Group of California children sue EPA for failing to tackle climate change

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Eighteen children have filed a new climate lawsuit against the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which they claim knowingly let the US become one of the world’s biggest polluters and put their futures at risk.

The lawsuit, filed in Central District Court in California on Sunday, outlines that the children felt they had been discriminated against as minors because their use of fossil fuels discounts the economic value of their lives and to what extent climate change will allow them to live in the future, said a press release by Our Children’s Trust, a nonprofit public interest law firm.

Our Children’s Trust is helping the children with the suit, which also named the EPA administrator Michael Regan and the US federal government alongside the EPA.

The lawsuit will highlight a broad picture of alleged climate injustices over the 50 years since the EPA was delegated the management of the country’s air quality and pollution control.

The case put forward by the group of children, ranging from eight to 17 years old, alleges that the EPA has known about the severe impacts of climate change, especially on young people, but continued to allow the US to become one of the world’s biggest contributors to climate pollution.

These 18 children in particular have come forward, as the release said that they are affected by climate change growing up in the Western US, which experiences loss of homes from wildfires, damages from floods and evacuations from “life-threatening” climate change-related events.

“We are running from wildfires, being displaced by floods, panicking in hot classrooms during another heat wave. We feel a constant worry about the future, and all around us, no one is moving fast enough,” said Noah, a 15-year-old plaintiff, who hopes that their lawsuit will remind people of the constitutions guarantee that every citizen has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, not just adults.

The lead plaintiff on the case, Genesis B, a 17-year-old Long Beach resident, also said in the suit that her parents cannot afford air conditioning, but the extreme heat means she is forced to wait until the evening to do her schoolwork when temperatures drop, according to NPR.

Many of the young plaintiffs said they are already suffering serious health conditions due to wildfire smoke and heat and have missed out on weeks of school, which has also impacted their mental health.

The children are ultimately asking the court to judge the EPA based on the alleged violations of their fundamental constitutional rights and to see if the EPA has acted outside their delegated authority.

“We are experiencing what no one should have to experience. We’re facing constitutional negligence. We’re challenging the EPA’s failure to protect us. The air we breathe has become a casualty of their opposition,” Avorh, a 14-year-old plaintiff, said in the release.

The lawsuit also hopes to achieve a fully confirmed constitutional standard to protect children’s rights as a unique class from the rights of adults.

Our Children’s Trust recently won the first constitutional climate trial in the US in Montana last year.

The high-profile case against Montana ruled that the state violated its constitution, which guarantees citizens the right to a “clean and healthful environment.”

An EPA spokesperson told The Independent they could not comment on the case due to the pending litigation, but they did add that under President Biden, they were “committed to using the full scope of its authorities to protect communities and reduce the pollution that is driving climate change”.

The spokesperson also said they appreciate that “young people are sounding the alarm on climate change,” and said they have just established the National Environmental Advisory Council, to provide advice and recommendations to their administrator, Mr Regan, on how to address environmental issues.

The Independent has reached out to the EPA for comment.