SALT LAKE CITY — A group of teenagers are suing the state over policies they allege encourage fossil fuel development to the harm of their health and safety.
"Living and growing up in Salt Lake City’s air quality is taking years off my life and damaging my lungs," said Lydia May, 17, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
The teens have filed a lawsuit arguing the policies enacted by the state exacerbate climate change and are in violation of their rights under Utah's constitution.
"State energy policy is incredibly fossil fuel promoting. They’re directly promoting fossil fuel development," said Dallin Rima, 18, another of the plaintiffs.
On Friday, their lawsuit went before a judge. The Utah Attorney General's Office sought to have the litigation thrown out.
"The constitution does not protect a right to a clean environment," assistant Utah Attorney General Jeffrey Teichert told the judge.
He argued that the teens should be suing individual polluters, not the government and it was improper for a court to handle the case. Instead, he said the teens should take up their complaints with the Utah State Legislature, who must balance a number of interests.
"In a time when it is thought that increasing prices of fuel are fueling inflation, the economy there is a consideration for any government body addressing these issues and the Utah constitution simply doesn’t give you guidance," he told the judge. "Unless you believe any statute that has implications for people’s life or health is subject to substantive due process review."
But the plaintiffs' attorney, Andrew Welle, argued the teens have the right to seek relief through the courts.
"Air pollution and greenhouse gas levels in Utah are already at critically dangerous levels that are taking years off the lives of these youth and substantially endangering their health and safety," Welle told the judge. "And continuing fossil fuel development only increases the dangers. In the emergency in which these youth find themselves, any reduction in emissions reduces the worsening of their injuries and it reduces the increasing risk of future harm to them."
Judge Robert Faust took the case under advisement. He promised a ruling soon on whether the lawsuit would go forward toward a trial.
Outside the courtroom, the plaintiffs said they believe the lawsuit deserves to be fully heard.
"As a youth, someone who is going to have to live through 60 more years on this planet, who’s going to have to breathe that air for my whole life, it’s going to have to be addressed," Rima said of climate policy in Utah.
