My name is Katerina and I am one of the 12 youth plaintiffs in the constitutional climate lawsuit, Layla H. v. Commonwealth of Virginia.
Today, I’m writing to you with exciting news! This morning, Our Children’s Trust attorney, Andrew Welle, presented oral arguments before a panel of judges in the Virginia Court of Appeals advocating for our right to proceed to trial. He argued that my fellow plaintiffs and I should be allowed to testify and present evidence in open court and that a previous ruling by the Circuit Court incorrectly found the Commonwealth of Virginia immune from being sued for violating Virginia citizens’ fundamental rights to life and liberty.
The Commonwealth of Virginia wants to argue that this isn’t an issue for the courts, that if protecting our planet and the people that live on it is important to you, then you should engage with the legislature instead. This is wrong for two reasons:
By doing this, the state attempts to absolve themselves of blame in actively perpetuating the climate crisis. They place the responsibility on citizens for some supposed inaction. While our fellow Virginians march and protest and chain themselves to equipment at the sites of fossil fuel development, the commonwealth continues to permit fossil fuel projects like the Mountain Valley Pipeline that destroy our land, waters, and atmosphere. The state’s responsibility lies beyond negligence—they play an active and continuous role in perpetuating the harms that the plaintiffs in this case–and that you all– experience.
Secondly, youth will disproportionately feel the impacts of climate change, and yet we have limited means of influencing the legislature. Last November was the first year in which I had the opportunity to vote, but it didn’t take 18 years for me or my fellow plaintiffs to feel the adverse effects of climate change. We’ve seen our houses flood, we’ve experienced tick-borne diseases, we’ve had school and activities and health disrupted by increasing heat and by extreme weather. It didn’t take 18 years for us to have to step into the role of “activists” and to defend our own futures. This case, if allowed to go to trial, will be the first time that the state must hear our stories and face the harm that they continue to cause. The court has a duty to protect our constitutional rights– and those rights include assurance of a livable climate. They have the power to require the state to amend their actions– bypassing the unnecessary politicization of the climate crisis and making the state consider serious and immediate steps to eliminate fossil fuels as Virginia’s primary energy source.
