Sixteen young people are about to make history. The first youth-led climate case to go to trial in the United States starts next week in Helena, Mont., where plaintiffs are accusing state officials of violating their right to a stable climate by rubber-stamping coal, oil and gas projects. Even if the case does little to stop Montana from using its huge coal reserves, the case could influence U.S. policy by bolstering climate fights elsewhere, writes Lesley Clark. “To have the ability to go to trial and submit evidence that the advancement of fossil fuels has an effect on the climate and warming … that’s a pretty tremendous thing,” Sandra Zellmer, a law professor at the University of Montana, told Lesley. “It’s monumental that this is getting to trial in a state like Montana.” Montana’s usable coal reserves, the largest in the nation, account for about 30 percent of the country’s total. The state also contributes about one in every 200 barrels of U.S. oil produced annually. Montana has never denied a permit for a fossil fuel project, Lesley writes. A clean and healthful environment: The group of young people accuses Montana of violating the state’s 1972 Constitution, which provides a right to a “clean and healthful environment.” State officials have vigorously rejected the accusation. Republican Attorney General Austin Knudsen unsuccessfully petitioned the Montana Supreme Court to dismiss the case. State Senate Majority Leader Steve Fitzpatrick, also a Republican, called the lawsuit a “waste of time.” “We support natural resources in this state,” Fitzpatrick said, “but the Legislature is certainly not going to adopt the ideology of the environmental movement.” Kid trendsetters: The 16 plaintiffs in Montana are seeing the inside of a courtroom well before another case, Juliana v. United States, which makes similar accusations against the federal government. That complaint by 21 young activists was dismissed in 2020, but a judge in Oregon ruled last week that the plaintiffs can amend their complaint to revive the case. The Montana suit builds on a global trend. In Colombia, for example, 25 young people won a lawsuit in 2018 against their government for failing to protect their rights to a safe environment. A German court ruled in favor of youth plaintiffs in 2021, finding that the country’s climate law did not go far enough.
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