I mean, they’re right. Nothing in the constitution says anything about the climate.
In this case I don’t think “It’s not a constitutional right” means “so I guess we’re going to do nothing”. It’s just that some legal groundwork needs to happen.
Well, we have the bill of rights which let us gather, and I guess we can’t gather if the climate does not allow people to actually live
I don’t think there is a constitutional right to not get hit by giant meteors either.
I think the need to peg action to constitutional rights is a very uniquely American thing. In most other countries a simple addition to the legislature might suffice, whereas here if it’s not in a constitution written many years before climate change became a popularly known thing, suddenly nothing can be done.
nothing can be done
Nothing can be done by the courts. The legislative branch can still pass laws, they just won’t.
Which leads directly to the statement “there is no constitutional right that the government will protect the citizens of this country from harm”.
Then what the fuck do we need government for?
Why does it need to be in the US constitution for it to matter?
Many of my countrymen seem to think if it’s not a problem written down on some dusty old piece of paper, at least 1-2 centuries old, it isn’t a problem now.
I mean, they’re not wrong, but it shouldn’t matter. I don’t know why this was brought up when it was assumed to be the case to begin with.
Congress still needs to pass legislation to try and limit climate change as much as possible.
requires the federal government to maintain a climate that supports human life.
Unironically this is a new frontier of ghoul behevior. The next time a person tells me some shit like Biden is “the most progressive president since FDR” I’m straight up spitting in their face.
Who’s the most progressive president since fdr?
FDR was really the only slightly good (post-Lincoln) US president. And that was really only because he knew heads were going to start rolling if the government didn’t throw some bones to the working class.
Who was the most progressive president since fdr?
Your original comment suggested you have an opinion on this
I don’t really have an opinion on it, I think it’s a meaningless aphorism.
Uh huh
you right now
Who cares? But if you were just talkig about the environment it would be Nixon.
It’s a nothing article. There’s no reason to have ever assumed it was a constitutional right
There’s plenty of other, much better reasons to justify the need for stable climate.
It’s not about justifying the need for a livable climate, but being able to legally enforce the future having one.
The constitution also doesn’t deny the right to a stable climate, if that is what you mean.
It just has nothing to do with it.
Justify the existence of national parks then
Not sure why you’re here 4 days later…but nothing in the constitution says they can’t have national parks.
Again, the issue is just it has nothing to do with it. There’s easily other avenues to go about than the constitution.
Why are you here? And if nothing in the constitution says we can’t have national parks, nothing in it says we can’t regulate a stable climate.
I don’t even really disagree with you that there are better ways to go about it. It’s just stupid to agree with their claim.
Your right, but this needs to change. In order to stop Billionaires from ensuring there isn’t a single functional ecosystem, legal actions will be necessary.
Wouldn’t that be the EPA’s job? I do wish they had more power or were more strict when it came to climate change measures. I did find this though: https://www.epa.gov/climate-change
The SCOTUS ruled last year that the EPA does not have the authority to do essentially anything real to protect the environment.
Ya, the funding cuts make it tough to do though. The EPA actually just decided to not reevaluate the smog standards showing the inability to do much at all.
Then possibly something needs to change - add a new Amendment or something. But to claim that old laws written with an old understanding of how the world works needs to somehow carry the semantic weight of something it was never written to do seems a bit much.
Why does the Constitution need to be involved? The federal government already has power to regulate emissions, so there’s nothing stopping Congress (from a constitutional perspective) from passing laws to do so.
Joe Biden is terrible for this country, the DNC needs to stop pushing 80 year old boomers
i love how you frame this is some how a thing only the dnc does. especially when the republicant party has done the same and part of it is still trying for the 77 year old russain spy.
Russia has nothing to do with anything, it’s a great scapegoat for the failure of Democrats to actually carry out any of their goals. If the DNC runs Biden then I’m voting third party, I don’t want a white trash racist boomer as my President
