Young people from Montana have won a major climate case, arguing the state failed to protect their right to a clean environment by continuing to use fossil fuels.
A group of young people from Montana won a major climate case on Monday after arguing the state failed to protect their right to a clean environment by continuing to use fossil fuels.
The ruling determined that a provision in Montana’s Environmental Policy Act violated the right to a clean environment, which is guaranteed under Montana’s state constitution, by promoting the continued use of fossil fuels.
The court said a provision in the law that prevented the state from considering the climate impacts of energy projects is unconstitutional.
“In a sweeping win for our clients, the Honorable Judge Kathy Seeley declared Montana’s fossil fuel-promoting laws unconstitutional and enjoined their implementation,” Julia Olson, chief legal counsel and executive director of Our Children’s Trust, said in a statement.
Sixteen Montana youths between the ages of 5 and 22 sued the state, the governor, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, the state’s public commission office and other state departments in 2020 over Montana’s fossil fuel-based energy system, citing scientific evidence that burning fossil fuels is contributing to global warming that already causes them harm, according to the lawsuit.
