And the Children Shall Lead Them

Chapter Conservation Chair Kate Bartholomew attended this September’s National Sierra Club awards dinner in Washington DC, and reported on several impressive awards involving young people.

The John Muir Award was presented to Jane Goodall, internationally honored for devoting six decades of her life to the protection of apes and chimpanzees in the mountains of East Africa. Special mention was made of Ms. Goodall’s organization “Roots & Shoots” (www.rootsandshoots.org), established in 1991, which has connected some 150,000 young people in over 100 countries to become active in environmental matters. On the website, you can sign up to be involved in a number of activities involving the protection of animals, people and the environment.

The Earth Care Award was given to the organization Plant-for-the-Planet (www.plant-for-the-planet.org). This organization was started in 2007 by 9-year-old Felix Finkbeiner in Germany. To date, the organization has been responsible for planting over 15 billion trees throughout the world, with an announced goal of 1 trillion tree plantings.

Besides this amazing accomplishment, eight Plant-for-the-Planet youth members from Seattle, Washington, became petitioners in Our Children’s Trust climate change case in their state court. The case requested that Washington State fulfill its obligation under its Clean Air Act and Constitution to protect the climate for future generations. State Judge Hollis R. Hill agreed to all aspects of the case, denying the petition only because the Department of Ecology stepped in to develop a new carbon-emissions cap before the decision was rendered.

The legal theory of the lawsuit was based on the Nature’s Trust common law doctrine that any state property is held in trust for the public’s present and future use. Nature’s Trust Doctrine is showing a resurgence in our efforts to protect the atmosphere, air quality and waters commonly owned by the public. Interestingly, the Washington matter has returned to court on the ground that the state’s new carbon regulations are insufficient.

The actions of the thousands of children and young people on behalf of the environment are an inspiration to us all!