Supreme Court declines to hear landmark Oregon youth climate lawsuit

The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear Juliana v. United States, the Eugene-based youth lawsuit in which 21 young plaintiffs sought to hold the federal government accountable for its role in climate change.

First filed in 2015, Juliana v. United States involved 21 young plaintiffs, six from Eugene, who argued that the federal government’s role in allowing and promoting fossil fuels contributed to climate change and violated young Americans’ Fifth and Ninth Amendment rights.

The major turning point in the years-long legal battle that ultimately never reached trial came in January 2020, when the United States Court of Appeals ruled that trying the case would be an overreach of the judicial branch. Plaintiffs attempted a revised complaint, which the Court of Appeals dismissed in May 2024 for the same reason.

The plaintiffs then appealed to the Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case in an order on Monday, as occurs with most cases appealed to the highest court, bringing an end to the lawsuit.

Our Children’s Trust, the nonprofit that brought the suit, said in a press release that while the dismissal marked the end of Juliana, the case had “sparked a global movement,” saying it “paved the way” for the cases brought forward by them and others, including the lawsuits targeting Montana and Hawaii which Our Children’s Trust described as “significant victories.”

“The impact of Juliana cannot be measured by the finality of this case alone,” plaintiffs’ lawyer Julia Olson said in a press release. “The Juliana plaintiffs started this fight for justice, and others will carry it forward.”

Alan Torres covers local government for the Register-Guard. He can be reached by email at atorres@registerguard.com, on X @alanfryetorres or on Reddit at u/AlfrytRG.