Genesis B v EPA is the latest in a series of youth-led constitutional climate cases brought by non-profit law firm Our Children’s Trust

Dharna Noor
Mon 11 Dec 2023 16.39 EST

Eighteen California children are suing the US Environmental Protection Agency over its role in the climate crisis.

In a lawsuit filed on Sunday, plaintiffs between the ages of eight and 17 allege the federal body “intentionally” allows dangerous levels of planet-heating emissions from vehicles, power plants, fossil fuel wells and other pollution sources, despite knowledge that doing so endangers children’s health and welfare.

“We are running from wildfires, being displaced by floods, panicking in hot classrooms during another heatwave. We feel a constant worry about the future, and all around us no one is moving fast enough,” Noah, a 15-year-old plaintiff, said in a statement. (The legal filings and statements omit minors’ last names.) “The constitution guarantees every American the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness including and especially children.”

The suit, Genesis B v EPA, is the latest in a series of youth-led constitutional climate cases brought by the non-profit law firm Our Children’s Trust. In August, the firm notched a landmark win in Montana, when a judge ruled in favor of plaintiffs who alleged the state’s pro-fossil fuel policies violated their right to a clean and healthful environment, as laid out in the state’s constitution.

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