Do children have a right to a healthy climate? Montana case is a test.
| Bozeman, Mont.
Ever since she was a freshman at Colorado College, Rikki Held has been waiting for today.听
It鈥檚 not her graduation; that happened a few weeks ago. This is something else 鈥� the day when a major lawsuit that bears her name, Held v. Montana, goes to trial. It marks the first time that young people in the United States have gotten a chance in court to demand the right to a stable climate. As such, it鈥檚 a key moment in what has become a global effort by children to use litigation to demand government action 鈥� and potentially affect public opinion 鈥� on climate change.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 think it would be this long at all,鈥� Ms. Held said in an interview before the beginning of the trial, in which 16 young plaintiffs, ages 5 to 22, claim Montana鈥檚 continued support of fossil fuels violates the state鈥檚 constitutional promise to 鈥渕aintain and improve a clean and healthful environment in Montana for present and future generations.鈥澨�
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onA lawsuit in Montana marks the first time that young people in the United States have gotten a chance in court to demand the right to a stable climate 鈥� part of a larger global effort by children to demand government action.
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of a slow process,鈥� she continued. 鈥淏ut that鈥檚 also meant I鈥檝e been able to tell my story.鈥�
And her story, which she has been sharing with neighbors and classmates for years now, and which today she was able to tell from the stand,听is this: Her favorite place on this big-sky Earth 鈥� her family鈥檚 ranch outside the town of Broadus, population 456 鈥� is increasingly and devastatingly threatened by the effects of climate change. Over recent years, she has watched drying riverbanks leave her animals without drinking water; she has watched floodwaters, connected to abnormally high temperatures and unusually rapid ice melt, decimate riverbanks. Wildfires have swept across the ranch, and she has become accustomed to air quality warnings.听
Climate change is 鈥渘ot just something on the other side of the world,鈥� Ms. Held says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 affecting people in Montana and people working closely with the land, and we rely on environmental systems to make a living.鈥澨�
This narrative, according to the plaintiffs鈥� case, is one that is repeated in different forms throughout the state. There are children who have had to evacuate their homes because of climate-charged wildfires, or who can no longer hunt because of shifting animal ranges. There are residents of the Flathead Indian Reservation who can no longer practice certain ceremonies because the snow has melted too quickly, and there are children who live near Glacier National Park who must stay inside because of smoke conditions.
Their case, then, is not just about justice, the young people and their lawyers say, but about perseverance in insisting that state representatives 鈥� the grown-ups who are supposed to take care of them 鈥� actually protect their futures.
鈥淭he climate crisis is degrading and depleting Montana鈥檚 unique and precious environment and natural resources, which the Youth Plaintiffs depend on for their safety and听survival,鈥� the lawsuit says in its complaint.听
Montana, the lawsuit claims, has an obligation to protect these children鈥檚 right to a stable climate as part of its constitutional duty to maintain a clean and healthful environment. (Montana is one of only a handful of U.S. states whose constitutions include a right to a clean environment.) It is also required to act as a trustee of the state鈥檚 natural resources for the benefit of future generations.
Two views on climate 鈥� weighed in court
Instead, plaintiffs allege, the state has embraced an energy policy that specifically supports fossil fuels 鈥� an act it knew would contribute to the climate crisis that is causing the harm.
But that鈥檚 where the legal wrangling begins.
The state has argued that there鈥檚 no way to show that Montana鈥檚 energy policy actually causes the alleged environmental harm 鈥� and it rejects the premise that the young plaintiffs can hold the state liable for making what it claims are well-considered energy policy听decisions. Some state representatives have also dismissed the youths鈥� claims as misguided advocacy; the lawyers representing the Montana plaintiffs are part of a group called Our Children鈥檚 Trust, which is representing young people in climate cases throughout the country.
鈥淭his entire case has been nothing more than a publicity stunt spearheaded by an out-of-state special interest group,鈥� Emily Flower, a spokesperson for Attorney General Austin Knudsen, was quoted in the Flathead Beacon as saying. 鈥淲e believe this political theater will come to an end soon.鈥�
But Montana district court judge Kathy Seeley has allowed the case to go forward 鈥� despite recent GOP changes to a law involved in the plaintiffs鈥� argument. Over the next two weeks, lawyers expect testimony from the youth plaintiffs, as well as pediatricians and scientists who are expected to talk both about the impact of climate change on children鈥檚 mental health and the connection between climate change and environmental harm.
