Youth Sue State to Overturn Laws Affecting Climate Crisis
Environmental groups representing Wisconsin youth aged 8-17 filed lawsuit.
The Oak Creek Power Plant and Elm Road Generating Station, in Oak Creek, Wis., near Milwaukee, are coal-fired electrical power stations. Coburn Dukehart/Wisconsin Watch
A group of 15 young people in Wisconsin is challenging state laws that it says worsen the climate crisis and violate their constitutional rights following a landmark climate ruling in Montana.
Attorneys for environmental groups Our Children’s Trust and Midwest Environmental Advocates, or MEA, filed the lawsuit Friday against the Public Service Commission and Wisconsin Legislature in Dane County Circuit Court. Groups brought the challenge on behalf of youth ranging in ages from 8 to 17.
Youth say their health has been affected by flooding, poor air quality due to wildfire smoke, extreme heat and Lyme disease that have grown more common due to climate change.
Onalaska resident and lead plaintiff Kaarina Dunn, 17, said her family was forced to move from their Vernon County home due in part to flooding driven by climate change. An avid tennis player, she said she’s also adjusted her schedule to practice in the early morning hours to avoid extreme daytime heat. “I have suffered the effects of climate change from a young age, and it has had a terrible effect on my life. But that doesn’t mean that I’m just going to continue to let them negatively affect me,” Dunn said. “I’m going to stand up for myself, and I’m going to do what’s right by having this lawsuit and leading my fellow plaintiffs in this way.”
A spokesperson for the Public Service Commission said the agency can’t comment on pending litigation.
Tony Wilkin Gibart, MEA’s executive director, said state laws that bar utility regulators from considering pollution from new fossil fuel plants and cap renewable energy requirements for utilities violate their constitutional rights.
“We believe that (their constitutional rights are) being violated by the state continuing to pump greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere and drive the climate crisis in ways that are harming our clients and profoundly disrupting their ways of life and jeopardizing the stability of their future,” Wilkin Gibart said.
Coal and natural gas make up 75 percent of electricity generated in Wisconsin while renewable resources make up around 17 percent. The state’s latest energy assessment said wind and solar resources are on track to provide 26 percent of the state’s electricity by 2030. Last year, a state report found Wisconsin must do more to meet Gov. Tony Evers’ goal to reach 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2050.
At the same time, increasing energy demand, due in part to data centers, is prompting new fossil fuel generation, and utilities have delayed closure of their coal plants. Even so, groups argue state policies prioritize renewable energy over fossil fuels, adding wind and solar are technically and economically feasible to meet growing demand.
The new lawsuit follows a landmark ruling by the Montana Supreme Court in December, in which 16 young people successfully challenged that state’s pro-fossil fuel policies. Attorneys with Our Children’s Trust represented youth in that case. Nate Bellinger, a senior staff attorney with the group, said he expects utility regulators will not continue to approve fossil fuel projects if the court rules in their favor.“The bottom line is we expect (once) these laws are off the books, it’ll really push Wisconsin firmly in the direction towards complete decarbonization of its electricity sector,” Bellinger said.
Climate scientists have found Wisconsin has grown warmer and wetter since 1950, with temperatures increasing about 3 degrees Fahrenheit and precipitation up 17 percent. Wisconsin has seen extreme events in nearly every corner of the state, and winters have warmed more rapidly than summers.
Young people filing the suit say global warming has affected their enjoyment of activities such as skiing, and farm families say their livelihoods have been affected by warmer winters, increased rainfall and drought.
Indigenous youth in Milwaukee say climate change threatens their cultural heritage as changing lake levels and warming waters harm wild rice beds and cold-water fish such as walleye.
Wilkin Gibart said the state has already seen the effects of climate change, highlighting recent flooding in southeastern Wisconsin and a near record number of days with wildfire smoke. At the same time, he noted utility regulators have approved new fossil fuel plants in the city of Oak Creek and town of Paris that are part of $2 billion in new natural gas infrastructure.
“As they’re doing this, they are saying to the public that state law prevents them from considering climate change, from considering the wildfire smoke, the flooding, the loss of fisheries that are affecting all of us,” he said.
The groups are asking a judge to strike down state laws that limit consideration of climate effects and cap renewable energy requirements when regulators determine whether to approve or deny new projects. They want a judge to rule the laws violate their clients’ constitutional rights and find that the Public Service Commission and Legislature have a duty to protect access and enjoyment of navigable waters under the state’s Public Trust Doctrine.
The lawsuit is likely to face opposition from the Republican-controlled Legislature and its top leaders, who did not immediately return requests for comment Friday. Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, has previously questioned whether climate change is real, saying it “probably” is.
Wisconsin Democrats have repeatedly introduced a package of bills to combat climate change and shift to clean energy. Vos has said such efforts are only “pandering to the very liberal base.” Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, has said such legislation would only “triple down on the ‘Green New Deal’ disaster” amid high gas prices and fears of an energy shortage when the bills were introduced.
Republican lawmakers have also put forward bills to prevent state and local governments from passing mandates that aim to shift away from gas-powered vehicles or stoves. GOP legislators said they were trying to protect consumer choice. Gov. Tony Evers vetoed the bills because he said they would limit the state’s ability to combat climate change.
Wisconsin youth sue state to strike down laws they say worsen climate crisis, violate rights was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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