"The Supreme Court's decision today is not the end of the road and the impact of Juliana cannot be measured by the finality of this case alone," Julia Olson, a lawyer for the plaintiffs at Our Children's Trust, said in a statement.
The U.S. Department of Justice, which had fought the case across three presidential administrations, welcomed the court's decision, which Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson in a statement said "brings this long saga to a conclusion."
Our Children's Trust and its youth clients have filed a series of lawsuits accusing state and federal governments of exacerbating climate change by adopting policies that encourage or allow the extraction and burning of fossil fuels in violation of their rights.