In a January letter requesting that the Supreme Court retain the appeal, the plaintiffs stated that the issues presented on appeal included: (1) Is deciding the constitutionality of statutes governing fossil fuel development a nonjusticiable political question?; (2) Can there be no possible set of facts under which fossil fuel policies can conceivably infringe the rights to life, liberty, and property under Utah’s due process clause?; and (3) Can a declaration of the unconstitutionality of a statute, without further relief, provide meaningful redress? The plaintiffs asserted that the Supreme Court should retain the appeal because the case involved important constitutional questions of first impression. The plaintiffs also contended that the case afforded the Supreme Court an opportunity to resolve confusion about the standard for whether a case presents a nonjusticiable political question.

Lawsuit brought by youth plaintiffs against State of Utah and State defendants claiming that the State's fossil fuel development policies violate the plaintiffs' substantive due process rights.

Natalie R. v. State

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Utah Supreme Court Will Hear Youth Plaintiffs’ Appeal of Dismissal of Climate Case Against State Defendants

Filed

United States of America

Utah

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Air pollution involves harmful contaminants in the air, affecting both indoor and outdoor environments. It can lead to health issues like respiratory diseases and heart problems, and climate impacts such as global warming. Pollutants can damage plants, trees, habitats, and water bodies like rivers and lakes.

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.

Activities of industries that extract natural resources, such as mining, oil, and gas, for commercial use.

This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

Utah Supreme Court Will Hear Youth Plaintiffs’ Appeal of Dismissal of Climate Case Against State Defendants

Risk

Impacted group

Fossil fuel

Economic sector

Finance