The Gonzaga Environmental Law Clinic has filed a friend of the court paper in a case that pits several young people against the U.S. government for failing to stop climate change.
The suit contends that the federal government pursued energy policies that caused climate change even though it knew for more than a half century that carbon emissions would destabilize the climate.
The clinic has filed an amicus brief on behalf of several churches and religious organizations that support the case of the plaintiffs.
Samuel Baker is a Gonzaga student who is working on the brief. He says those organizations support the idea that man should be a steward of the earth.
“The Bible says it, the Torah says it, the Koran says it. All those religious sources are saying, you know, you need to protect the earth, you need to protect the land, including the religious leaders who are also saying it. That’s really their argument to the court is that we need to protect this land, or religions say we need to protect this land, act in a certain way,” Baker said.
Joining in the suit are the General Synod of the United Church of Christ, Temple Beth Israel of Eugene, Oregon, and the National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd.
The case is currently before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is deciding if it should be returned to a district court in Oregon.
