There you are, Elizabeth, My god, you are proof that there is
power in the writing instrument because you are bringing the stories of twenty one people
to the forefront of the nation that does not know about these twenty one people.
Thank you so much for having me. Absolutely what drew you into this
storyline, because I mean, you really are doing something that's powerful. You're
continuing this, you know, this movement basically. Yeah. So, the
federal court case Juliana versus the United States was filed in twenty fifteen. As
you said, it's a group of diverse kids from around the country who are
facing down the US government in a lawsuit that they hope will save themselves and
hopefully the whole planet from the ravages of climate change. So the case was
filed in twenty fifteen. In twenty sixteen, my youngest was in middle school
and attended one of the very first hearings of this case. And when I
first heard about it, I thought, oh, well, you know,
I'm glad that, you know, young people are finding another way to have
their voice heard. But her interest in the case got me interested and I
started to follow it and it's been you know, it's been ongoing for eight
years. And it's really been a roller coaster ride of you know, building
this constitutional case. So basically, they're arguing that, you know, the
US Constitution gives us a right to life, liberty, and property. And
how can you have life, liberty, and property when you can't breathe from
wildfire smoke, when you're endangered by massive hurricanes and floods and droughts and fire.
And you know, despite the you know, legal experts who thought this
case was going nowhere, they keep winning. They've been to the Ninth Circuit
Court but appeal several times and have won. They've been up to the Supreme
Court twice and the court ruled in their favor both times. And they were
set for trial in twenty eighteen when the rug got pulled out from underneath,
but they found they tweaked the original complaint and they're on their way back to
trial again. So it's the case that is ongoing, and I think they're
going to get their trial, and I think they're going to win. These
these twenty one people. The age difference is what shocks me, and what
I love most about it is is that so many times people say, oh,
the younger people don't know, Yes, they do know, this is
their planet, and I love the fact that they're standing up for the planet
because look at what we've got right now that we're dealing with. You can't
ignore this anymore. Yeah. So, one of the youngest plaints was eight
years old when he joined the lawsuit. He lives in Florida, and he
saw a map that showed that his childhood home in Florida was going to be
underwater in his lifetime due to sea level rise. Right, and he and
his family have twice been evacuated from huge hurricanes whipped up by climate change.
So, you know, these kids are in a fight for their lives.
And you know, we've seen young people take to the streets about climate change.
We've heard them talk in the media, we've heard them talk to the
representatives, and this takes it to a whole other level. I mean,
they these young people are going to the courts as another powerful way to speak
up and asking the courts to protect their rights to life, liberty, and
property and ask the federal government to stop supporting the fossil fuel energy system.
Wow. I'm from the state of Montana, so to read the story about
the girl in Montana just blows me. Away because I mean that's not the
same state of Montana that I grew up in, and because it's like what's
going on. See, that's how this story is going to affect those who
are adults and who are going to are who are also young readers and activators
as well, because it's affecting everybody because it represents this land that we walk
upon. Yeah. So, so my book, the twenty one is about
the federal case. So it's twenty one young people who are suing the federal
government. There was a really exciting case called Held the Montana So that case
was brought by Our Children's Trust, which is the same organization that's supporting the
young people in the federal case. It was started by Julia Olsen. So
in that Montana case, as you said, sixteen young people who were injured
by climate change sued the state of Montana. The lead plaintiff I think you're
talking about Ricky Held. I mean, she testified about trying to save her
family rant from wildfire and coughing and crying, and you know, basically her
health and her whole family's livelihood was endangered. And these kids in the Montana
case, you know, they went to trial, and they were in a
courtroom where they testified and the judge ruled in their favor. The judge in
Montana ruled that the kids have a constitutional right to a stable climate. So,
you know, I think that Montana case kind of indicates that, you
know, the legal tide is really shifting on climate change. The courts may
be our last and best hope to save us all and it's young people who
are leading the way, which is really exciting. When you release the book
the twenty one, you know what's going to happen. You're gonna have readers
that are going to be reaching out to you because they want their voice to
be heard too or better. Yet, see, the material that we're talking
about isn't even making it to the front page of any newspaper or even a
website, and so we've got to take it from the sixth page and put
it back in the conversation. And they're going to be reaching out to you,
Elizabeth, because you have the power of the writing instrument. Yeah.
