Apologies for a short article. I’m literally writing this in the 10 minutes I scratched out before work starts. But with Pakalolo out for a bit, someone has to step up. Please join me in trying.
Physics.org is reporting on the efforts of Portuguese youth and young adults ages 11-24 suing the European Union over their right to have a habitable planet. The suit is against 32 European governments and is taking place in European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
The case represents the first time that a climate lawsuit is held at the ECHR. It is also momentous through the sheer number of governments on trialand its plaintiffs' ages, now ranging from 11 to 24. Among the accused are the EU's 27 member states as well as the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine.
Plaintiffs expressed their grave concern over governments' insufficient efforts to limit global warming to 2°C above pre-industrial levels. Were the rest of the world to mirror their commitments, the global temperature would hike by 2°C to 3°C, according to Climate Tracker.
The youths argue that their way of life and health are threatened by the climate crisis's impacts, including Portugal's annual heat waves and wildfires which inspired them to crowdfund the legal action in October 2017.
It is critically important we as a society, and we here at Daily Kos, come together to express out outrage and demand answers. Some people are working on fighting climate change. We need to have their backs by bringing attention to the problems AND the solutions. There really are solutions no matter what the negative folks tell you in the comments. We can sit quiet and alone in our own places despairing of the future, or we can join the kids in Portugal and participate in demanding a future for our society. The choice really is yours. (The second one is more fun and exciting! :)
I won’t be counting this as part of my personal challenge as its so short. But I have to write something and this is what I had time for.