Seven Utah youth have already been thrown out of court once for trying to change Utah’s energy policy.
Utah Supreme Court justices on Wednesday asked their lawyer what would change if that dismissal was reversed and they got to have their day in court.
The youth are challenging “state energy policies that require Utah’s government to actively promote and maximize fossil fuel development,” attorney Andrew Welle responded, “despite the resulting hazardous air quality and increasingly dangerous climate conditions which these youth cannot escape.”
Declaring Utah’s mandate to encourage fossil fuel production unconstitutional would require state agencies to pivot to better support other energy sources, he reasoned, which would lead to a decrease in harmful emissions.
”The right to life is clearly implicated here,” said Welle, with Our Children’s Trust, a nonprofit law firm representing the youth. “We’re talking about government policies that are taking years off the lives of Utah’s children.”
(Robin Loznak | Pool) Attorney Andrew Welle, left, of the nonprofit law firm Our Children's Trust, speaks during a hearing in the Utah Supreme Court on appeal of dismissal from the lower court on Wednesday in Salt Lake City in the Natalie R v. State of Utah, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024.
The group of young people sued the state in March 2022, arguing that Utah’s energy policies worsen air quality, endanger the climate and jeopardize their well-being — a violation of their constitutional right to life and health.
The burning of fossil fuels — like oil, gas and coal — produces emissions that warm the planet and pollutants that can lead to cardiovascular issues and respiratory diseases.
In November 2022, 3rd District Judge Robert Faust dismissed the youth’s case, questioning whether the litigation would lead to changes that would affect the youths’ injuries, even if it was successful. They had not shown how the ruling they sought “will have any effect on carbon emissions in Utah,” he wrote.
The judge also supported the state’s arguments that the case raised political questions that should be settled through legislative and executive channels of state government.
“Striking down the legislature’s carefully crafted fossil fuel policies would do violence to our constitutional system and violate the separation of powers,” Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey B. Teichert wrote in arguments before Faust.
The youths appealed, and in March 2023, the Utah Supreme Court agreed to decide if the climate case should proceed.
The high court decided to hear the appeal itself, rather than sending it to the Utah Court of Appeals, “signaling the court’s recognition of the case’s constitutional significance,” in the view of Our Children’s Trust.
During Wednesday’s oral arguments, Assistant Solicitor General Erin Middleton argued on Utah’s behalf that the youths’ complaints were too general and could not be resolved through the courts.
She added that oil, natural gas and coal production are necessary for the state to provide affordable and reliable energy for Utahns.
After the arguments, Welle said he was pleased with how the hearing went, adding that the justice asked engaging questions “that indicate they are taking these claims and these issues seriously.”
Welle explained that if the youth win their appeal and prevail on the merits of their case, Utah’s fossil fuel production wouldn’t end immediately. But the Beehive State’s energy policy would need to shift away from emission-heavy sources if the courts find current policies unconstitutional, he said.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Emi Salmongarbett, one of seven youth from across Utah with representatives from nonprofit Our Children's Trust, which filed a climate lawsuit on the youth's behalf against the state, during a news conference at Washington Square Park in Salt Lake City following oral arguments before the Utah Supreme Court on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024.
“This is our opportunity to change these disastrous energy policies,” said Dallin Rima, one of the plaintiffs, “to require the state to consider our constitutional right to life when they’re making their decisions on their permitting.”
Similar challenges filed in other states have been dismissed, including in Oregon and Washington state. Yet the young plaintiffs’ argument also has seen success.
Last year, a judge sided with a group of Montana youth, also represented by Our Children’s Trust, in a landmark ruling that the state violated its constitution’s commitment “to maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment” by prioritizing fossil fuel development.
The decision requires Montana state agencies and regulators to consider the effects of planet-warming emissions when issuing permits.
Utah produces almost one out of every 100 barrels of crude oil produced in the United States, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The state also accounts for 1.2% of the country’s coal production and 1% of the nation’s natural gas output.