{"id":397645,"date":"2023-08-17T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-17T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=397645"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"Young-environmental-activists-prevail-in-first-of-its-kind-climate-change-trial-in-Montana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/Young-environmental-activists-prevail-in-first-of-its-kind-climate-change-trial-in-Montana\/","title":{"rendered":"Young environmental activists prevail in first-of-its-kind climate change trial in Montana"},"content":{"rendered":"

HELENA, Mont.<\/strong> (AP)\u2014Young environmental activists scored what experts described as a ground-breaking legal victory Monday when a Montana judge said state agencies were violating their constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment by allowing fossil fuel development.<\/p>\n

The ruling in this first-of-its-kind trial in the U.S. adds to a small number of legal decisions around the world that have established a government duty to protect citizens from climate change.<\/p>\n

If it stands, the ruling could set an important legal precedent, though experts said the immediate impacts are limited and state officials pledged to seek to overturn the decision on appeal.<\/p>\n

District Court Judge Kathy Seeley found the policy the state uses in evaluating requests for fossil fuel permits\u2014which does not allow agencies to look at greenhouse gas emissions\u2014is unconstitutional.<\/p>\n

It marks the first time a U.S. court has ruled against a government for violating a constitutional right based on climate change, said Harvard Law School Professor Richard Lazarus.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be sure, it is a state court not a federal court and the ruling is based on a state constitution and not the U.S. Constitution, but it is still clearly a major, pathbreaking win for climate plaintiffs,\u201d Lazarus wrote in an email.<\/p>\n

The judge rejected the state\u2019s argument that Montana\u2019s emissions are insignificant, saying they were \u201ca substantial factor\u201d in climate change. Montana is a major producer of coal burned for electricity and has large oil and gas reserves.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery additional ton of GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions exacerbates plaintiffs\u2019 injuries and risks locking in irreversible climate injuries,\u201d Seeley wrote.<\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s up to the Montana Legislature to determine how to bring the state\u2019s policies into compliance. That leaves slim chances for prompt changes in a fossil fuel-friendly state where Republicans dominate the statehouse.<\/p>\n

Only a few states, including Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New York, have constitutions with similar environmental protections.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ruling really provides nothing beyond emotional support for the many cases seeking to establish a public trust right, human right or a federal constitutional right\u201d to a healthy environment, said James Huffman, dean emeritus at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland.<\/p>\n

State officials had tried to derail the case and prevent it from going to trial through numerous motions to dismiss the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

Claire Vlases was 17 years old when she became a plaintiff in the case. Now 20 and working as a ski instructor, she said climate change hangs over every aspect of her life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a lot of young people feel really helpless, especially when it comes to the future,\u201d Vlases said, adding that she expects Montana lawmakers to respect the state\u2019s constitution and abide by the court\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully this is one for history,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HELENA, Mont. (AP)\u2014Young environmental activists scored what experts described as a ground-breaking legal victory Monday…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-397645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397645\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}