Courtesy of MSNBC:
One kid says that his family’s farm has been damaged by drought and wildfire. Another says that his childhood home has been devalued by rising sea levels. A third alleges an assault on his whole culture as man-made climate change upends the natural world.
These and 18 other “youth plaintiffs” (ages 8 to 19) sued the federal government on Wednesday, walking a first-of-its-kind constitutional claim up the courthouse steps in Eugene, Oregon. The kids argue that inaction on climate change is a violation of their right to life, liberty and property. And they demand that President Obama, seven federal departments and the Environmental Protection Agency act immediately to preserve the climate for “future generations.”
The White House was not immediately available for comment. A spokesperson for the EPA declined to address the specific merits of the lawsuit, but agreed that the government has “a moral obligation to leave a healthy planet for future generations.” The agency pointed to the White House’s Climate Action Plan – and the EPA’s controversial Clean Power Plan – as examples of remedies already underway. But the lawsuit portrays these efforts as “ineffectual” and “demonstrably short of what is needed.”
While I think the President is probably doing more to protect our environment than any other administration since the Jimmy Carter's I still support what these kids are doing.
They have every right to demand more from those of us who are in charge today, and to call us out for not doing enough to protect their planet.
Personally I hope more young people stand up to make their voices heard on this topic as well.
I think it would be more relevant for the "kids" to sue Charles and David Koch, the big companies, Boehner, McConnell, and the GOP.
ReplyDeleteBeaglemom
Oops, I meant "big oil companies." You know the companies that have known about the role their product plays in the problem since at least the 1980's and have fought now for decades to keep anyone from doing anything about it.
DeleteBeaglemom
Agreed! They need to read up on their politics, current events, and history and make that list a lot longer. They are going after the wrong folks and playing it safe. It's like the protestors that interrupted Bernie Sanders. It's okay to become disruptive, just make sure your disruption is properly assigned.
DeleteBeaglemom do you drive a car, use electricity, heat your water and house? Yeah thought so.
DeleteI agree with the premise of their argument. It sounds good on paper. However the way they are going about it diminishes their message and makes them appear stupid and frivolous. The suit should get tossed out. It doesn't have any merit at all and the only winners are the attorneys who profit from abuse if our legal system. Nice try though.
ReplyDeleteAgreed!
Delete+++++!!
DeleteGore for President: "Can You Hear Me Now?"
ReplyDeleteJohn spills Joe's milk, but instead of Joe suing John for spilling the milk, Joe decides to sue Bob for (a) not cleaning it up and, (b) not furnishing Joe with an adequate replacement glass of milk. Both Bob and Joe spend countless dollars and hours fighting over this in the courts while John goes along his merry way, laughing at the drama between Joe & Bob.
ReplyDeleteHappens every day.
Makes perfect sense, doesn't it?!
/Sarcasm with a capital S.
Exactly! Add into this equation also the fact that Bob has tried to help, but is not fast enough and is being thwarted in every way by John...
Delete.
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What do these kids think is going to happen to their suit if Republicans manage to gain the White House next year, and retain control of the Senate and House of Representatives?
DeleteThose kids will be lucky they aren't arrested/tried/sentenced/imprisoned before they can call their lawyers. AND forced to pay all court costs to date (it's happened to a couple in Colorado)
http://reverbpress.com/news/phillips-lucky-gunner-aurora-shooting/
I wish older people would take the stand that these kids are taking. It's really sad that mature adults are leaving this dirty work, which NEEDS to be done, to children. It makes baby boomers look like the selfish spoiled generation that they're stereotyped to be. Why is it that the kids' lawsuit is the first of it kind? Why is it that grown adults didn't do it before them?? The inaction of adults really does make the kids' case look frivolous (which in principle it is not), and that hurts everybody in the long run, young and old alike.
ReplyDeleteWhy the hell are they suing President Obama and not every single member of Congress that claims climate change is a hoax? Every single GOP asshole who has been trying to block President Obama's clean air act, his efforts to stop dirty coal, his efforts to set aside wilderness areas? Why the fuck are they being directed to sue President Obama? This stinks to high heaven and pisses me off they are targeting him. He's been working very hard to bring attention to the issue, going so far as to say that climate change is THE biggest threat to our future, so why the FUCK are they suing him?????