鈥淭he Held case is really the first case that is going to answer the question, hopefully positively, as to whether the right to a safe and stable climate is part of the environmental rights that the people of Montana are entitled to,鈥� says Maya van Rossum, an environmental activist and lawyer who has started the Green Amendment movement to add mandates for a healthy environment in state constitutions across the U.S.
It will also be a moment where climate change scientists can make their case in court about the connection between climate change and extreme weather, says Michael Gerrard, an environmental lawyer who is the founder and faculty director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University.听On the other side of the coin,听those who might minimize the impact of climate change could face legal questioning听too.听
鈥淚t means that scientific evidence will be subject to the crucible of cross-examination,鈥� he says. 鈥淐limate science deniers have long had a political platform. But they鈥檝e mostly tried to stay out of court because they鈥檝e realized they were vulnerable.鈥�
The trial, which is scheduled to last two weeks, is scheduled to be livestreamed, and Our Children鈥檚 Trust has helped organize watch parties across the country.听
Differing opinions at a local park
But for many in Montana 鈥� even young people 鈥� the lawsuit is still under the radar.听
Hazel Rex, 20, and Taylor Macik, 19, both Montana State University juniors, were leaving Glen Lake Rotary Park, known as Bozeman Beach, after a听recent听day of relaxation in the sun as ominous gray clouds rolled over the train tracks on the other side of the pond 鈥� the very tracks that carry Montana coal from mines in the state鈥檚 eastern region to ships waiting on the West Coast.
They weren鈥檛 familiar with the lawsuit, but after learning more about it, Ms. Rex said she was surprised it had gotten as far as it had.
鈥淚t鈥檚 extremely hard for Montana to do anything about fossil fuel usage because now it鈥檚 about damage control and what we can do to minimize its effects,鈥� she said. She didn鈥檛 feel much was being done in the state to offset fossil fuel use.
Tony Knick, sitting in his plug-in electric Ford F-150,听came here听to 鈥渃ool his feet off鈥� in the pond before continuing on his errands with his wife. He wasn鈥檛 familiar with the lawsuit, either, but he still had an opinion.
鈥淪ome of these lawsuits are frivolous,鈥� the retired business owner said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we really have any fossil fuel concerns in Montana.鈥�
That opinion wouldn鈥檛 surprise Ms. Held. She says that many of her neighbors don鈥檛 call the shifts in the environment 鈥渃limate change,鈥� and says a lot of people aren鈥檛 clear on the correlation between Montana鈥檚 coal extraction and fossil fuel energy policies with the floods, wildfires, and heat waves. She hopes the lawsuit will help get more people talking about all of it.听
鈥淚f you just ask a person if they鈥檝e ever experienced climate change, I鈥檒l get the reaction that they haven鈥檛 鈥� it鈥檚 seen as an abstract thing that鈥檚 hard to see, on the other side of the world,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut people do experience these things. All the time.鈥澨�
Dawson Dunning, a wildlife filmmaker who also grew up on an eastern Montana ranch agrees. He says people don鈥檛 often talk about climate change 鈥� but it鈥檚 clear to them it鈥檚 having an impact.听
听
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of recognition in the ranching community that things have changed,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking very much at a drastic change in our future. We can鈥檛 keep burning and developing.鈥�
Mr. Dunning has been involved with the Northern Plains Resource Council, a Montana-based nonprofit dedicated to protecting the state鈥檚 water, land, air, and working landscapes. As such, he said, he鈥檇 seen the need for vigilant public oversight of government regulators. Mr. Dunning spoke of two proposed fossil fuel projects he believes would have negatively impacted his family鈥檚 ranch 鈥� a coal mine near Otter Creek and a railroad that would have run through nearby properties. Both projects were eventually abandoned after years of fraught legal battles.
鈥淚鈥檓 not a huge fan of things being decided in court,鈥� he says, 鈥渂ut I don鈥檛 see another option.鈥澨�
Stephanie Hanes reported from Northampton, Massachusetts, and Jodi Hausen reported from Bozeman, Montana.
