Authors

SADIE MINJARES ODOM

Article Title

NOTE: JULIANA V. UNITED STATES: STANDING ON THE ‘EVE OF DESTRUCTION'

Abstract

In Juliana v. United States, the Ninth Circuit held that the plaintiffs did not have standing to sue the federal government to enforce a claimed right to a “climate system capable of sustaining human life.” The court further held that the plaintiffs’ request for “an order requiring the government to develop a plan to ‘phase out fossil fuel emissions and draw down excess atmospheric CO2’”—was beyond the court’s constitutional power, and a matter better suited for the political branches of government. The court did not hold that the case presented a political question.

Still, the court’s reasoning employed the rationale of the political question doctrine, creating a novel formulation of standing. This novel formulation required the plaintiffs to satisfy the requirements of both doctrines to establish standing.

Recommended Citation

SADIE MINJARES ODOM, NOTE: JULIANA V. UNITED STATES: STANDING ON THE ‘EVE OF DESTRUCTION', 52 Golden Gate U. L. Rev. (2022).
https://digitalcommons.law.ggu.edu/ggulrev/vol52/iss1/2