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There you are, Elizabeth, My
god, you are proof that there is

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power in the writing instrument because you
are bringing the stories of twenty one people

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to the forefront of the nation that
does not know about these twenty one people.

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Thank you so much for having me. Absolutely what drew you into this

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storyline, because I mean, you
really are doing something that's powerful. You're

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continuing this, you know, this
movement basically. Yeah. So, the

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federal court case Juliana versus the United
States was filed in twenty fifteen. As

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you said, it's a group of
diverse kids from around the country who are

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facing down the US government in a
lawsuit that they hope will save themselves and

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hopefully the whole planet from the ravages
of climate change. So the case was

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filed in twenty fifteen. In twenty
sixteen, my youngest was in middle school

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and attended one of the very first
hearings of this case. And when I

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first heard about it, I thought, oh, well, you know,

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I'm glad that, you know,
young people are finding another way to have

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their voice heard. But her interest
in the case got me interested and I

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started to follow it and it's been
you know, it's been ongoing for eight

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years. And it's really been a
roller coaster ride of you know, building

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this constitutional case. So basically,
they're arguing that, you know, the

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US Constitution gives us a right to
life, liberty, and property. And

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how can you have life, liberty, and property when you can't breathe from

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wildfire smoke, when you're endangered by
massive hurricanes and floods and droughts and fire.

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And you know, despite the you
know, legal experts who thought this

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case was going nowhere, they keep
winning. They've been to the Ninth Circuit

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Court but appeal several times and have
won. They've been up to the Supreme

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Court twice and the court ruled in
their favor both times. And they were

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set for trial in twenty eighteen when
the rug got pulled out from underneath,

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but they found they tweaked the original
complaint and they're on their way back to

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trial again. So it's the case
that is ongoing, and I think they're

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going to get their trial, and
I think they're going to win. These

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these twenty one people. The age
difference is what shocks me, and what

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I love most about it is is
that so many times people say, oh,

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the younger people don't know, Yes, they do know, this is

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their planet, and I love the
fact that they're standing up for the planet

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because look at what we've got right
now that we're dealing with. You can't

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ignore this anymore. Yeah. So, one of the youngest plaints was eight

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years old when he joined the lawsuit. He lives in Florida, and he

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saw a map that showed that his
childhood home in Florida was going to be

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underwater in his lifetime due to sea
level rise. Right, and he and

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his family have twice been evacuated from
huge hurricanes whipped up by climate change.

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So, you know, these kids
are in a fight for their lives.

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And you know, we've seen young
people take to the streets about climate change.

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We've heard them talk in the media, we've heard them talk to the

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representatives, and this takes it to
a whole other level. I mean,

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they these young people are going to
the courts as another powerful way to speak

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up and asking the courts to protect
their rights to life, liberty, and

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property and ask the federal government to
stop supporting the fossil fuel energy system.

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Wow. I'm from the state of
Montana, so to read the story about

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the girl in Montana just blows me. Away because I mean that's not the

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same state of Montana that I grew
up in, and because it's like what's

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going on. See, that's how
this story is going to affect those who

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are adults and who are going to
are who are also young readers and activators

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as well, because it's affecting everybody
because it represents this land that we walk

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upon. Yeah. So, so
my book, the twenty one is about

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the federal case. So it's twenty
one young people who are suing the federal

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government. There was a really exciting
case called Held the Montana So that case

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was brought by Our Children's Trust,
which is the same organization that's supporting the

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young people in the federal case.
It was started by Julia Olsen. So

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in that Montana case, as you
said, sixteen young people who were injured

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by climate change sued the state of
Montana. The lead plaintiff I think you're

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talking about Ricky Held. I mean, she testified about trying to save her

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family rant from wildfire and coughing and
crying, and you know, basically her

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health and her whole family's livelihood was
endangered. And these kids in the Montana

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case, you know, they went
to trial, and they were in a

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courtroom where they testified and the judge
ruled in their favor. The judge in

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Montana ruled that the kids have a
constitutional right to a stable climate. So,

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you know, I think that Montana
case kind of indicates that, you

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know, the legal tide is really
shifting on climate change. The courts may

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be our last and best hope to
save us all and it's young people who

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are leading the way, which is
really exciting. When you release the book

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the twenty one, you know what's
going to happen. You're gonna have readers

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that are going to be reaching out
to you because they want their voice to

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be heard too or better. Yet, see, the material that we're talking

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about isn't even making it to the
front page of any newspaper or even a

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website, and so we've got to
take it from the sixth page and put

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it back in the conversation. And
they're going to be reaching out to you,

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Elizabeth, because you have the power
of the writing instrument. Yeah.

