Eight children throughout the state have banded together to sue the state of Florida and several governmental officials on the grounds that their "deliberate indifference" to damaging effects of climate change have adverse environmental impacts.

Fourteen-year-old Oliver Chamblin of Pensacola, Florida, spoke at a recent news conference to announce the launch of the lawsuit, noting that he grew up fishing, swimming and kayaking in the waters around his home, but that the government was not doing enough to protect public trust resources like state water, forests, wetlands, groundwater and wildlife for future generations.

"Our state relies very much on tourism," Oliver said. "If we destroy our climate and our beaches, it can affect that (industry) very much. We are called the Sunshine State, but we don't take advantage of that because we could be using solar power and we don't. I'm suing the government to help take action against those things."

The lawsuit names Governor Rick Scott, along with several other state officers and agencies, including the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Public Service Commission, as defendants. According to news reports, the plaintiffs' complaint argues the state's "systemic, historic and ongoing" practices of permitting and promoting fossil usage has caused substantial impairment to public assets, leading to a violation of the young plaintiffs' constitutional rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

The youth are supported by the nonprofit organization Our Children’s Trust, which has a similar lawsuit underway in Oregon.

—Source: pnj.com