A Circuit Court judge ruled Thursday in favor of a lawsuit by 14 Hawaii youths claiming the state Department of Transportation is violating their constitutional rights by not doing enough to curb the emissions that are contributing to climate change.
Environmental Judge Jeffrey Crabtree rejected the state’s motion to dismiss the suit in a 12-page decision, saying the young plaintiffs “allege nothing less than that they stand to inherit a world with severe climate change and the resulting damage to our natural
resources.”
With Thursday’s ruling the case moves toward a September trial, which would make it only the
second constitutional climate trial and second youth-led climate trial in U.S. history.
Navahine F. v. Hawaii Department of Transportation is also the world’s first constitutional climate change case directed at stopping
climate pollution from
transportation systems, according to Earthjustice, whose attorneys are helping to represent a group of clients from age 10 to 20 from the islands of Hawaii, Oahu, Molokai, Maui and Kauai.
“It’s a good day. We’re really excited,” said Earthjustice attorney Leina‘ala Ley, who argued in court Jan. 26 against the motion to dismiss. “Judge Crabtree forcefully rejected the state’s argument and agreed with us that the state Constitution does require the Department of Transportation to protect the public trust.”
State Deputy Solicitor General Lauren Chun responded to the decision with the following
statement:
“The Court’s ruling today merely allows the case to proceed past the pleading stage and does not decide the merits of the Plaintiffs’ allegations. The State stands behind its record as a national leader in climate change mitigation and adaptation, and the State will continue to pursue its ambitious climate goals.”
Crabtree is the same judge who a year ago thwarted attempts by oil companies such as Chevron, Shell and Exxon to throw out a lawsuit by the City and County of Honolulu and the Board of Water Supply accusing the oil industry of deceiving the public about the effects of climate change. If that trial goes forward, it will be an unprecedented case.
Less than a month ago, in a different climate case over the $520 million Hu Honua biomass power plant, the state Supreme Court upheld a decision to deny the plant’s operation due to its impact on climate change, saying in part that the state Constitution encompasses the right to “a life-sustaining climate system.”
Crabtree quoted the high court’s opinion in his decision Thursday: “The people of Hawai‘i have declared ‘a climate emergency.’ Hawai‘i faces immediate threats to our cultural and economic survival: sea level rise, eroding the coast and flooding the land; ocean warming and acidification, bleaching coral reefs and devastating marine life; more frequent and more extreme droughts and storms.”
Navahine F. v. Hawaii Department of Transportation argues that DOT operates a transportation system that emits high levels of greenhouse gasses, violating the youth plaintiffs’ state constitutional rights and impacting their ability to “live healthful lives in Hawai‘i now and into the future.”
In an interview, Ley said despite making progress in other sectors of Hawaii’s economy, transportation emissions are the largest source of climate pollution in the state and are expected to rise 41% over the next decade.
State transportation agencies on the mainland have created plans and set specific goals for reducing the output of emissions, Ley said. These are models that the DOT could look to for implementing in the islands. Despite the state’s goal of achieving a zero-emissions economy by 2045, the DOT has not taken any concrete steps in this regard, she said.
Ley said the lawsuit ultimately seeks to hold DOT accountable for its actions and obligations under the state Constitution.
One of the young plaintiffs, 12-year-old Kaliko T. of West Maui, said she was excited by Thursday’s decision and looking forward to the opportunity of advancing climate action in Hawaii.
She blames climate change for helping to fuel the power of former Hurricane Olivia, which made landfall on Maui as a tropical storm but caused floodwaters that destroyed her home in Honokohau Valley — even as her community was recovering from wildfires sparked by Hurricane Lane in 2018.
“I don’t want anyone else to suffer the way I and my family have,” said Kaliko, a seventh grader at Lahaina Intermediate School.
She added that while she’s worried about about the spectre of climate change, she remains hopeful that one day she can sleep at night knowing her grandchildren will have a
future.
