Global Warming and the Public Trust-The Climate Hawk’s Companion Podcast

Recently, a court in Boston heard a legal suit demanding that the state of Massachusetts set enforceable emission limits under the Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA). The suit was brought by some brave teens that want to build a better future. You can read a great blog from one of them here.
Besides an argument that the GWSA (the statute itself) should be interpreted to require a legal limit on carbon dioxide emissions, one of the important legal bases for the lawsuit is the Public Trust Doctrine.  Use of this ancient legal concept is being advanced by the group Our Children's Trust in legal battles across the country. The central idea of the effort is described in a new book entitled Nature's Trust, which has a nice description in this article.  (You can see the author herself in this Bill Moyer’s segment.)
One of the big distinctions of the Massachusetts case is that the State Constitution already has Article 97 which says, in part “The people shall have the right to clean air and water, freedom from excessive and unnecessary noise, and the natural, scenic, historic, and esthetic qualities of their environment; and the protection of the people in their right to the conservation, development and utilization of the agricultural, mineral, forest, water, air and other natural resources is hereby declared to be a public purpose.” Pretty cool.

Check out live  links at our blog, https://massclimateaction.wordpress.com/2015/03/23/global-warming-and-the-public-trust-the-climate-hawks-companion-podcast/

Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist that the United States put a price on carbon.

Thanks for listening.
…Ted McIntyre