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June National Call — Our Children’s Trust, Youth v. Gov Hawaii

Name: June National Call — Our Children’s Trust, Youth v. Gov Hawaii
Start: 2023-06-27T19:00:00-04:00
End: 2023-06-27T20:00:00-04:00
Location: Zoom

June 27, 2023 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm EDT

June 27

4th Tuesday of the Month,

7PM (Eastern) | 4PM (Pacific)

Climate Justice in Hawaiʻi – Youth Have A Right To Live Healthful Lives In A Life Sustaining Climate

Hear from Rylee Brooke, one of the Navahine F. v. Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation youth plaintiffs and attorneys, Kimberly Willis and Joanna Zeigler, to learn about this constitutional climate lawsuit directed at stopping climate pollution from transportation systems. Learn how you can support these 14 Children of Hawaiʻi as they proceed toward trial to protect their right to live healthful lives in Hawaiʻi now and into the future!

On June 1, 2022, 14 youth in Hawaiʻi filed a constitutional climate lawsuit, Navahine F. v. Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation, against the Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation (HDOT), HDOT Director Jade Butay, Governor David Ige, and the State of Hawaiʻi. The youth plaintiffs claim that their state DOT’s operation of a transportation system that results in high levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions violates their state constitutional rights, causing them significant harm and impacting their ability to “live healthful lives in Hawaiʻi now and into the future.” The youth seek to ensure HDOT steps up to meet the state legislature’s goal to decarbonize Hawaiʻi’s economy and achieve a zero emissions economy by 2045.

On April 6, 2023, the Honorable Judge Jeffrey P. Crabtree ruled in favor of the 14 youth plaintiffs, denying the state’s attempt to prevent their case from proceeding to trial. The young plaintiffs and their attorneys are now gathering evidence in preparation for trial, scheduled to begin September 26, 2023.

Can’t attend? No problem, register to receive a recording of the call.

We encourage you to join from your computer the best experience, many of our speakers share slides.

	Rylee Brooke K. Youth Plaintiff, Navahine F. v. Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation Rylee is a 15-year-old born and raised in Mililani, O’ahu. She relies on locally grown and harvested food sources as a staple to her diet, such as poi, laulau leaves, limu, and poke. She also loves to participate in ocean activities such as snorkeling, diving, and swimming. Climate change has affected her food sources and ocean activities due to flooding, decrease in streamflow and changing ocean conditions. Meet the other Hawai’i Youth Plaintiffs
	Staff Attorney, Kimberly Willis earned her J.D. from University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 2019 where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Hastings Environmental Law Journal. Throughout law school, Kimberly dedicated herself to public interest environmental litigation. She worked as a law clerk with Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, and the Natural Resources Law Section of the California Department of Justice. Kimberly began her work at Our Children’s Trust as a Climate Law Fellow, and now serves as a Staff Attorney providing support in all aspects of OCT’s litigation in state and federal cases. In her free time, you’ll find Kimberly baking her signature pumpkin cranberry bread or planning her next backpacking trip.
	Staff Attorney, Joanna Zeigler earned her B.S. in Environmental Science from Humboldt State University and her J.D. from the University of Hawaii, William S. Richardson School of Law with a certificate in Environmental Law. Prior to law school, Joanna worked in several outdoor related fields including working as a Field Technician for the Forest Service in Oregon measuring the effects of cattle on streams, teaching outdoor education throughout California and in the Seattle area, raft guiding on several rivers in California, and working as a Field Technician for Ameri-Corps in Hilo Hawaii where she assisted in the native habitat restoration of the Palila, an endangered bird native to Hawaii. After law school, Joanna clerked for the Honorable Lisa M. Ginoza of the Hawaii State Intermediate Court of Appeals and worked at a Honolulu law firm in its litigation section. As a Staff Attorney at Our Children’s Trust, Joanna is working on OCT’s litigation for a several of the State cases. In her free time, Joanna enjoys surfing, hiking, walking her dogs, lifting weights, and anything else involving outdoor adventures.
	Our Children’s Trust is a non-profit public interest law firm that provides strategic, campaign-based legal services to youth from diverse backgrounds to secure their legal rights to a safe climate. We work to protect the Earth’s climate system for present and future generations by representing young people in global legal efforts to secure their binding and enforceable legal rights to a healthy atmosphere and stable climate, based on the best available science. We support our youth clients and amplify their voices before the third branch of government in a highly strategic legal campaign that includes targeted media, education, and public engagement work to support the youths’ legal actions. Our legal work – guided by constitutional, public trust, human rights laws and the laws of nature – aims to ensure systemic and science-based climate recovery planning and remedies at federal, state, and global levels.