Dear Friends and Supporters of Our Children’s Trust,
In these unsettling times, I want to bring you some grounding news that our work representing youth in groundbreaking climate change litigation is moving full steam ahead. Last Friday, we filed a new constitutional climate lawsuit in Montana on behalf of sixteen young people between the ages of 2 and 18. These courageous young plaintiffs are suing the State of Montana for supporting a fossil fuel-driven energy system, which is contributing to the climate crisis, and violating their constitutional rights to a clean and healthful environment. These children are going to court to protect their safety, health, happiness, individual dignity and equal protection of the law, all fundamental rights guaranteed to them by the Montana Constitution. We are grateful for our local Montana legal partners at the Western Environmental Law Center and McGarvey Law who helped make this case possible.
Last week, we also worked with partners around the country to support the filing of 10 amicus curiae briefs with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of 24 members of the U.S. Congress, 2 former Surgeons General, prominent experts in the fields of constitutional law, climate change, and public health, and several leading women’s, children’s, civil rights, environmental, and human rights organizations, all in support of Juliana v. United States. These amicus or “friend of the court” briefs urge the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear the 21 youth plaintiffs’ case en banc (full court) following the sharply divided ruling in January. Next week the government must respond to these pleas for a rehearing.
We are fortunate at Our Children’s Trust to be able to continue our work without coming together physically as a team, and thereby support our communities’ efforts to flatten the curve. And we are painfully aware that not everyone is as fortunate with remote work. Like many of you, we live in states where much of society has come to a halt, people have lost jobs, our children are home from school indefinitely, and the only outing is to the grocery store, or for a walk . . . alone. Like you, we have friends and family who are medical workers on the frontlines of keeping people healthy and working to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
We may be practicing social distancing but we will remain united in social solidarity, and will help those most vulnerable to and impacted by this crisis however we can. There are many ways we can each take action to assist others, including connecting with our neighbors to coordinate grocery runs, checking in more frequently with our friends and family, and making donations to groups who are providing much needed support to our communities (such as national social service organizations and mutual aid networks). Today, I am donating to one such organization, No Kid Hungry, who are working to ensure that kids continue to have access to food during this period of school closures. There are so many needs though so, if you are in a position to give, I encourage you to consider contributing today to organizations and mutual aid networks who are working hard during this crisis to support those most impacted.
As human civilization slows its pace to protect as many people as we can from this growing health pandemic, we can see what is possible when we all come together to confront a global crisis, and we can see where we have gaps in protecting the most vulnerable among us.
We see where local and global work can meet, and we see where systems are not built to withstand a public health crisis.
We see loss, discrimination, and suffering.
We see leaders rise up to find solutions.
We see our resiliency and our creativity.
There is much to learn in this moment, amidst the struggle, which will inform our work ahead to win against the climate crisis.
We are here, committed to flattening the COVID-19 curve, and the CO2 curve. We remain dedicated to serving, supporting, and representing these brave young people to the best of our abilities while we care for our families and our communities. We are so grateful to you, our community of support, for being on this journey with us and with them.
Thank you, from all of us. Our thoughts are with you.
Take care and stay well,
Julia Olson
Executive Director and Chief Legal Counsel
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