For inquiries and interview requests, please contact:

Samantha Ruscavage-Barz, 505-819-5923, sruscavagebarz@wildearthguardians.org

Julia Olson, 415-786-482, julia@ourchildrenstrust.org

New Mexico Atmospheric Trust Suit to Proceed on the Merits as Judge Denies Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss 

Santa Fe, NM– Eighteen-year-old Akilah Sanders-Reed’s climate change lawsuit against the state of New Mexico will proceed on the merits. On Saturday, July 14, 2012, Judge Sarah Singleton issued a written order denying defendants’ motion to dismiss and defendants’ request for an immediate appeal. Judge Singleton’s order recognized that “Plaintiffs have made a substantive allegation that... the state is ignoring the atmosphere with respect to greenhouse gas emissions.”

Sanders-Reed’s and co-plaintiff WildEarth Guardians’ lawsuit (No. D-101-CV-2011-1514), filed on May 4, 2011 against Governor Susana Martinez and the State of New Mexico, relies upon the long established principle of the public trust doctrine, which requires all branches of government to protect and maintain certain shared resources fundamental for human health and survival. Following Judge Singleton’s order, the case will go forward on the issue of whether the state agency charged with protecting the atmosphere has met its public trust obligation.

This order was issued days after Texas Judge Gisela Triana, hearing a similar case, found that all natural resources, including the atmosphere, are protected under the Public Trust Doctrine and the Texas constitution (Angela Bonser-Lain, et al. v Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Case No. D-1-GN-11-002194).

According to Samantha Ruscavage-Barz of WildEarth Guardians, attorney for plaintiffs, “Today’s decision brings New Mexico citizens and youth one step closer to holding the State and the Governor accountable for their failure to protect the next generation from the irreversible impacts of climate change.”

Judge Singleton’s order and Judge Triana’s opinion were issued as the Southwest US suffers from sustained droughts and severe wildfires that scientists warn represent the destructive impacts of humancaused climate change. “My generation will be stuck with the horrible consequences of our government’s failure to do anything about climate change,” said Ms. Sanders-Reed, a leader in the iMatter youth movement. “The longer my state’s leaders refuse to uphold their public trust obligations, the worse off we will all be. Judge Singleton’s decision gives me hope that New Mexico may be willing to step up and be accountable to my generation before it is too late.”