Atmospheric Trust Litigation
Description
Via Silke Helfrich's Commons Timeline:
"USA, MAY 2011 – PRESENT –> ATMOSPHERIC TRUST LITIGATION (ATL). In a series of suits and petitions on behalf of young people, legal actions were brought against all 50 U.S. states and the federal government demanding that governments fulfill their public trust obligations to protect the atmosphere as a common property. The public trust doctrine, described by law professor Gerald Torres as „the law’s DNA,” is one pillar of the campaign; the human rights principle of intergenerational justice is the other. Similar suits are projected for countries around the world. While the courts have turned down some of the lawsuits, in 2012 a federal district court ruled that a case brought in New Mexico could go forward." (http://commonsblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/17/recent-landmarks-in-the-growing-commons-movement/)