Linnea Lentfer is one of eight plaintiffs represented by Our Children’s Trust in a lawsuit against the state over climate change and fossil fuel development.
“There’s this really eerie, scary question of salmon,” she said. “Whether runs are going to come back.” Lentfer and seven other Alaskans between the ages of 11 and 22 are plaintiffs in a new climate lawsuit against the state. Their case,They’re asking the court to block the state-backed proposal for a massive natural gas pipeline, known as the Alaska LNG project. Alaska leaders have argued over the pipeline for four decades, and itshas so far prevented it from moving forward. But Andrew Welle, an attorney representing the plaintiffs said the state shouldn’t even be pursuing it.
The Oregon-based nonprofit has filed dozens of lawsuits around the country on behalf of young people demanding more action on climate change.as the rest of the country. At the same time, fossil fuel production has been the key driver of its economy for more than 50 years.
A spokesperson for the state-owned Alaska Gasline Development Corporation, a named defendant in the lawsuit, said the project carries “substantial environmental, economic, and energy security benefits” for Alaska and said AGDC would be reviewing the claims.Bruce Botelho, former state attorney general under Govs. Walter Hickel and Tony Knowles said this case has a better chance of making it to trial, because it targets a specific fossil fuel project.
“No right in the constitution is absolute,” he said. “What is for the maximum benefit of the people is a determination that must be made, first and foremost, by the legislature and carried out by the executive.”