'Will the kids save the world?': Children join climate justice lawsuit against administration

Brett T. | 8:08 PM on November 17, 2015

Slate’s Eric Holthaus, the “sniveling beta male” meteorologist who linked climate change to the destabilization of Iraq and the rise of ISIS in Syria, is happy to report that the Obama administration is finding itself going to court against Our Children’s Trust, comprising members as young as 8 years old.

13-year-old plaintiff in climate change lawsuit: “I’m not going to sit by and watch my government do nothing.”https://t.co/CvttyOEDVv

— Eric Holthaus (@EricHolthaus) November 17, 2015

The story would make for a great movie, says Holthaus:

At first glance, the circumstances surrounding this lawsuit read like a storyline straight out of a Disney movie: On one side, a group of energetic kids, joined by a wise and genial grandfather who is fond of fedoras. On the other side, the president of the United States. Will the kids save the world?

That wise grandfather is James Hansen, “the renowned former NASA scientist, who filed a lengthy, emotionally charged testimony with the suit on behalf of his granddaughter, Sophie Kivlehan, one of the plaintiffs, who is 17.”

Though the president has called for a reduction in emissions (usually before talking off on Air Force One with golf clubs in tow), the climate kids don’t believe his goals reach far enough, and their lawsuit “seeks comprehensive, science-based legislation to return atmospheric carbon dioxide to 350 parts per million by 2100.”

Zoe Foster, 13, explained that “Kids understand the threats climate change will have on our future. I’m not going to sit by and watch my government do nothing. We don’t have time to waste. I’m pushing my government to take real action on climate, and I won’t stop until change is made.”