PORTLAND, Ore. (CNN) – The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Portland, Oregon is hearing the youth climate lawsuit Juliana versus the United States.
A group of young people are suing the Trump administration over the state of the climate, which they say is being handled so negligently it violates their Constitutional rights.
On Tuesday, the feds tried to stop the case from going to trial once again.
Government lawyers argued that the case should be thrown out because it is a “direct attack on the separation of powers” among the three branches of the federal government.
The lawsuit claims the plaintiff’s Constitutional rights to life, liberty and property are being violated by a U.S. government that knowingly promotes the extraction and burning of fossil fuels.
They also say they have a right to a safe atmosphere, and that they are being discriminated against as young people who will bear outsize consequences of the climate emergency.
A decision on whether the case will go forward to trial is expected in the coming weeks or months.
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