{"id":32545,"date":"2016-12-29T15:40:02","date_gmt":"2016-12-29T15:40:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/?p=32545"},"modified":"2017-01-02T16:03:32","modified_gmt":"2017-01-02T16:03:32","slug":"our-climate-heroes-of-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2016\/12\/29\/our-climate-heroes-of-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Our climate heroes of 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

As politics tilts\u00a0towards\u00a0unreason in many parts of the world,\u00a0the years to come will to require\u00a0a legion of heroes from the grassroots to the highest offices. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Here, Climate Home celebrates just a few of the many people we met, spoke to, read and wrote about in 2016 who impressed us by refusing to accept defeat.<\/p>\n

21 US kids<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In November, a group of 21 US youths won the right<\/a> to have a\u00a0lawsuit heard in the federal court that will test whether their government can be compelled to act on climate change.<\/p>\n

In response to a government motion to dismiss the case, district judge Ann Aiken said: \u201cI have no doubt that the right to a climate system capable of sustaining human life is fundamental to a free and ordered society.”<\/p>\n

The ruling\u00a0could set a precedent for\u00a0a major weapon in fighting new president Donald Trump’s administration if he\u00a0seeks to strip away regulations that are intended to clean up the US energy sector.<\/p>\n

Climate Home’s Megan Darby spoke to<\/a>\u00a019-year-old Kelsey Juliana in March.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho do you serve, government: the interests of the youth, or the interests of the industry?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Tzeporah Berman<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Canadian environmentalist is a long time adversary of the tar sands\u00a0companies that\u00a0have held successive Canadian governments in thrall. In July she spoke to Climate Home’s Ed King<\/a> about\u00a0negotiations with those companies that\u00a0lead to a cap on what she calls\u00a0the “single largest and most destructive project on earth\u201d.<\/p>\n