Youth plaintiffs-appellants filed a petition in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals requesting rehearing en banc of the court’s June 2026 decision finding that they lacked standing to challenge the constitutionality of three energy-related executive orders issued by President Trump. The plaintiffs argued that the June decision presented “questions of exceptional importance” regarding (1) whether courts can ignore uncontested factual allegations that the executive orders caused the plaintiffs’ injuries for standing purposes, (2) whether courts lack power to issue relief against allegedly unconstitutional executive orders, and (3) whether the inclusion of broad goals in an executive order alongside specific policy directives can shield the entire executive order from judicial review. The plaintiffs contended that the June decision disregarded their allegations and evidence regarding how the executive orders caused their climate change-related injuries. They also argued that the June decision was “based largely on Juliana v. United States” but failed to cite or distinguish post-Juliana precedent from the Supreme Court and the Ninth Circuit that was incompatible with the panel’s decision. They also argued that the panel decision created a circuit split, citing decisions from the D.C., First, and Fourth Circuits.

Youth plaintiffs' lawsuit challenging Trump energy executive orders as violative of substantive due process rights and ultra vires.

Lighthiser v. Trump

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Youth Plaintiffs Filed Petition for En Banc Rehearing of Ninth Circuit Decision Rejecting Challenge to Trump Energy Executive Orders

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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

People who are less able to respond to the effects of climate change due to having limited financial or physical assets

A loan is a policy instrument where funds are provided to a borrower with the expectation of repaying the principal plus interest.

Zoning and spatial planning are both methods for guiding the distribution of people and activities in a space, and are regulatory restriction.

A ban is a legal action that prevents the sale or supply of a product or service, or that recalls a product from the market. Examples are bans on SF6, greenwashing, fossil fuel advertisement or single-use plastics.

A long-lived, colourless gas, chiefly emitted from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and cement production.

Replacing technologies that burn fossil fuels directly with alternatives powered by electricity.

Actions to reduce emissions in energy generation and supply.

Electrical energy generated from mechanical devices driven by flowing fresh water.

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.

Coal is a combustible sedimentary rock formed from carbonised plant matter, rich in carbon and hydrocarbons, and occurring in several main types including hard coal and brown coal.

People with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

Social and cultural groups that share collective ancestral ties to the lands and natural resources where they live, occupy or from which they have been displaced

People who have left their homes, whether through force, voluntarily, or a mixture of both

woman and genders outside of the gender binary

Any compulsory, unrequited payment to the government levied on corporations or individuals. This can be for environmental reasons, such as introducing a Carbon tax to set a price that emitters must pay for the greenhouse gases they emit.

The activities of industries involved in the production, distribution, and sale of energy, including electricity, gas, and renewables.

This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

Youth Plaintiffs Filed Petition for En Banc Rehearing of Ninth Circuit Decision Rejecting Challenge to Trump Energy Executive Orders

Policy instrument

Impacted group

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector