pruitt are climate change deniers. Pruitt has scrubbed the EPA website of dozens of references supporting the scientific basis of climate change. Pruitt’s war on climate change is an outright attack on facts and basic scientific truth.
The lawsuit has survived several roadblocks and is scheduled to go to trial on February 5, 2018. The Monday Appeals Court hearing is the Trump administration’s latest attempt at derailing the children’s’ climate lawsuit. The Trump administration and the U.S. government defendants are arguing that the youths’ climate change lawsuit should not be permitted to proceed to trial.
Trump’s Deputy Assistant Attorney General Eric Grant claimed that the magnitude and scope of the lawsuit would impair the functions of the executive branch. He argued that the trial would require filing requests for data going back decades and require that numerous public officials be made available for depositions. He warned that litigating the case could distract the executive branch from carrying out “its constitutional duties.”
“This court is on a collision course with the executive branch,” Grant said, arguing that the judges “should grant this writ and put an end to this case.”
Grant in his complaints on Monday to the Appeals Court repeated three times, that if this lawsuit goes forward, it would be the “trial of the century.”
The plaintiffs argue that their constitutional rights to a clean environment are in jeopardy due to the government’s failure to stem global warming. This case is of particular significance since it would require the government to present the overwhelming scientific basis underlying the reality of climate change. A climate trial would force the Trump administration to acknowledge the undeniable facts that Pruitt is attempting to scrub from the EPA.
Trump’s climate policy runs counter to the world’s commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement to reduce greenhouse emissions. All of the world’s 196 nations have signed the Paris Climate Agreement. Trump withdrew the United States making it the only lone nation refusing to sign. The remainder of the world’s nations have all agreed on a climate goal. The world, with the exception of the United States, have unanimously agreed we must prevent average worldwide temperatures from increasing any more than 2 degrees centigrade.
Trump’s Assistant Attorney General is right when he predicts this will be the “trial of the century.” It will expose to the world that the Trump administration’s climate change denial is fake news. A nationally reported climate trial would provide the ultimate platform to finally bury the climate change denial myth forever. America’s scientific and educational community would benefit as well by finally getting the recognition and validation that it deserves. Let’s hope this trial will be allowed to go forward for the sake of our children.
by Rick Smith
Posted 12/13/17
2 Comments on "“Trial Of The Century” – Children’s Climate Change Lawsuit Vs. Trump"
I sincerely hope that this makes it to an actual trial. But…with the pretender sitting behind the Resolute Desk and the compliant Congress approving as fast as they can judges who are as reactionary as the Mango Menace, the outcome of any traia like this does not look good.
At least if it makes it that far, it will expose the hypocrisy for all the people to see. And that is not a bad thing.
As a 79 yr old first generation from immigrant parents, I was taught early on that it was every American’s duty to leave their paths through life better than found. What that meant to me during my pre-teen years was matters like always cleaning up behind myself , It was ok to cut that special branch off a tree to make a slingshot but not cut branches just to cut branches, it meant always leaving your chosen fishing spot in better condition than found, such as properly disposing that what was left behind by others that did not belong there. In the early school years we were taught “The cycle of life” and paid attention to it . When hunting years come along, we never shot any game that we were not going to eat. Growing to adulthood, “The Cycle of life” was never to be broken nor abused, we were to be good stewards of this earth in every way as much as our incomes allowed us to. With that being said, I learned of these childrens intentions to file suit while visiting in California and what I understood about these youth gave me great faith back into America because of them. It is the very bright youth of America that will be the ones who will actually make America better. Americans should be proud of, respect and praise the bright young Americans found across America that not only have an interest insuring a better future for themselves, but also will be making a better america for all.