Young adults and children as young as five are fighting in court for a future free of fossil fuels. Led by the nonprofit legal firm Our Children’s Trust, cases in several state courts and federal court are moving forward in a climate action movement the firm calls “Youth v. Gov.”
In Held v. Montana, “The Heroic 16” kids, with the consent of their parents, have been litigating over their state’s constitutional right to “a clean and healthful environment” since March 2020. In June 2023, they rested their case, and as of this writing (July 18, 2023), they await the decision of Montana Judge Kathy Seeley.
NEWS FLASH: Aug 14, 2023 1:52 PM EDT HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A Montana judge on Monday sided with young environmental activists who said 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.
According to Our Children’s Trust website:
Over seven days at the First Judicial District Court in Helena, MT, Judge Kathy Seeley heard from world-renowned experts for the youth plaintiffs on how Montana is experiencing the effects of climate change, how climate change disproportionately impacts the physical and mental health of youth, how Montana’s government has for decades been actively exacerbating the climate crisis in their state, how Montana’s greenhouse gas emissions are substantial and make the climate emergency worse, and more.
The court also heard from the youth plaintiffs themselves, who took the stand to share the devastating ways they have each been impacted by the climate crisis, the ways in which they and their beloved Montana are being harmed by the actions of their own government, and what they need from the court and the state to rectify these harms.
This nonprofit law firm has filed similar claims in Hawaii, Florida, Utah, and Virginia. They expect the Hawaii case to proceed to trial.
Federal Case: Juliana v. US
In 2015, 21 young plaintiffs lent their names and time to a lawsuit against the federal government. Filed in U.S. District Court in Oregon, Our Children’s Trust says the complaint challenges the U.S. government’s energy policies, “through the government’s affirmative actions that cause climate change, it has violated the youngest generation’s constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property, as well as failed to protect essential public trust resources.”
So far, the Department of Justice, under successive Presidential administrations, has tried to have the case dismissed or delayed. Our Children’s Trust makes available a video of oral arguments held before a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit in 2018. Since then, motions and responses have flown back and forth between the government and the plaintiffs. On June 1, 2023, U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aiken granted the youth plaintiff’s motion to amend their case, ruling that they can proceed to trial.
On June 21, 2023, the “People vs. Fossil Fuels Coalition” delivered to the U.S. Department of Justice an online petition supporting the plaintiffs, signed by more than 255 organizations and over 50,000 individuals. The following day, the DOJ filed a motion to dismiss the case, and filed other motions to delay since then. It is unclear whether the current DOJ leadership will try to stop the youthful plaintiffs with a legal tool called a “writ of mandamus,” employed previously by the DOJ under Donald Trump.
