NASA
Today, Crag’s clients, two courageous young women from Eugene, announced their decision to Appeal their Atmospheric Trust case to Oregon’s Court of Appeals. At the same time, the girls’ announced that they are asking the Court of Appeals to send the case straight up to Oregon’s Supreme Court.
The lawsuit alleges that Oregon’s Governor and State officials are violating the Public Trust Doctrine by failing to prevent the impairment of Oregon’s water, shorelines, wildlife, and atmosphere from climate change. The Public Trust Doctrine requires the government to prevent the impairment of trust resources, such as water, and to protect these resources for all the citizens of the State.
The announcement of the decision to appeal the Oregon case comes on the heels of a ruling by Texas Judge Gisela Triana in July that found that the atmosphere is a trust resource that must be protected under the Public Trust Doctrine. Thereafter, Judge Sarah Singleton in New Mexico allowed the Atmospheric Trust case against New Mexico to proceed finding that “Plaintiffs have made a substantive allegation that . . . the state is ignoring the atmosphere with respect to greenhouse gas emissions.” To learn more about the New Mexico case and Atmospheric Trust Litigation in general, listen to the radio interview of New Mexico plaintiff Akilah Sanders-Reed and Crag Staff Attorney Tanya Sanerib on the Progressive Radio Network.
Check back to Crag’s website regularly for updates about the appeal in the Oregon case, and for your opportunity to watch the Oregon Trust film – staring Oregon plaintiff Kelsey Juliana. In the meantime, please view and share with your friends Ashley Funk’s story as documented in the Trust Pennsylvania film. Ashley describes growing up in a coal town in southwestern Pennsylvania and her commitment to finding alternative energy sources to our existing fossil fuel based system.
Read the Appeal Press Release.
Read the Brief.