Chernaik v. Brown

On remand, an Oregon Circuit Court ruled that the State’s public trust doctrine applied only to submerged and submersible lands, and not to other resources such as the atmosphere, waters of the State, beaches and shorelands, and fish and wildlife. With respect to the atmosphere, the court questioned “whether the atmosphere is a ‘natural resource’ at all.” The court further declared that the State did not have a fiduciary obligation to protect submerged and submersible lands from the impacts of climate change, concluding that the public trust doctrine merely restricted the ability of the State to entirely alienate such lands. The court also said that granting the relief sought by plaintiffs could violate the separation of powers doctrine, and that the court would not have had sufficient information before it to make a determination as to appropriate concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The plaintiffs <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/571d109b04426270152febe0/t/5760c5781d07c0ae9834fcfb/1465959801051/2015.05.11OregonDecisionPR.pdf">indicated</a> that they would appeal the decision. An Oregon appellate court previously <a href="https://climatecasechart.com/files/case-documents/2014/20140611_docket-A151856_opinion.pdf">reversed</a> the circuit court’s determination that it did not have jurisdiction over the lawsuit.

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