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The highly-anticipated youth climate lawsuit trial in Montana is set to start on Monday, after a last-minute request to dismiss the lawsuit was denied in a 6-1 decision by the Montana Supreme Court earlier this week. The case, Held v. Montana, was filed in March 2020 by 16 youth plaintiffs who argue that their right to a “clean and healthful environment” guaranteed by the Montana state constitution is being violated. Specifically, the plaintiffs argue that two state laws are causing this harm: Montana’s state energy policy promoting fossil fuels, and an amendment to the Montana Environmental Policy Act prohibiting the state from considering the climate change impacts of state projects. This is the first youth climate lawsuit to go to trial anywhere in the nation. The trial is scheduled to last two weeks starting June 12.
While the youth plaintiffs have been preparing for the trial, the state legislature has been passing laws doubling down on Montana’s pro-fossil fuel laws and policies, in part to try to undermine the plaintiffs’ arguments in Held v. Montana or support its dismissal. “In my opinion, the only thing that will fundamentally alter the state’s historic and ongoing energy policy of prioritizing the development and use of fossil fuels is a court order declaring that policy unconstitutional,” said Anne Hedges, director of policy and legislative affairs at the Montana Environmental Information Center, who is serving as an expert witness for the plaintiffs.
“As youth, we are exposed to a lot of knowledge about climate change. We can’t keep passing it on to the next generation when we’re being told about all the impacts that are already happening,” said Rikki Held, now 22, the lead and eldest plaintiff in the case who was 18 when the suit was originally filed. “In some ways, our generation feels a lot of pressure, kind of a burden, to make something happen because it’s our lives that are at risk.”
BLM Restoration Landscapes: East Idaho Rivers and Plains
In celebration of the Bureau of Land Management’s $161 million investment in Western landscape restoration projects, Look West is highlighting a different "Restoration Landscape" each day for 21 days. Today’s landscape is East Idaho Rivers and Plains, which includes the South Fork, Henry's Fork, and main stem of the Snake River, and the uplands surrounding these rivers. An investment of $7.9 million will help restore native plant communities that provide habitat for monarch butterflies, sage-grouse, and other bird and big game species.
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It actually did more to confuse than to clarify, in particular around defining what might actually trigger the National Environmental Policy Act. By complicating how that is defined, [the debt ceiling legislation] will actually lead to more litigation and more confusion. That actually slows down and complicates permitting, rather than expediting it.”
