August 16, 2023
Held v. Montana Is a Historic Victory for Climate Action—but Also Human Rights
By Peter Lucas
Invoking the right to a healthy environment will likely become a replicable strategy for climate lawsuits across the country. “I see more and more of these trials happening.”
(William Campbell / Getty Images)
On August 14, a Montana state court ruled in favor of the 16 youth plaintiffs who sued the state for anti-climate policies they argued were unconstitutional. The court’s landmark decision in Held v. Montana has been hailed as the first major climate litigation victory in the United States. But even as this case will help reverse some of Montana’s anti-climate policies, it will have an even broader significance, opening up further climate litigation that focuses on fundamental human rights.
The Montana youths, whose ages ranged from five to 22, challenged the constitutionality of the state’s fossil fuel–driven energy system, which they claimed was violating their explicit right to a “clean and healthful environment,” along with many of the permitting practices and policies that keep the system in place.
The youth activists’ victory in the case has all but ensured cascading ramifications for the future of Montana state legislation. The court ruling has already negated one of the most anti-climate laws passed by conservative lawmakers in the country—a Montana Environmental Policy Act provision barring state agencies from considering greenhouse gas emissions when permitting large energy projects that require environmental reviews, including coal mines and power plants.
