The world’s leaders convene in Paris in early December to discuss climate change…A small band of advocates are urging courts to step into the climate policy void. They have met surprising early success in Europe and Asia, if not yet America…On June 24, a Hague District Court judge…accepted…[that] [t]he Dutch state owed a constitutional duty as well as a duty of care under the civil tort code to protect its citizens from global warming...The court ordered the Dutch government to reduce emissions 25 percent from 1990 levels by 2020…In another setback for U.S. environmentalists, AEP v. Connecticut (2011) and Native Village of Kivalina v. ExxonMobil (9th Cir. 2012) largely foreclosed the Dutchstyleuse of tort law toredress global warming, by holding that the Clean Air Act displaces the federal common law ofnuisance in suits for injunctive relief (AEP) or damages (Kivalina)…In two federal suits and a growing number of state actions, Julia Olson of the Oregon nonprofit Our Children’s Trust has foregone tort in favor of constitutional and public trust arguments. Filing on behalf of children, Olson claims that climate inaction discriminates against future generations, while violating the due process rights to life, liberty, and property…[Also refers to Kivalina lawsuit (re global warming)]
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