The plaintiffs range in age from 10 to 22. They say decades of fossil-fuel permitting have damaged their health and futures, and they want the court to order the state to produce a plan to cut emissions.
The state argues the courts have no role in setting energy policy. A lower court agreed, but allowed the case to be refiled. Lawyers for the young plaintiffs say that ruling left a door open.
Whatever the outcome, legal scholars say the case has already shifted the debate. “Courts used to ask whether climate was a political question,” said one. “Now they are asking how they could possibly stay out of it.”
