Young Activists Win in Climate Trial
As we have mentioned before, the UK Guardian has been a swifter and more cogent “prophetic voice” on US climate and other major policy failings than most US newspapers. In this case, we share the report of how a judge applies the “secular Torah” of a state Constitution to require policy change to heal Earth-Human relations. The youth of the plaintiffs and the “elderness” of the Montana Constitution remind us of the last words of the last of the classic Hebrew Prophets, Malachi 3: “I [YHWH, Breath of life] will send you Elijah the Prophet to turn the hearts of elders to the youth and the hearts of the youth to the elders, so that I do not come to destroy all Earth.” The entire article is available at https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/14/montana-climate-trial-young-activists-judge-order.
— AW, ed.
‘Gamechanger’: judge rules in favor of young activists in US climate trial
Sixteen young plaintiffs had alleged the Montana state government had violated their right to a healthy environment
Dharna Noor
UK Guardian
Mon 14 Aug 2023 12.58 EDT
The judge who heard the US’s first constitutional climate trial earlier this year has ruled in favor of a group of young plaintiffs who had accused state officials in Montana of violating their right to a healthy environment.
“I’m so speechless right now,” Eva, a plaintiff who was 14 when the suit was filed, said in a statement. “I’m really just excited and elated and thrilled.”
The challengers’ lawyers described the first-of-its-kind ruling as a “gamechanger” and a “sweeping win”, which campaigners hope will give a boost to similar cases tackling the climate crisis.
On Monday, Judge Kathy Seeley said that by prohibiting government agencies from considering climate impacts when deciding whether or not to permit energy projects, Montana is contributing to the climate crisis and stopping the state from addressing that crisis. The 103-page order came several weeks after the closely watched trial came to a close on 20 June.
Julia Olson, who founded Our Children’s Trust, the non-profit law firm that brought the suit alongside Western Environmental Law Center and McGarvey Law, said the case marks the first time in US history that the merits of a case led a court to rule that a government violated young people’s constitutional rights by promoting fossil fuels.
“In a sweeping win for our clients, the Honorable Judge Kathy Seeley declared Montana’s fossil fuel-promoting laws unconstitutional and enjoined their implementation,” she said. “As fires rage in the west, fueled by fossil fuel pollution, today’s ruling in Montana is a gamechanger that marks a turning point in this generation’s efforts to save the planet from the devastating effects of human-caused climate chaos.”
The challengers had alleged that they “have been and will continue to be harmed by the dangerous impacts of fossil fuels and the climate crisis”. Similar suits have been filed by young people across the US, but Held v Montana was the first case to reach a trial. Among the policies the challengers targeted was a provision in the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) barring the state from considering how its energy economy impacts climate change.
Read the full article at https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/14/montana-climate-trial-young-activists-judge-order.
Photo: 350.org, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.