A judge has ruled that officials’ failure to address the climate crisis violated constitutional rights.
“It is incredibly gratifying to see a Montana court recognize the effects the state’s harmful energy policies have on young people and all Montanans,” said Barbara Chillcott, senior attorney forWestern Environmental Law Center. “Judge Seeley’s ruling underscores the reality that Montana’s government is actively working to undermine our constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment.”
The plaintiffs range in age from 5 to 22, and include people like Rikki Held, for whom the lawsuit was named,that the success of her family’s ranch was being jeopardized by climate impacts. Another plaintiff, Sariel Sandoval, who grew up on the Flathead Indian Reservation in northern Montana, argued that Montana’s ignorance of climate impacts was impacting her tribe’s ability to fish in the local lake due to lessened snowpack.
The lawsuit was specifically aimed at a provision in the Montana Environmental Policy Act that prevents officials from weighing impacts “that are regional, national, or global in nature” in environmental reviews. During the trial, the state“The State authorizes fossil fuel activities without analyzing GHGs or climate impacts, which result in GHG emissions in Montana and abroad that have caused and continue to exacerbate anthropogenic climate change,” Seely wrote.
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