A lawsuit brought by 21 young people against the U.S. government over climate change has come to an end, a decade after it was filed.
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the last effort to get the case to trial in a Eugene federal courtroom.
Juliana v. United States was filed in Eugene in 2015.
It sought to hold the government accountable for its fossil fuel policies. The argument was that climate change violated the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property.
Julia Olson is the founder and co-executive director of Our Children’s Trust, which brought the lawsuit. She said even though it never got to trial, the case made a difference.
“It ignited this global movement and really changed the legal paradigm around reexamining children’s most fundamental rights in the context of their greatest threat today,” she told KLCC. “And that is the climate crisis.”
Olson said Our Children’s Trust works at the state, federal and international level. Since the Juliana case, she said, they’ve had success in other similar cases. Held v. State of Montana went to trial in the summer of 2023.
“They won a constitutional ruling that said that their state was violating their fundamental rights to life and health and safety and dignity and their right to a clean and healthful environment by promoting fossil fuels and ignoring climate change,” she said.
Olson said that decision was recently upheld by the Montana Supreme Court.
Within the last year, the state of Hawaii settled in a case that was filed there.
Olson said they will try again and bring a new climate case against the federal government. She says Our Children’s Trust is preparing a case that’s rooted in the principles of the Juliana case.
“That case is tying into new legal developments at the federal level that are happening,” Olson said. “And making clear that the federal government today is committed to infringing the rights of young people and promoting fossil fuel energy. And that case will get heard and the evidence will be presented and we will hold the federal government accountable for that wrongdoing.”
Many of the plaintiffs in the federal case are from Oregon, including the named plaintiff, Kelsey Juliana of Eugene.
In a news release, plaintiff Miko Vergun from Beaverton shared this statement:
“Ultimately, we didn’t get the decision we wanted today, but we’ve had many wins along the way,” Vergun said. “For almost ten years, we’ve stood up for the rights of present and future generations, demanding a world where we can not only survive, but thrive. We’ve faced extreme resistance by the federal government, yet we’ve never wavered in our resolve. All great movements have faced obstacles, but what sets them apart is the perseverance of the people behind them. We’ve shown the world that young people will not be ignored, and I’m incredibly proud of the impact Juliana v. United States has made."
Olson said the fight isn’t over, pointing to actions by the current Trump administration.
“Now is not a time to sit back," she said. "Now is a time to stand up and not be scared, but to embrace democracy and be there with our youth, because they are going to live with all of this.”
A climate case against the State of Oregon ended up being dismissed.
But Olson said her organization is working on legislation to to enshrine the right to a healthy environment in Oregon’s State Constitution.
