ELR Citation: 42 ELR 20115
No(s). 1:11-cv-02235 (D.D.C. May 31, 2012) (Wilkens, J.)

A district court dismissed a lawsuit filed by nongovernmental organizations and a group of minors claiming that six federal agencies violated their fiduciary duties to preserve and protect the atmosphere as a commonly shared public trust resource under the public trust doctrine. The public trust doctrine does not provide a federal cause of action. The court, therefore, lacked subject matter jurisdiction. And even had the plaintiffs alleged a public trust claim that could be construed as sounding in federal common law, the cause of action is displaced by the CAA. In American Electric Power Co. v. Connecticut, 41 ELR 20210, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the CAA and the EPA actions it authorizes displace any federal common law right to seek abatement of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil-fuel fired power plants. (Intervenor counsel included Jim Wedeking of Sidley Austin LLP in Washington, DC).