Young residents file climate change lawsuit against Alaska’s LNG project
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In the latest string of youth climate change-related lawsuits, eight young Alaska residents sued the state, seeking to block a major natural gas project. They argue that government policies promoting fossil fuels violate their rights.
The plaintiffs, ages 11 to 22, brought the lawsuit to the Anchorage state court. They alleged that an Alaska law allowing the project’s development infringes on their due process rights and other constitutional protections.
The lawsuit says the project’s development would cause the release of greenhouse gases that harm people’s health and livelihood.
Read more: South Korea’s constitutional court hears climate protection case
Similar lawsuits have earlier been dismissed in Alaska. However, the plaintiffs said the newest suit complies with the earlier court decisions and focuses on a specific project.
“Alaska’s youth are on the front lines of the climate crisis, and their futures depend on a swift transition away from fossil fuels,” Andrew Welle, an attorney at the non-profit law firm Our Children’s Trust, which represents the plaintiffs, said in a statement.
In response, Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor called the lawsuit “misguided” in an email to Reuters. He added that liquefied natural gas development in the state “is subject to the most stringent environmental standards in the world.”
He said he is confident the courts will uphold the law.
Alaska LNG project includes an 800-mile pipeline that will bisect the state, carrying up to 3.3 billion cubic feet of gas per day from the state’s petroleum-rich North Slope to Alaska communities and an export terminal south of Juneau.
The lawsuit by the young plaintiffs asks the court to block the project from proceeding further. It also asks the court to declare that a law mandating its development is rather unconstitutional. They also demand the Alaskan constitution to include a right to a life-sustaining climate system.
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