An Ongoing Endeavor. Analisi di una dottrina dell’interpretazione della Costituzione statunitense nell’ambito della climate change litigation

The paper reconstructs and examines a normative doctrine of constitutional interpretation formulated by Irma S. Russell. The doctrine has been formulated and proposed within the debate concerning Juliana v. United States, a landmark (and widely discussed) constitutional climate lawsuit filed by young American activists. Such a doctrine is aimed at recognizing, in the Constitution of the United States, a fundamental (albeit tacit) right to a healthy environment, which would also include the right to a climate system capable of sustaining human life for current and future generations. According to the aforementioned activists, indeed, by failing to implement effective policies to significantly reduce climate-altering emissions, the (federal) government has deprived them of the right to life and liberty protected by the Fifth Amendment (and the Fourteenth) of the United States Constitution.