They alleged the state’s pro-fossil fuel policies violated their right to a healthy environment.
A Montana judge has sided with 16 young activists finding that the state violated their right to a "clean and healthful environment", which the state constitution guarantees.
She grew up on a sprawling 7,000-acre ranch in Broadus, Montana. Learning about climate change in school, Held thought it was something that impacted polar bears and ice caps far away from her home. But over the last several years, she says she's seen worsening flash flooding, droughts, and wildfires that have negatively impacted crops and livestock on her family's ranch.
Citing a 50-year-old clause in the constitution that guaranteed the "state and each person shall maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment in Montana for present and future generations", the lawsuit targeted a 2011 state law that made it illegal for environmental reviews to consider climate impacts when deciding on new projects, like building new power plants.
Julia Olson, the lead attorney for Our Children's Trust, called it a "huge win for Montana, for youth, for democracy, and for our climate".Similar cases will soon be heard in several other states, including Hawaii, Utah and Alaska, as well as in countries like Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Colombia and Uganda.
About 112km [70 miles] northwest of Held's family farm is the small mining town of Colstrip, which sits in the shadows of the tall smokestacks of one of the state's biggest power plants. In Colstrip, everyone knows everyone, and everyone lives and breathes coal.
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