Utility Taxes
Case: Chernaik v. Brown, 2015 WL 12591229 (Or.Cir.).
Synopsis: Plaintiffs alleged that their personal and economic well-being was directly dependent upon the health of the state’s natural resources held in trust for the benefit of its citizens, including water resources, submerged and submersible lands, coastal lands, forests, and wildlife. Specifically, Plaintiffs alleged that their interests would be adversely and irreparably injured by Defendants’ failure to establish and enforce adequate limitations on the levels of greenhouse gas emissions that will reduce the level of carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere. Judge Rasmussen concluded that if he were to grant Plaintiffs’ proposed relief, the Court would violate the Separation of Powers Doctrine.
