Dear John,


Today, eight young people from across the state of Alaska filed their constitutional climate lawsuit, Sagoonick v. State of Alaska II, against the State of Alaska, the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC), and AGDC president Frank Richards.


The youth plaintiffs filed their case to protect their rights to a safe, healthy climate and stop the Alaska LNG Project. The LNG project is a massive fossil fuel megaproject that would roughly triple Alaska greenhouse gas emissions for decades to come.   


The eight young people, many of whom are Alaska Natives, are on the frontlines of the climate crisis, already experiencing serious harms to their health, safety, and access to the natural resources they depend on, including for subsistence and their cultural traditions.  

Named plaintiff Summer

Much of Alaska is warming four times faster than the global average, causing massive wildlife population declines, melting sea ice, permafrost, and glaciers, altering precipitation patterns, increasing severe storms, and leading to more intense wildfires and ocean acidification. The youth plaintiffs are already experiencing flooding, land subsidence, and accelerating erosion that threatens their homes and communities. 


Alaska’s constitution does not allow the state government to prioritize fossil fuels above the health, safety, cultures, and future of Alaska’s youth. 


The youth are asserting the state’s policy and actions to support the Alaska LNG project violate their rights under Alaska’s Constitution, including their right to a climate system that sustains human life, and equal access to the public trust resources their lives, health, and cultural traditions depend on. 


Join us in celebration and help support these brave young climate leaders by spreading the word with our social media toolkit here.  


Onward!

The Team at Our Children’s Trust