Montana Republicans call on state Supreme Court to throw out youth climate activists lawsuit

Republican leadership in Montana will make an appeal Wednesday to the state’s Supreme Court to overturn a landmark climate ruling that found state regulators must consider the effects of climate change when approving fossil fuel projects.

The lawsuit was brought forth in 2020 by 16 people between 2 and 16 years old whose lawyers argued their state and federal constitutional protections, which mandated leadership to “maintain and improve” a clean environment, were not being honored by the state.

The plaintiffs’ lawyers argued their clients suffered harm as the state approved fossil fuel projects without taking into consideration the environmental effects, resulting in an increase in greenhouse gas emissions and degradation in Montana’s environment.

In August 2023, District Court Judge Kathy Seeley ruled in favor of the youth activists, pointing to a 1972 amendment to the constitution that requires the state to protect the environment. This amendment was used to support the plaintiffs' argument that state regulators must take into account a possible project’s effects on climate change when conducting an environmental review. Her ruling has since been cited in numerous lawsuits challenging the permits for an oil refinery, a natural gas power plant, a pipeline, and a coal mine.

But in a brief to Seeley, the state argued the young people failed to establish legal standing because a single Montana statute could not be the result of their alleged injuries as the entire world’s energy system relies on fossil fuels.

Gov. Greg Gianforte (R-MT) signed a law last year that wouldn’t require environmental reviews to consider climate impacts unless the federal government makes carbon dioxide a regulated pollutant.

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“The District Court gave the plaintiffs their show trial last June, but it is now time for the State Supreme Court to do its job and overturn the flawed decision that followed,” said Chase Scheuer, press secretary for state Attorney General Austin Knudsen. Gianforte also pressed for a reversal.

Hawaii faced a similar lawsuit that also sided with climate activists to decarbonize its transportation system by 2045.