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JULIANA V. UNITED STATES:
DEBATING THE FUNDAMENTALS OF THE
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT TO A SUSTAINABLE
ENVIRONMENT
APRIL 13, 2018
TRANSCRIPT*
ERIN RYAN: Welcome, everyone, to the inaugural FSU Law Review
Rehearing! I'm Erin Ryan, a professor here at the Florida State Uni-
versity College of Law, and I am delighted to be hosting the first of this
annual colloquium series. The Rehearing is designed to bring together
a small group of scholars with big ideas to discuss a critical case of the
day. After our conversation, we will publish both the audio recording
and a transcript of the discussion as part of FSU Law Review's online
journal.
This year, we've chosen a case that has been generating an unusual
amount of attention even among those who don't normally follow liti-
gation moving through the lower courts. It's the landmark federal cli-
mate lawsuit, Juliana v. United States.1 The case is part of a series of
legal actions brought by youth plaintiffs around the country (and the
world) challenging government failures to regulate to prevent climate
change.2 Bill McKibben, the internationally renowned environmental-
ist, has called it the most important lawsuit on the planet right now.3
To set the stage for our discussion, I also want to share a statement by
plaintiff Kelsey Juliana, who was a teenager when the case was ini-
tially filed in 2015. Back then, here's what she told us about the moti-
vation behind the case:
Our nation's top climate scientists . . . have found that the present
[carbon dioxide] level is already in the danger zone and leading to
devastating disruptions of planetary systems. The current practices
and policies of our federal government include sustained exploita-
tion and consumption of fossil fuels. We brought this case because
* NOTE: Portions of this text have been edited from the original audio transcript for
clarity and context.
1 217 F. Supp. 3d 1224 (D. Or. 2016).
2 Indeed, the day after this discussion, a group of eight youths filed a similar lawsuit
in a Florida state court against Governor Rick Scott. See Reynolds v. Florida, No. 37 2018
CA 000819 (Fla. Cir. Ct., Apr. 16, 2018).
3 Landmark U.S. Federal Climate Lawsuit: Details of Proceedings, OUR CHILDREN'S
TRUST, https://www.ourchildrenstrust.org/federal-proceedings/ [https://perma.cc/UGZ2-
VPUN].](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/fsuon46&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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