<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/hallie-turner_2.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0" srcset="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/hallie-turner_2.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 400w, https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/hallie-turner_2.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 800w" > Hallie Turner is taking North Carolina to court to demand it begin reducing carbon dioxide by at least 4 percent each year. (Our Children's Trust) (Our Children's Trust)

North Carolina sits in a region vulnerable to sea level rise, hurricanes and coastal flooding — and now a 13-year-old resident is demanding her state take action before it’s too late. She's taking her state to court to get them to begin enforcing stricter regulations on greenhouse gases.

With the help of the nonprofit Our Children’s Trust, which coordinates youth-led movements that take science-based action on climate change, and several Duke University attorneys, Hallie Turner filed a lawsuit against the state to overturn a decision by the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission to reject a rulemaking petition that she submitted last year, which called for the state to begin reducing CO2 emissions by at least 4 percent each year. Superior Court Judge Michael Morgan heard Turner's case on Friday.

“I’ve always been passionate about this issue since I was 9 and participating in events and marching, and this is the first legal action I’ve taken,” Turner told weather.com. Turner earlier told reporters that she became inspired to get involved in fighting global warming after reading Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth.

North Carolina law allows citizens to submit rulemaking petitions to its state agencies. If it’s complete, the petition goes to the appropriate committee for review and the committee makes a recommendation to the full commission.

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Earlier this year, Chairman Benne Hutson rejected Hallie's petition, finding the petition to be incomplete.

“There is already federal regulation of CO2 emissions,” Hutson explained to weather.com. “To do what Ms. Turner wanted to do would require the adoption of what went beyond those federal regulations, and there was nothing showing that the exceptions to allow North Carolina to have more stringent regulations applied.”

He cited a statute in state law that said an "agency authorized to implement and enforce State and federal environmental laws may not adopt a rule for the protection of the environment or natural resources that imposes a more restrictive standard, limitation, or requirement than those imposed by federal law."

Turner’s lawyers countered that Hutson didn’t have the power to throw out the petition just because he interpreted the Commission’s statutory authority differently than she did.

"He injected additional legal interpretation of their legal authority and denied her petition based on his interpretation," Shannon Arata, who is one of the lawyers representing Hallie, told weather.com. "H e cited two additional statutes that we feel is improper; it should be the role of the courts not the EMC. All he was supposed to do was make sure the petition was complete and that it contained all the relevant information, which it did. All the information was complete. The commissioner made a determination on the law, which we deemed beyond his authority."

Our Children’s Trust climate law fellow Nate Bellinger also said that Hutson should have removed himself from the case before tossing out Turner's petition.

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“Hallie Turner is really an amazing young woman, and her case in North Carolina represents a lot about what it wrong with our current political system and why the role of the courts is so important,” Bellinger said. "[Hutson] works for a law firm that represents clients that oppose regulations on greenhouse gas emissions and deny climate change, so there was a clear conflict of interest for him when he made his decision."

In response to Turner's lawsuit, North Carolina's Department of Environmental Quality defended its green record.

“The state environmental department is not a party to this litigation, but it’s important to point out that North Carolina is a national leader in cleaning up its power sector and improving air quality," North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality communications director Mike Rusher told weather.com. "We have the cleanest coal-fired fleet in the county and have already reduced greenhouse gas emissions by more than 20 percent since 2005 without any federal intervention. This summer the federal government announced that the state is in compliance with all federal air quality standards for first time since 1997. DEQ is proud of the clean air achievements in North Carolina and remains confident that this progress will continue in the future.”

Judge Morgan told Turner he planned on making a ruling prior to Thanksgiving. Regardless of the ultimate decision, Turner said she was going to continue to hold her state officials feet to the fire on the issue.

"I'm going to keep fighting as long as its affecting me and future generations," Turner said. "It's something I'm passionate about and I will keep fighting to make my voice heard and encouraging others to do the same."

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