In the same week large swaths of the US were under extreme heat warnings, Joe Biden’s Justice Department filed its most recent motion to dismiss a landmark climate case by arguing that nothing in the Constitution guarantees the right to a secure climate.

In the same week large swaths of the US were under extreme heat warnings, Joe Biden’s Justice Department filed its most recent motion to dismiss a landmark climate case by arguing that nothing in the Constitution guarantees the right to a secure climate.

  • zib
    17•1 year ago

    Correct, the constitution does not literally call out the right to a stable climate, however it’s kinda hard to make good on any other constitutional right if populations being culled by extreme heat becomes the new worldwide norm.

    • @andysteakfriesEnglish
      12•1 year ago

      Yes, we should take aggressive action to eliminate every trace of fossil fuels currently in use.

      But also, bringing legal action to enforce a law that pretty plainly doesn’t exist doesn’t do anyone any good.

    • Aesthesiaphilia
      2•1 year ago

      Cool, but don’t try to make the legal argument that the Constitution says so and so when it doesn’t. It’s a giant waste of time and money.

    • @AA5BEnglish
      1•1 year ago

      it’s kinda hard to make good on any other constitutional right if populations being culled by extreme heat

      That also does not exist in the US (yet), nor will it even when we pass the 1.5°C target, nor when we keep going beyond it and pass major climate tipping points causing irreversible changes. This kind of hyperbole doesn’t help, when we have a real, serious issue

    • SokathHisEyesOpenEnglish
      1•1 year ago

      Yeah the declaration of independence mentioned a few things like the rights of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, all of which are impossible if the oceans are boiling. These politicians have failed in their duties.

      • @[email protected]English
        3•1 year ago

        That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government