[A district court judge ruled state agencies were violating
plaintiffs’ constitutionally guaranteed right to a clean healthy
environment. It is the first of its kind to successfully use a state
constitution to ensure intergenerational climate justice ]
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YOUTH LEAD THE WAY ON ADDRESSING THE CLIMATE CRISIS  
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Tina Gerhardt
October 17, 2023
The Progressive Magazine
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_ A district court judge ruled state agencies were violating
plaintiffs’ constitutionally guaranteed right to a clean healthy
environment. It is the first of its kind to successfully use a state
constitution to ensure intergenerational climate justice _

The plaintiffs in a historic climate change lawsuit, Held v. Montana,
arrive at the Lewis and Clark County Courthouse in Helena, Montana, on
June 20, 2023, for the final day of trial. In August, a judge sided
with the young environmental activists who , said that state agencies
were violating their constitutional right to a clean and healthful
environment by permitting fossil fuel development without considering
its effect on the climate. (AP photo)

 

A group of young plaintiffs won
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historic lawsuit in Montana in mid-August, when a district court judge
ruled that state agencies were violating the plaintiffs’
constitutionally guaranteed right to a clean and healthy
environment. 

Our Children’s Trust, a public interest law firm, filed the
lawsuit, _Held v. Montana
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2020, on behalf of sixteen young people whose ages at the time ranged
from two to eighteen years old. 

_Held v. Montana_ argued that the state of Montana failed to protect
young people’s constitutional right to a clean environment when
approving energy projects without taking into account their impact on
the climate.  

This case is the first of its kind to successfully use a state
constitution to ensure intergenerational climate justice.

Montana’s constitution mandates
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“state and each person shall maintain and improve a clean and
healthful environment in Montana for present and future
generations.”

The ruling is important in two regards: First, this case is the first
of its kind to successfully use a state constitution to ensure
intergenerational climate justice; and second, it will enhance
scrutiny of future energy projects during the approval process. 

Montana is the fifth-largest coal producer
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the twelfth-largest oil producer
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the United States. With the ruling, state agencies will now have to
weigh the environmental impacts of any future coal, oil, or gas
projects. The state attorney general’s office said
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would appeal the ruling. 

The momentum of the youth initiative in Montana extends far beyond its
borders. Our Children’s Trust has filed youth-led climate lawsuits
and other legal actions in all fifty states
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The nonprofit currently also has ongoing litigation
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Utah, and Virginia. 

In April 2018, eight plaintiffs in Florida filed _Reynolds v. Florida
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accused the state of violating young people’s fundamental rights to
a stable climate system under Florida common law and the Florida
constitution. Two years later, a judge dismissed the case but issued
a ruling
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would be conducive to appeal. 

Subsequently, on January 5, 2022, four of the youth plaintiffs
involv_ed in Reynolds v. Florida_ filed a petition
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Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), asking it to
establish a goal to derive 100 percent of Florida’s electricity from
renewable energy sources by 2050. 

In response, on August 9, 2022, FDACS issued Florida 50-5
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set the following renewable energy goals for the state’s electric
utilities: at least 40 percent by 2030; 63 percent by 2035; 82 percent
by 2040; and 100 percent by 2050.

In Hawai‘i
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fourteen youth plaintiffs filed
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lawsuit last year, called _Navahine F. v. Hawai‘i Department of
Transportation
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claiming that the state’s transportation system produces high levels
of greenhouse gas emissions in violation of the plaintiffs’ rights
to “live healthful lives in Hawai‘i
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now and into the future.” The trial is scheduled to start in June
2024. 

In Utah, seven youth plaintiffs filed
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R. v. State of Utah_
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arguing that the state’s continued development and exploitation of
fossil fuels violate their constitutional rights to life, health, and
safety. That case goes before the Utah Supreme Court later this
year. 

In Virginia, twelve young people filed
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Commonwealth of Virginia_
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February 2022, arguing that the commonwealth’s permitting of fossil
fuel infrastructure violates their right to a healthy environment. A
court dismissed the case later that year, and the plaintiffs are
appealing. 

In addition to Montana, New York and Pennsylvania constitutions
include rights to a healthy environment via green amendments, and
several other states are considering similar measures, according to
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National Caucus of Environmental Legislators. (A green amendment
amends a state constitution’s bill of rights to guarantee citizens
the right to clean air and water and a healthy environment.) 

The strategy of filing lawsuits to demand climate action is being used
by young people across the world.

A report
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July by the U.N. Environment Programme and the Sabin Center for
Climate Change Law at Columbia University noted
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the number of climate change-related court cases has more than doubled
globally in just five years, from 884 cases in 2017 to 2,180 in 2022.
Those include thirty-four cases that have been brought by and on
behalf of children and youth under twenty-five years old. 

According to a press release about the report, most of these cases
fall into one of six categories: “cases relying on human rights
enshrined in international law and national constitutions; challenges
to domestic nonenforcement of climate-related laws and policies;
litigants seeking to keep fossil fuels in the ground; advocates for
greater climate disclosures and an end to greenwashing; claims
addressing corporate liability and responsibility for climate harms;
and claims addressing failures to adapt to the impacts of climate
change.”  

With the slow pace of international negotiations, climate litigation
is an increasingly important tool.

While most of these cases were brought in the United States, about 17
percent are from
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countries. 

Given the slow pace of international negotiations on climate change
mitigation and greenhouse gas reduction, climate litigation is an
increasingly important tool in climate activists’ toolbox. The
increasing number of cases, and the success in some of them,
demonstrate that they are already having an important impact.

With the slow pace of international negotiations, climate litigation
is an increasingly important tool.

_[TINA GERHARDT is an environmental journalist and an academic. Her
writing has been published in The Guardian, The Nation, and Orion. She
is the author of "Sea Change: An Atlas of Islands in a Rising Ocean
[[link removed]]" (University
of California Press 2023).]_

* Climate Change
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* Climate Crisis
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* youth
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* Environmental Activism
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* Climate Action
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* climate justice
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* climate justice movement
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* Courts
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* Sunrise Movement
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* Montana
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* Florida
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* Hawaii
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* Utah
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* Virginia
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* Climate disaster
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