A district judge in Montana sided with a group of youth plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit against the state alleging that local energy policies violated their rights to a “clean and healthful environment which includes climate as part of the environmental life-support system.”
“This judgment will influence the State’s conduct by invalidating statutes prohibiting analysis and remedies based on GHG [Greenhouse Gas] emissions and climate impacts, alleviating Youth Plantiffs’ injuries,” Kathy Seely of the 1st District Court in Montana wrote in her opinion published on Monday afternoon.
The case hinged on language in the state constitution, which enshrined residents’ “right to a clean and healthful environment” for “present and future generations.” However, Montana laws, some passed as recently as May, constrained local officials from incorporating “greenhouse gas emissions and corresponding impacts to the climate” in energy-project approvals.
Moving forward, the state — which derives a third of its energy from coal — will have to adopt a more holistic, environmentally-conscious, approach to energy policies, according to the ruling.
The outcome of the case, which many observers have been keenly following to gauge the potential for future litigation against government energy policies, was condemned by Montana’s attorney general. “This ruling is absurd, but not surprising from a judge who let the plaintiffs’ attorneys put on a weeklong taxpayer-funded publicity stunt that was supposed to be a trial,” a spokeswoman representing the official noted in a statement. “Montanans can’t be blamed for changing the climate.”
However, Our Children’s Trust, an organization that is assisting the plaintiffs, applauded the decision as a momentous step in the right direction.
“Today’s ruling in Montana is a game-changer that marks a turning point in this generation’s efforts to save the planet from the devastating effects of human-caused climate chaos,” Julia Olson, the executive director of Our Children’s Trust, the group assisting the minors’ lawsuit, told Politico. “This is a huge win for Montana, for youth, for democracy, and for our climate. More rulings like this will certainly come.
Similar lawsuits have been filed by youth activists in Virginia, Hawaii, Utah, and Oregon in recent months.
“It’s monumental,” Badge Busse, one of the teenagers involved in the Montana case, told the New York Times. “It’s a completely beautiful thing. Hopefully, this will continue this upward trend of positivity.”