Young people challenging Montana officials over inaction on climate change are expected back in state court on Tuesday in a first-of-a-kind trial of a lawsuit that environmentalists hope will spur changes in the fossil fuel-friendly state.
State officials have sought to downplay Montana’s contributions to global warming as the trial that opened Monday is being closely watched for possible legal precedents even though the lawsuit’s scope has been narrowed in earlier rulings.
The lawsuit centers on Montana’s constitutional right to a “clean and healthful environment,” and whether that means the state should act to protect residents against worsening climate change. By enlisting plaintiffs aged 6 to 22, the environmental firm bringing the lawsuit is trying to highlight how young people are harmed by climate change now and in the future.
The case is the first of dozens of similar lawsuits to reach trial. Experts say it could set a legal precedent but isn’t likely to spur immediate policy changes in Montana. Its state agencies have never denied a permit for a fossil fuel project, and the state’s Legislature recently passed new laws favoring oil, gas, and coal over renewable energy.
In the three years since the lawsuit was filed, the scope of the case has been narrowed to whether Montana’s Environmental Policy Act — which requires state agencies to balance the health of the environment against resource development — is unconstitutional because it does not require officials to consider greenhouse gas emissions or their climate impacts.
“Climate change is a global issue that effectively relegates Montana’s role to that of a spectator,” he said.
The trial will last two weeks, with 16 young plaintiffs and their attorneys seeking to persuade District Judge Kathy Seeley that the state’s allegiance to fossil fuels endangers their health and livelihoods and threatens future generations.
Grace Gibson-Snyder, one of the plaintiffs, told the court that smoke from wildfires has worsened with climate change and has become a “defining experience” of playing soccer in high school. The smoke regularly shrouded her hometown in unhealthy air, forced practice cancellations, and kept teammates with asthma from taking the field.
“It’s not pleasant,” Gibson-Snyder said. “It’s so uncomfortable as you’re breathing deeper and deeper.”
An increasingly dire situation of wildfires is becoming more severe and more frequent in western North America — causing health impacts across the nation.“ Climate change is real, and the earth is warming up,” Running said. “There’s no alternative explanation.”
Experts for the state are expected to counter that climate extremes have existed for centuries.
Carbon dioxide, released when fossil fuels are burned, traps heat in the atmosphere and is largely responsible for the warming of the climate. Carbon dioxide levels in the air this spring reached the highest levels they’ve been in over 4 million years, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration said earlier this month. According to the International Energy Agency, greenhouse gas emissions also reached a record last year, according to the International Energy Agency.
State officials have sought to downplay Montana’s contributions to global warming as the trial that opened Monday is being closely watched for possible legal precedents even though the lawsuit’s scope has been narrowed in earlier rulings.
The lawsuit centers on Montana’s constitutional right to a “clean and healthful environment,” and whether that means the state should act to protect residents against worsening climate change. By enlisting plaintiffs aged 6 to 22, the environmental firm bringing the lawsuit is trying to highlight how young people are harmed by climate change now and in the future.
The case is the first of dozens of similar lawsuits to reach trial. Experts say it could set a legal precedent but isn’t likely to spur immediate policy changes in Montana. Its state agencies have never denied a permit for a fossil fuel project, and the state’s Legislature recently passed new laws favoring oil, gas, and coal over renewable energy.
In the three years since the lawsuit was filed, the scope of the case has been narrowed to whether Montana’s Environmental Policy Act — which requires state agencies to balance the health of the environment against resource development — is unconstitutional because it does not require officials to consider greenhouse gas emissions or their climate impacts.
“Climate change is a global issue that effectively relegates Montana’s role to that of a spectator,” he said.
The trial will last two weeks, with 16 young plaintiffs and their attorneys seeking to persuade District Judge Kathy Seeley that the state’s allegiance to fossil fuels endangers their health and livelihoods and threatens future generations.
Grace Gibson-Snyder, one of the plaintiffs, told the court that smoke from wildfires has worsened with climate change and has become a “defining experience” of playing soccer in high school. The smoke regularly shrouded her hometown in unhealthy air, forced practice cancellations, and kept teammates with asthma from taking the field.
“It’s not pleasant,” Gibson-Snyder said. “It’s so uncomfortable as you’re breathing deeper and deeper.”
An increasingly dire situation of wildfires is becoming more severe and more frequent in western North America — causing health impacts across the nation.“ Climate change is real, and the earth is warming up,” Running said. “There’s no alternative explanation.”
Experts for the state are expected to counter that climate extremes have existed for centuries.
Carbon dioxide, released when fossil fuels are burned, traps heat in the atmosphere and is largely responsible for the warming of the climate. Carbon dioxide levels in the air this spring reached the highest levels they’ve been in over 4 million years, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration said earlier this month. According to the International Energy Agency, greenhouse gas emissions also reached a record last year, according to the International Energy Agency.