A coalition of young people is suing the Trump administration, charging that its executive-order-powered embrace of oil, gas and coal violates the Constitution by putting their health at risk.
The lawsuit filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana alleges that a trio of President Donald Trump’s energy-related executive orders that declare a “national energy emergency” and direct agencies to “unleash American energy” will worsen climate change and consequently violates the youths’ Fifth Amendment right to life and liberty.
The lawsuit, Lighthiser v. Trump, cites the administration’s efforts to ramp up oil, gas and coal production across federal lands; block clean energy; suppress climate science research; and disregard laws passed by Congress aimed at preventing pollution and curbing climate change.
“President Trump’s executive orders falsely claim an energy emergency, while the true emergency is that fossil fuel pollution is destroying the foundation of plaintiffs’ lives,” the lawsuit charges.