Well, the other thing that they can do is they can go to our
Children's Trust website. So that's the nonprofit that's supporting all these young people in
their legal efforts. They have a section like a get involved section which has
lots of ways to take action, so they can sign you know what letter,
the Wall of Support for the Young people. They can tell the Biden
administration to stop blocking the case. The case was originally filed against the Obama
administration, was passed on to the Trump administration, now the Biden administration,
And the fact of the matter is that, you know, they don't have
to oppose this case. The federal government could say that, yes, young
people do have a constitutional right to a stable climate. So there are things
that people can do right now to to support this case and to encourage the
Biden administration to settle the case and to get out to get the federal government
out of the business of supporting the fossil fuel energy system. Yeah, yeah,
you know, I have to shake my head back and forth, because
it's like, this is the kind of stuff that we read about in a
weekly reader that if we didn't do anything, you know, anything with the
environment, if we didn't clean it up, if we didn't take the time,
then these things would be happening. And to hear about these fires and
how you know, I don't even think about the damage that that the potential
damage that could happen until your book, because I mean, I'm here in
the Carolinas where we have the fires, where we have the hurricanes. It
is affecting us down here, but people aren't talking about it. And that's
why the twenty one is one of those things that will create conversation. Yes,
I mean, I really hope it does. I mean, I think
that we all have a good reason to take climate change seriously. I mean
I read recently that you know, sixty to seventy percent of Americans have been
hit by climate disasters, and children born now are going to face two to
seven more extreme climate events in their lives than adults. So you know,
we need to make these changes not just for ourselves, but for children now
and for children born in the future. Things are just going to get worse.
And at the very least, we need to get our government out of
the business of, you know, permitting sauscile fuel development on public lands,
permitting pipelines across public lands, and subsidizing fossil fuels, and just doing that
could have a huge impact. You know, twenty five percent of US emissions
come from federal public lands. So if these kids win that could really put
a dent in the climate crisis. Have they ever brought up any of the
fracking, because I know that fracking is huge up in Montana right now,
because I mean, they say that's not good for the environment as well,
and that's that's fallen out of the headlines. Yeah, I mean the case,
so the federal case and the state case, they don't rather than kind
of pointing at one particular project or one particular fossil fuel kind of fossil fuel
source, they're really looking at government behavior. They're looking at government's permitting processes
that they are allowing these fracking and other kinds of envinmental projects to go forward
without taking into account greenhouse gases and their impacts on kids. See, and
we once again, I'm going to say that we need the power of your
writing because I mean, when they do this lithium thing that's going to be
happening in the next ten years, if we don't stop it now, then
we're in trouble. And so these young voices need to be heard because it
needs to inspire other young voices as well. Yeah, I think that the
twenty one You know, people always say that kids are our future, but
the twenty one really shows that the future is now, that young people have
the power to change everything right now, and they're doing it, and they're
leading the way, and we need to listen and we need to support them.
Where can people go to find out more about your book, about what
you're doing. And I know that you mentioned that the website once before with
the organization, but I mean, we've got to start the footsteps right now.
Yeah. So my website is Elizabeth Rush, It's our uscch dot com,
and I'll be having updates about the case. But I also strongly encourage
people to go to Our Children's Trust dot org. You can learn the Montana
case, there's another case going to trial in Hawaii, there's the federal case
and cases being filed as we speak. And they can also go to the
Get Involved section of Our Children's Trust to learn about how to support the case
and to tell the Biden administration to stop blocking the case and to settle and
say that yes, government should get out of the business of supporting the fossil
fuel energy system. They should stop using our public lands in a way that
is actually endangering and sickening young people, and frankly, all of us please
come back to the show anytime in the future. Elizabeth. The door is
always going to be open for you. Thank you so much for having me.
No, thank you very much for doing what you're doing. You'd be
brilliant. Okay, okay, thank you