Hawaii youth file lawsuit against state regarding emissions

Attorneys representing 14 Hawaii youths appeared in court Thursday to argue in favor of a lawsuit that claims the state Department of Transportation is violating their client’s state constitutional rights by not doing enough to stem the emissions that are contributing to climate change.

The suit, the first of its kind in Hawaii, argues that the DOT’s system is causing the plaintiffs, ages 10 to 20 and living across the island chain, significant harm and affecting their ability to “live healthful lives in Hawai‘i now and into the future.”

Circuit Court Environmental Judge Jeffrey Crabtree heard arguments on the state’s motion to dismiss the case before a packed courtroom of plaintiffs, their parents and supporters Thursday morning.

He ended the hearing by saying he would make a ruling on Navahine F. v, Hawaii Department of Transportation later, after studying the issues further.

The lawsuit is the latest attempt by young people in the U.S. to hold governments accountable for the climate crisis.

Representing the Hawaii youth are lawyers from Earthjustice and Oregon-based Our Children’s Trust, which describes itself as “the world’s only nonprofit public interest law firm that exclusively provides strategic, campaign based legal services to youth from diverse backgrounds to secure their legal rights to a safe climate.” Our Children’s Trust is also part of youth climate lawsuits in Montana, Virginia and Utah.

Attorney Bryan Killian, representing the state of Hawaii, told the judge that Hawaii is indeed addressing climate change and is in fact one of the leaders among the 50 states in doing so. Gov. Josh Green has made climate change a high priority in his administration, and he has selected a new director (Ed Sniffen) to work with him on his policies.

The state’s motion to dismiss, he said, stresses the proper process for addressing climate change. He said the complaint is flawed because it does not allege any violations of climate laws, and it doesn’t argue that any of the defendant’s own greenhouse gases are causing harm.

State targets on emission reductions are statewide targets, Killian said, not just for the DOT. In addition, the department has to deal with competing goals, including not only reducing emissions, but user equity, reducing costs and “maximizing the throughput of people.”

Killian said the complaint falls short of meeting the standards and precedents required for judicial oversight of a state department.

Leina‘ala Ley, an Earthjustice attorney representing the Hawaii youth, told the court the transportation sector is responsible for a majority of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions and that these emissions are going up, not down, in violation of the department’s constitutional duties to protect the public trust and the plaintiff’s right to health, well-being and their culture practices.

“While other sectors have taken significant steps in the past few decades to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Hawaii Department of Transportation remains trapped in the past, doing business as usual and failing to take advantage of opportunities that are available now to provide Hawaii’s residents with more and cleaner transportation options that can help mitigate climate harm,” Ley said.

Following the hearing, attorneys from Earthjustice and Our Children’s Trust said that no matter what Crabtree rules, the case will move forward, either in Circuit Court or on appeal.

If the case is dismissed, “We would try to get to the state Supreme Court as quickly as possible given the urgency of the case and the harm these youth are suffering,” said Julia Olson, executive director and chief legal counsel for Our Children’s Trust.

Andrea Rodgers, senior litigation attorney with Our Children’s Trust, told a news conference outside the Honolulu courtroom that the state’s lawyers argued that climate change is a problem that can be dealt with 20 years down the line.

“They said they’re doing the best that they can and that they shouldn’t be pushed into doing things they just don’t want to do — even though the science, the Legislature, has all commanded them to de- carbonize the transportation system as soon as possible. It’s frustrating when you hear that from your government entity. This is an existential crisis that needs to be addressed today.”

Taliya Nishida, a 15-year-old Kamehameha Schools Hawaii island student, said she joined the suit in an effort to make a difference in the climate crisis.

“Instead of being a bystander and just hearing about it, this time I can actually go to court and create a change,” she said.

Nishida said her house in Kamuela is off-grid, and her family lives off catchment water. The problem is there’s precious little rain.

“We have no water in the catchment tank,” she said. “So we’re flushing our toilets from buckets of water that we get from in town. For showers I only get one or two minutes.”

Plaintiff Messina, a 15-year-old from Kailua, who declined to give her last name, said she was seething in the courtroom as she heard the state’s attorney offering up excuses.

“It’s very hard to hear,” she said. “We know this is an issue that needs to be dealt with now, and the more they postpone it, the more they are showing to us that it doesn’t matter to them, and we’re just like little pests in the way of their scheme. That’s really what it felt like in every argument they made.”

Before he concluded the hearing, Crabtree paused to say he was encouraged by the fact that the young people were coming forward and trying to make their community better.

But Environmental Court, he cautioned, is not the Environmental Protection Agency. It is a court and not friendly to one side or the other.

“We endeavor to do our best to make decisions based on the law, the facts and judicial procedure. That’s it,” the judge said. “Sometimes the environment wins in this courtroom, and sometimes it loses. That’s just the way it is.”