A Montana judge ruled in favor of a group of youth environmental activists who said that state agencies were violating their constitutional rights to a clean and healthful environment under the Montana State constitution.
The case, Held v. State of Montana, was the first constitutional climate lawsuit from Our Children’s Trust to reach trial but is part of a nationwide campaign to influence climate change at the state level. Our Children’s Trust is a public interest law firm that has taken the approach of filing constitutional climate lawsuits to force state and federal governments to address climate change, and three more state cases are pending around the U.S.
Montana State District Court Judge Kathy Seeley found the policy the state uses in evaluating requests for fossil fuel permits – which does not allow agencies to evaluate the effects of greenhouse gas emissions – is unconstitutional.
“Montana’s emissions and climate change have been proven to be a substantial factor in causing climate impacts to Montana’s environment and harm and injury,” Seeley wrote in her ruling. “Plaintiffs have a fundamental constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment, which includes climate.”
The ruling returned the policy to the state legislature to reenact within the bounds of the state constitution.
Our Children’s Trust has filed legal actions in all 50 states and currently have three open lawsuits before state courts as well as an open lawsuit in Federal Court. Here’s where the other state court cases stand.
Montana climate trial:A landmark case: In first-of-its-kind Montana climate trial, judge rules for youth activists
Hawaii
The second constitutional climate suit to arrive at a trial was filed against the Hawaiian government and the state’s department of transportation. “The youth look forward to holding the state accountable for fulfilling their own legal promises that have been disregarded by [the Hawaiian Department of Transportation] for years,” Andrea…
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