By Clark Mindock
(Reuters) – A judge in Hawaii has rejected a bid by the state’s transportation department to dismiss a lawsuit filed on behalf of 14 young people who claim it is violating the state constitution by failing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Judge Jeffrey Crabtree in Honolulu ruled on Thursday the youth plaintiffs could pursue their claims. He said the Hawaii Department of Transportation is shirking its duty to protect the environment by promoting and funding highway projects that lead to more fuel consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions.
Crabtree rejected the state’s argument the plaintiffs had no tangible injuries on which to base their case since they claimed climate change effects are “already baked in.”
“Transportation emissions are increasing and will increase at the rate we are going,” Crabtree said. “In other words, the alleged harms are not hypothetical or only in the future.”
Hawaii Deputy Attorney General Lauren Chun said Thursday the state “stands behind its record as a national leader in addressing climate change” and will continue to work towards meeting its climate goals.
The case will move forward to trial in September, only the second youth-led climate case in U.S. history to do so, according to Our Children’s Trust, which is representing the plaintiffs along with Earthjustice.
“The ruling makes it clear that the state government will be held accountable to comply with its own commitments to address the climate crisis,” Andrea Rodgers, an attorney with Our Children’s Trust said in a statement.
The young plaintiffs were between the ages of nine and 18 when they filed the lawsuit in June, claiming the department is violating a provision of the state’s constitution that guarantees a right to a clean and healthful environment.
They said investments in infrastructure like highways run counter to state goals to reduce emissions to zero by 2045.
The lawsuit asked the court for a declaration that the Department of Transportation is violating their constitutional rights, as well as a court order telling the department to take unspecified but “concrete action steps” to reduce emissions and appointment of a special master to oversee those changes.
Youth plaintiffs are set to go to trial in a similar case in Montana this June.
The Hawaii case is Navahine F., a minor, etc., et al., v. Department of Transportation, State of Hawai‘i, et al, First Circuit Court of the State of Hawai‘i, No. 1CCV-22-0000631.
For Navahine F. et al: Isaac Moriwake and Leinā‘ala L. Ley of Earthjustice; Andrea Rodgers and Kimberly Willis of Our Children’s Trust
For Hawaii and the Department of Transportation: Deputy Attorney General Lauren Chun and Charlene Shimada, Bryan Killian, Douglas Hastings, R. Raymond Rothman and Megan Suehiro of Morgan Lewis & Bockius.
(Reporting by Clark Mindock)
