Young people at a climate rally in Richmond in September 2019. (Sarah Vogelsong / Virginia Mercury)
Thirteen Virginia residents ranging in age from 10 to 19 are suing the state of Virginia over what they say are its contributions to climate change as a result of decades of issuing permits for fossil fuel infrastructure.
Virginia’s “historic and ongoing permitting of fossil fuel infrastructure has, and continues to, cause dangerous levels of greenhouse gas pollution, including carbon dioxide,” the plaintiffs wrote. “This GHG pollution causes and contributes to the ongoing climate crisis and causes grave harm to these 13 youth plaintiffs.”
The suit, which has been filed in Richmond Circuit Court, asks the court to overturn parts of Virginia’s Gas and Oil Act and find that Virginia’s “policy and practice” of permitting fossil fuel projects violates the plaintiff’s rights.
The legal argument hinges on their interpretation of the public trust doctrine, which holds that the state has a duty to hold certain natural resources in trust for the public. In their suit, they argue that by approving fossil fuel infrastructure, Virginia is failing to protect “Virginia’s atmosphere, lands, and waters from pollution, impairment, or destruction.”
Attorneys with Our Children’s Trust, an Oregon-based nonprofit law firm that focuses on climate cases involving young people, are representing the 13 Virginia residents. The group also has suits pending in Alaska and Montana and is involved in regulatory petitions in Florida, Colorado and North Carolina.
In 2015, the nonprofit filed a federal suit known as Juliana v. United States on similar grounds. Although a district court initially allowed the case to go forward, a federal appeals court threw out the suit in 2020.
In an opinion, Judge Andrew Hurwitz wrote that the court had “reluctantly concluded that the plaintiffs’ case must be made to the political branches or to the electorate at large.” Judge Josephine Staton dissented, concluding that the young plaintiffs had presented sufficient evidence to argue their case at trial and that “the Constitution does not condone the nation’s willful destruction.”
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