{"id":28383,"date":"2012-02-23T08:00:26","date_gmt":"2012-02-23T13:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetsave.com\/?p=28383"},"modified":"2012-02-23T08:00:26","modified_gmt":"2012-02-23T13:00:26","slug":"native-american-youth-sues-governor-janice-brewer-over-failure-to-combat-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/articles\/native-american-youth-sues-governor-janice-brewer-over-failure-to-combat-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Native American Youth Sues Governor Janice Brewer Over Failure to Combat Climate Change"},"content":{"rendered":"

 
\n\"native<\/a><\/p>\n

Anyone who has looked into the matter honestly knows that global warming and climate change severely threaten young generations. As reported a few times previously, some members of that young generation are pushing for action now, through legal action<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One such story is of an 11-year old Navajo named\u00a0Jaime Lynn Butler. On May 4, 2011, the Western Environmental Law Center, on behalf of Jaime and her mother, Jamescita Pehslakai, “filed a lawsuit<\/a>\u00a0against Arizona Governor Janice Brewer and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality to compel the State to develop a comprehensive plan to prevent global warming by reducing CO2<\/sub>\u00a0emissions,” the Western Environmental Law Center<\/a> writes.<\/p>\n

“The plaintiffs based their lawsuit on the Public Trust Doctrine, which requires sovereign governments to manage and protect vital natural resources for the common benefit of their citizens. By evoking this doctrine, they are not asking for monetary or punitive damages. Instead, they are petitioning the court to require the state of Arizona to develop a climate recovery plan that will protect Arizona\u2019s resources for future generations. Former general counsel at the Environmental Protection Agency, Roger Martella calls the lawsuit a remarkable legal action and ‘comprehensive strategy\u2026to encourage this public action to ultimately reduce greenhouse gases.'”<\/p>\n

As indicated above, this is not a stand-alone effort. Such legal actions are taking place in 49 states and the District of Columbia as part of\u00a0the international iMatter<\/a>\u00a0Trust<\/em>\u00a0Campaign. A federal lawsuit<\/a> has also been launched.<\/p>\n

In Jaime’s case (as in many of these people’s case, I imagine), it was the outspoken warnings of some of the world’s leading climate scientists that drove her to action.<\/p>\n

As world-leading NASA climate scientist\u00a0Dr. James Hansen<\/a> says, \u201cthe science is clear \u2013 we must rapidly reduce fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions if we are to have a chance of protecting Earth\u2019s natural systems for these young people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe earth is part of us, like our own body\u2026so shouldn\u2019t we do everything we can to save ourselves, our Mother Earth?\u201d says plaintiff Jaime Lynn Butler.<\/p>\n

You can see more on why Jaime and others have felt compelled to take this action in the video below, produced by Witness<\/a>, “an international non-profit that uses the power of video to expose human rights abuses.”<\/p>\n