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Well, the other thing that they
can do is they can go to our

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Children's Trust website. So that's the
nonprofit that's supporting all these young people in

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their legal efforts. They have a
section like a get involved section which has

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lots of ways to take action,
so they can sign you know what letter,

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the Wall of Support for the Young
people. They can tell the Biden

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administration to stop blocking the case.
The case was originally filed against the Obama

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administration, was passed on to the
Trump administration, now the Biden administration,

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And the fact of the matter is
that, you know, they don't have

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to oppose this case. The federal
government could say that, yes, young

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people do have a constitutional right to
a stable climate. So there are things

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that people can do right now to
to support this case and to encourage the

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Biden administration to settle the case and
to get out to get the federal government

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out of the business of supporting the
fossil fuel energy system. Yeah, yeah,

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you know, I have to shake
my head back and forth, because

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it's like, this is the kind
of stuff that we read about in a

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weekly reader that if we didn't do
anything, you know, anything with the

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environment, if we didn't clean it
up, if we didn't take the time,

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then these things would be happening.
And to hear about these fires and

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how you know, I don't even
think about the damage that that the potential

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damage that could happen until your book, because I mean, I'm here in

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the Carolinas where we have the fires, where we have the hurricanes. It

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is affecting us down here, but
people aren't talking about it. And that's

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why the twenty one is one of
those things that will create conversation. Yes,

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I mean, I really hope it
does. I mean, I think

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that we all have a good reason
to take climate change seriously. I mean

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I read recently that you know,
sixty to seventy percent of Americans have been

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hit by climate disasters, and children
born now are going to face two to

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seven more extreme climate events in their
lives than adults. So you know,

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we need to make these changes not
just for ourselves, but for children now

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and for children born in the future. Things are just going to get worse.

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And at the very least, we
need to get our government out of

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the business of, you know,
permitting sauscile fuel development on public lands,

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permitting pipelines across public lands, and
subsidizing fossil fuels, and just doing that

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could have a huge impact. You
know, twenty five percent of US emissions

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come from federal public lands. So
if these kids win that could really put

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a dent in the climate crisis.
Have they ever brought up any of the

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fracking, because I know that fracking
is huge up in Montana right now,

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because I mean, they say that's
not good for the environment as well,

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and that's that's fallen out of the
headlines. Yeah, I mean the case,

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so the federal case and the state
case, they don't rather than kind

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of pointing at one particular project or
one particular fossil fuel kind of fossil fuel

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source, they're really looking at government
behavior. They're looking at government's permitting processes

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that they are allowing these fracking and
other kinds of envinmental projects to go forward

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without taking into account greenhouse gases and
their impacts on kids. See, and

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we once again, I'm going to
say that we need the power of your

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writing because I mean, when they
do this lithium thing that's going to be

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happening in the next ten years,
if we don't stop it now, then

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we're in trouble. And so these
young voices need to be heard because it

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needs to inspire other young voices as
well. Yeah, I think that the

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twenty one You know, people always
say that kids are our future, but

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the twenty one really shows that the
future is now, that young people have

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the power to change everything right now, and they're doing it, and they're

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leading the way, and we need
to listen and we need to support them.

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Where can people go to find out
more about your book, about what

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you're doing. And I know that
you mentioned that the website once before with

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the organization, but I mean,
we've got to start the footsteps right now.

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Yeah. So my website is Elizabeth
Rush, It's our uscch dot com,

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and I'll be having updates about the
case. But I also strongly encourage

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people to go to Our Children's Trust
dot org. You can learn the Montana

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case, there's another case going to
trial in Hawaii, there's the federal case

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and cases being filed as we speak. And they can also go to the

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Get Involved section of Our Children's Trust
to learn about how to support the case

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and to tell the Biden administration to
stop blocking the case and to settle and

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say that yes, government should get
out of the business of supporting the fossil

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fuel energy system. They should stop
using our public lands in a way that

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is actually endangering and sickening young people, and frankly, all of us please

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come back to the show anytime in
the future. Elizabeth. The door is

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always going to be open for you. Thank you so much for having me.

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No, thank you very much for
doing what you're doing. You'd be

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brilliant. Okay, okay, thank
you