Does the public trust doctrine that protects air, water, and endangered species apply to climate? We’re going to find out. by Mary DeMocker 92 ...Nature’s Trust spells out a simple enough concept: Citizens have a right to live and flourish. Therefore, a government elected by the people has a duty to protect the natural systems required for their survival; namely forests, wildlife, soil, water, and air (or atmosphere). If the executive and legislative branches both fail in that duty of protection, the resulting violation of citizens’ constitutional rights requires the third branch, the judicial, to intervene. “...Since the beginning of this nation,” [Mary] Wood explains, “courts have declared that government is a trustee of the natural resources we all depend on. In a trust, certain assets are managed by one party for the benefit of another. The beneficiaries of this public trust are the present and future generations of citizens. No politician stands above the public trust. As a constitutional premise embodying the inalienable rights of the people, government quite literally cannot rid itself of the trust obligation.” In other words, in applying the public trust concept to the climate crisis, Wood has devised nothing less than a brilliant end run around any US president, governor, senator, agency, committee, or politically deadlocked Congress.... Read more at oregonquarterly/natural-law Mary DeMocker ’92 teaches the harp and writes about climates of all sorts and is cofounder of the climate recovery group 350 Eugene. For more of her work, visit marydemocker
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 08:09:13 +0000
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