- Hawaii on Thursday agreed to settle a lawsuit by 13 young people alleging the U.S. state was violating their rights under its constitution by operating a transportation system that contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.
The state's Department of Transportation will rework its planning processes for ground transportation projects and accelerate efforts to expand a public electric vehicle charging network and improve public transit networks, officials said. The young people, also represented by the nonprofit law firm Our Children's Trust, claim the policies violate their rights under U.S. or state constitutions.
The lawsuit against Hawaii was filed in 2022 and alleged that the state Department of Transportation was operating a transportation system that ran afoul of state constitutional mandates and impaired their right to a life-sustaining climate.