The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday ruled that climate suit brought by a group of 21 youth against the Trump administration can move forward.
In an unusual move, the Trump administration had filed a petition with the Ninth Circuit asking it to review a lower district court’s decision to let the case proceed. The administration argued that defending its climate change policy would pose too great a burden requiring “drastic and extraordinary” measures.
“If appellate review could be invoked whenever a district court denied a motion to dismiss, we would be quickly overwhelmed with such requests,” the three-judge panel ruled in a unanimous decision.
The case will now move forward in the U.S. District Court in Oregon.
“The Ninth Circuit just gave us the green light for trial,” said Julia Olson, a co-attorney for the youth plaintiffs. “We will ask the District Court for a trial date in 2018 where we will put the federal government’s dangerous energy system and climate policies on trial for infringing the constitutional rights of young people.”