Hawaii settled a lawsuit with 13 young people who sued the state government over a potential climate threat.
According to Reuters, the state agreed on Thursday to decarbonize its transportation system by 2045 in order to settle the suit.
The settlement in the case (Navahine v. Hawaii Department of Transportation) is believed to be the first between a state government and youth plaintiffs over constitutional issues relating to climate change, CBS News reports.
A few of the activists and lawyers involved in the case attended a press conference with Hawaii’s Democratic Governor Josh Green. According to Reuters, Green called the lawsuit “groundbreaking.”
“We’re addressing the impacts of climate change today, and needless to say, this is a priority because we know now that climate change is here,” he said. “It is not something that we’re considering in an abstract way in the future.”
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Leinā’ala Ley, a lawyer for the youth activists at Earthjustice, added that the “agreement gives Hawaii a boost in our race against climate disaster and offers a model of best practices that other jurisdictions can also implement.”
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