Federal judge tosses Pa. kids’ challenge to Trump’s climate change policies | Friday Morning Coffee

Good Friday Morning, Fellow Seekers.

We’ll start this final day of the working week with a civics lesson with practical implications.

A federal judge in Philadelphia has dismissed a lawsuit brought by two Keystone State school kids who were trying to stop President Donald Trump’s rollback of Obama-era climate change policies, Reuters reports.

And while he was at it, U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond, a George W. Bushappointee, also heaped scorn on an Oregon judge who allowed a similar case to go forward, Politico reports. The boys were joined in their case by the very adult Clean Air Council of Philadelphia.

Diamond didn’t agree with arguments by the kids, two boys who were  7 and 11 when the case was filed in 2017, that the U.S. Constitution guarantees the due process right to a “life-sustaining climate system,” Reuters reported.

While the current administration may make some among us break out in hives,Diamond also ruled that the boys couldn’t trace their severe asthma to Trump White House policies.

That meant, in turn, that they didn’t have the standing to sue Trump, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, ex-EPA boss Scott Pruitt and other defendants named in the case, Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, the Oregon judge, Diamond wrote in his Tuesday ruling, “certainly contravened or ignored longstanding authority” and recognized a right “without apparent limit,” when she allowed her case to go forward, Politico reported.

An important civics lesson, then: Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. And, like real estate, that victory can occasionally come down to location, location, location.

Our Stuff:
Capital-Star Washington reporter Allison Stevens profiles Pennsylvania’s ‘Fab Four’ – the new Democratic women who are representing the Keystone State on Capitol Hill.  And Capital-Star Opinion contributor Sean P. Quinlan pays tribute to the triumphs of Democratic women in the age of Donald Trump.

During a budget hearing, Pennsylvania State Police officials faced questions over Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposed fee on communities that don’t have their own police departments, Staff Reporter Elizabeth Hardison reports.

Staff Reporter Stephen Caruso has the details on a promotion for one York County Republican in the state House. He also has the story on a proposed victims’ rights amendment clearing a key state House committee. 

U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., joined with a Democratic colleague from Michigan to press the EPA to regulate PFAS in drinking water.

And the Southern Poverty Law Center has some disturbing details on hate group activity in Pennsylvania.

Elsewhere:
Is York ignoring the signs that foretold the 1969 race riots? The York Daily Record’s Candy Woodall takes a look.
PennLive’s Jan Murphy explains how Pennsylvania’s historically black university is at an inflection point.
Money for subs and aircraft in Pa. is at-risk, Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., says, the Associated Press reports.
State Sen. Anthony Williams is moving closer to a primary challenge to Philly Mayor Jim Kenney, The Inquirer reports.
UPMC is firing back at Attorney General Josh Shapiro in a federal lawsuit, The Post-Gazette reports.
Iconic Pa. brand Kraft Heinz tumbled amid a record $15.4B writedown, The Tribune-Review reports.
A year after a trucker’s death, The Morning Call’s Paul Muschick wonders whether the Lehigh Tunnel is any safer.

Here’s your #Harrisburg Instagram of the Day:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BuG3ZWGn8Sv/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

BillyPenn wants you to take this Philly history quiz.
Pittsburgh’s storied ‘skinny building’ has an uncertain future, The Incline reports.
An activist has been arrested in a City Hall protest targeting Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, WHYY-FM reports.
The federal lawsuit over Pa’s prison mail policy may be headed toward settlement, WITF-FM reports.
Here’s Politico on the North Korea summit ‘that no one wanted.’

WolfWatch.
Gov. Tom Wolf has no public schedule today.

What Goes On (Nakedly Political Edition).
State Sen. John Blake, D-Lackawanna, holds a 7 p.m. reception at the Radisson in Scranton. Admission runs $1,000 to $1,500. It’s billed as a ‘Breaking the Ice‘ event. ‘Breaking your wallet‘ seems more fitting in this case.

You Say It’s Your Birthday Dept.
Best wishes go out this morning to Lloyd Sheaffer, a former English teacher and longtime opinion writer we got to know during our tour at The Big Paper in Harrisburg. He celebrates today. Congratulations, and enjoy the day, old friend.

Heavy Rotation.
Here’s one from English soul chanteuse Jessie Ware to get your weekend rolling. It’s “Adore You.”

Friday’s Gratuitous Hockey Link.
Carolina beat the Florida Panthers 4-3 on Thursday night, returning the ‘Canes to their winning ways.

And now you’re up to date.