As the World Burns

August 1, 2020
The story of the Juliana v. United States case regarding climate change. In 2015, three years before Greta Thunberg became a household name, 21 young plaintiffs filed a lawsuit again the U.S. government demanding the "constitutional right to a stable climate. Its charge is that the government's actions to cause climate change violate their civil rights to life, liberty, and property. Not only that, but also that the government has known about the risks of climate change for decades and persisted in helping to cause it anyway, failing to implement its own plans to regulate greenhouse gases while subsidizing, authorizing, and permitting a fossil fuel energy system that worsens global warm-ing every day." Environmental journalist van der Voo spent more than a year researching and interviewing these young adults, many of whom are too young to vote, getting the behind-the-scenes moments that explain what they hope to achieve and why they continue to fight despite facing adversity at almost every turn. In this well-paced, conversational narrative, the author shares the youths' small triumphs and their vast disappointments as the case progressed toward the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and a potential ruling. Throughout, van der Voo includes examples of the variety of issues that drove the diligent work of the plaintiffs and their legal team--e.g., the extreme heat and drought that led to vast forest fires such as the one that destroyed Paradise, California, or the rising sea levels that are affecting residents of the Marshall Islands. For those eager to learn the backstory of the case, the author delivers a solid synopsis, and she also includes enough meaningful human-interest stories to keep the pages turning even when the outcome of the situation is already known. A comprehensive look at the motivating factors that caused young adults to sue the government for a better future.

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September 11, 2020

Journalist Van Der Voo introduces readers to young environmental activists who filed the 2015 lawsuit Juliana vs. United States, hoping it would force the country to address climate change. The plaintiffs at that time ranged from eight to 19 years old. The lawsuit, using public trust doctrine, charges that the federal government has infringed upon the right of the plaintiffs to a future livable planet through its support of industries that lead to greenhouse gas emissions. A judge in Oregon declined to dismiss the case, but the Ninth Circuit Court later dismissed it. The attorneys for the plaintiffs filed an appeal, so while the young people profiled in this book are growing up, the case drags on. The author takes readers inside the lives of some of the young activists to show how climate change is already affecting them through phenomena such as floods in Louisiana, drought on Native American lands, and wildfires in California. The narrative follows the legal case to the present day, when it was dismissed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in early 2020. The nonprofit Our Children's Trust is representing their case pro bono with help from climatologist James Hansen; their latest appeal is still pending. VERDICT Recommended for those interested in environmental justice and youth advocacy.--Caren Nichter, Univ. of Tennessee at Martin

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