The court ruled that children were harmed by the government’s failure to take climate change into account when deciding on new fossil fuel energy projects. Authorities now hope to thwart the dangerous precedent in the state Supreme Court.

what is known

According to the decision, plaintiffs aged between 5 and 22, “damaged as a result of the state’s failure to address greenhouse gases and climate change, including damage to their physical and mental health, home and property, recreational, spiritual and aesthetic interests, tribal and cultural traditions, economic security and happiness”.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs and the organizations that support them argued that a provision of the Montana Environmental Policy Act that prohibited the state from assessing and analyzing the environmental impacts of fossil fuels was unconstitutional. Judge Kathy Seeley, presiding over the Held v Montana trial, agreed. The state may now have to reconsider this provision. The resolution states that the state should have the right not to allow activities involving fossil fuels if such activities lead to greenhouse gas emissions that cause the degradation and depletion of natural resources and the environment and violate the constitutional rights of children and youth in Montana. Otherwise, the laws that allow it may themselves be unconstitutional.

During the trial, sixteen young plaintiffs testified about how detrimental climate change had been in their short lives; including a particularly poignant story told by a teenager with asthma who said he was “captive in his own home”, isolated from COVID-19. 19 infections and wildfire fumes.

The lawsuit is the first constitutional climate action actually brought in the United States. Winning this case is a huge win, not just for young plaintiffs, but for climate activists in general.

This is a huge win for Montana, young people, democracy and our climate. There will definitely be more such solutions,
– Says Julia Olson, founder of the foundation “Our Children”.

The case was filed in 2020, but the verdict on it has only now emerged. In addition, there are several other similar cases pending in court, including a lawsuit filed by teenagers in Hawaii, where wildfires devastated the island of Maui and killed nearly 100 people.