ReplyDeleteI rest my case. They need to be suing THESE assholes, not the president.
Delete15 States Mount Legal Challenge To Obama's Carbon Rules
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/08/13/carbon-rules-petition_n_7984882.html
Do the math. These kids of today are the adults of tomorrow when the adults of today are going to be the old folks of tomorrow....the slow, dottering, weak, feeble old folks who ruined the planet for them. Not. In. Our. Interest. To. Piss. Them. Off.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't mean you should just stand back while the inmates take over the asylum.
DeleteThe children's concerns are valid but they are barking up the wrong tree when it comes to any solution or remedy to the problem. Their world won't be made better by litigating this.
ReplyDeleteUnless the "youth plaintiff" whose home has been devalued is the legal owner of said home, the plaintiff has not actually suffered any damages. Duh!
ReplyDeleteIf the youth plaintiff IS the legal owner of the home, he/she still has a very high burden of proving a cause and effect relationship showing that POTUS, et al willfully and knowingly failed to act, thereby causing damages to the plaintiffs. Considering that climate change is a global issue and not limited to the USA, it appears that some lawyers are taking advantage of the naivete of these kids in order to line their own pockets.
Hey, hey, HEY!!!! Goddammit, I am 8 years old and I am soooo OUTRAGED! I'm gonna sue the President and the whole US government and REALLY teach them a big lesson!!!!!!!!! That uppity n*gger in the White House is really gonna be sorry when I'm done with him!!!!!! It's not necessary to bother Reagan, Clinton and the Bush family with this - they had nothing to do with it and besides I wasn't even born when they were in office.
ReplyDeleteNow who's using their kids as a political prop? Just cause Sarah did it doesn't mean two wrongs make a right.
I hope they lose big time and have to pay legal fees and court costs out of their allowance and lunch money.
Signed, a person who hates both brats and the idiots that brought them onto the planet
You need to go to an anger management program. You have some serious issues.
DeleteLeland you need to shut your piehole.
DeleteI suspect that 8:25 was being facetious in order to make their point.
DeleteSo here's the problem . . . . The President has been ringing this bell, working with other countries and warning everyone along with scientists and anyone with a brain about how the planet is in danger. But you have the entire GOP scratching their butts and claiming jebus wants the world how it is. . . . .
ReplyDeleteSo who is being sued?
Why don't they just stomp their feet and hold their breath till they pass out?
ReplyDeleteOh well, there just ain't no cure for stoopid.
What an irony - here we have an administration that is doing more than any admin has been doing for decades in trying to protect our planet, and now it gets sued for the damage done by decades of neglect and abuse.
ReplyDeleteThe kids are just following what kids have already done in The Netherlands, but I also have my little doubts in my mind about the timing of this lawsuit, and wondering, if there are not some ReThugs behind this...
Poor little misguided children. I sure hope they don't spend any time riding in cars or using fossil fuels to heat or cool their homes. I betcha they all enjoy their cellphones which contain petroleum-based plastics and heavy metals that require carbon fuels to mine from the earth. Do they have synthetic clothing or carpet or flooring in their homes that are made of petroleum-based products? Do they use petroleum-based plastic bags when shopping? Give it a rest you whiny little middle class entitled American kids; talk to a kid from Bangladesh, whose modest hovel truly is in danger from rising sea levels. Talk to some kids in China who are dying from lung disease from pollution or forced to work long hours in toxic conditions to make your cellphones and game consoles.
ReplyDeleteWe're all in this together, and guess what, Obama has made some strides to rectify the situation over the long term. Who put you up to this, because none of you seem intelligent enough to have thought this up on your own, and keep in mind, you have it so much better than so many on this planet. It's called perspective, look it up and try to find some.
Bravo 10:59!!! Very well put!
DeleteIf people want to save the world, stop breeding.
DeleteIt is the only way.
Hmmm.......they sound like young Republicans. Everything is always Pres. Obama's fault.
ReplyDeleteWhy aren't they suing republicans ?
ReplyDeleteWhile I understand their focus is misplaced, I don't fault them in the least for knowing world events, caring for the earth, and fearing the impact of global warming on future generations. The irony for me was that I and others worked with young kids and young adults during both of President Obama's campaigns.
ReplyDeleteNo one is faulting their concerns. It's the way they are going about it that is so....childish.
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