ELR Citation: 53 ELR 20087
No(s). 6:15-cv-01517-AA (D. Or. Jun 1, 2023) (Aiken, J.)

A district court granted a group of youths' motion for leave to file a second amended complaint in a lawsuit alleging the U.S. government failed to act on climate change and violated their right to a safe climate. The youths had argued that the government violated their constitutional rights under the Fifth and Ninth Amendments by continuing to permit, authorize, and subsidize the use of fossil fuels despite knowing the risks, and sought to compel the government to develop a plan to phase out fossil fuel emissions and reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide. The district court concluded the youths had standing, but the Ninth Circuit held their injuries could not be redressed because development of an effective remedial plan necessarily required complex policy decisions entrusted to the executive and legislative branches, not the judiciary; it remanded to the district court with instructions to dismiss for lack of standing. On remand, the youths moved to amend their complaint to address the defects the appellate court identified. The district court found that the proposed amendments—alleging that a declaration under the Declaratory Judgment Act was substantially likely to remediate their ongoing injuries, and that such relief was within the court’s power to award—satisfied redressability, and granted the youths' motion.