A US District Judge is refusing to assume a judicial right to supervise the Executive Branch on every little matter of environmental policy. Or, to claim that the Constitution includes a due process right to a “life-sustaining climate system.”
The Clean Air Council and two minors ask me to declare that the United States of America, the President, the Secretaries of Energy and the Interior as well as the Departments themselves, and the Environmental Protection Agency and its Administrator have violated and will violate Plaintiffs’ rights by considering amendments to environmental laws, by “rolling back” environmental regulations, and by making related personnel and budget changes. (Doc. Nos. 1, 16.) Plaintiffs thus effectively ask me to supervise any actions the President and his appointees take that might touch on “the environment.” (Id.) Defendants have moved to dismiss. (Doc. Nos. 18, 31.) Because I have neither the authority nor the inclination to assume control of the Executive Branch, I will grant Defendants’ Motion. (Id.)
The Epoch times adds that,
The lawsuit, dubbed “Clean Air Council v. the United States,” claimed President Donald Trump’s rollbacks on restrictive climate policies violated the public trust. The plaintiffs sought to block anything that would violate “the constitutional rights to a life-sustaining climate system.”
Plaintiffs got their environmental panties in a bunch over Mr. Trump’s withdrawal from the useless Paris Climate scheme and the awful, terrible Clean Power Plan. The even enlisted the aid of two minors, aged 7 and 11 when the suit was filed, to give it that “for the children” vibe. The Court elected not to play.
The judge said the plaintiffs lacked standing to sue Trump and the other groups they sought after including the Department of Energy, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.
“Plaintiffs’ disagreement with defendants is a policy debate best left to the political process,…”
Refreshing.
