By: Benjamin Morrow

 

 

 

Tia Hatton, an environmental studies major at the University of Oregon, is doing much more than just laying in the sun this summer. Tia is one of 21 youth plaintiffs who came together in 2015 to file a constitutional climate lawsuit against the United States. The plaintiffs argue that government actions have infringed upon the youngest generation’s constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property. Additionally, they claim that the government has neglected the preservation of essential resources held in the public trust. The case is currently progressing through the rankings of United States Courts, and serve as a catalyst for community action.

Tia’s interest in the environment has always been a part of her life. As a child in Bend, Oregon, Tia was constantly hiking, swimming, and exploring the nature around her. Tia describes the outdoors as, “Where she recreated, and enjoyed herself the most”. As she got older, Tia continued her outdoor pursuits through nordic skiing and cross-country running.

By 2015, Tia was a senior in high school and had already been a part of environmental efforts through her school’s Green Club. Still, Tia didn’t know much about climate change, especially on the scientific spectrum. The Winter of 2017 was something Tia had not seen before; there was practically no snow that year. Tia’s nordic skiing races were being canceled, and her hopes of doing well in the state championship were deflated. Tia stated, “That’s when I started hearing stories from my aunt and uncle about how much snow there used to be when they skied, and the issue suddenly felt very personal. That’s when I started learning about climate change, and getting involved with climate change as a political issue”.

Later that year Tia went to see a lecture from Mary Wood, a law professor at the University of Oregon. Wood spoke about Our Children’s Trust, the organization responsible for the Federal Climate Lawsuit, as well as local youth in Eugene and the climate ordinance they had helped pass. Tia and her fellow high school students tried to mobilize similar efforts in Bend. Because of this, Kelsey Juliana, another youth plaintiff on the case, reached out to Tia to get involved.

Tia and Kelsey were in the process of preparing for trial before the U.S District Court of Oregon on February 18th, 2018, until just recently. On July 28th, the Trump administration attempted to counter the lawsuit by petitioning a ‘writ of mandamus’, or in other words, a higher level court order to re-do certain actions. While frustrated by this action, Tia remains confident the case will go to trial in the coming year, and believes that this is merely a way to pause the case momentarily.