Youngsters between the ages of 5 and 22 score a historic victory in the climate trial

A Montana judge ruled Monday: “The plaintiffs have a basic constitutional right to a clean and healthy environment, including the climate.”

A juge of Montana a donné raison ce londi à des jeunes qui accusaient leur État d’enfreindre leur droit constitutionnel à un “environnement propre et sain” en favorisant l’industrie des energies fossiles, une decision historique dans le premier grand procès climatique du genre in the United States of America.

The judge declared unconstitutional a Montana law that prohibits a local administration from considering the climate consequences of greenhouse gas emissions when granting permits to fossil fuel companies. This provision of the law was struck down, Judge Cathy Seely decided.

“The plaintiffs have a fundamental constitutional right to a clean and healthy environment, including climate,” she wrote in her more than 100-page decision. It ruled “by prohibiting the analysis of greenhouse gas emissions and their impact on the climate,” the provision of this law is “unconstitutional.”

A feature of this trial is that the 16 plaintiffs who did not seek financial compensation ranged in age from 5 to 22. They argue that as children and young adults, the dangerous consequences of fossil fuels and the climate crisis are particularly hard on them.

“Ridiculous” ruling denounces Montana

Julia Olson, executive director of Our Children’s Fund, one of three associations supporting complainants, responded. Montana announced that it would appeal.

A spokeswoman for the Montana Attorney General said the ruling was “ridiculous”. “The people of Montana cannot be blamed for climate change, even witnesses called by prosecutors agree that our state has no impact on the global climate.”

Montana has a population of just over 1 million, but fossil fuels extracted, consumed, transported and then processed across and within the state generate about 166 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, equal to Argentina’s emissions, according to the ruling Monday.

Historic decision

This is the first time that the constitution of a US state has been invoked in court to attack local authorities over a climate issue. The decision could have major consequences for future cases. Numerous similar lawsuits have been filed across the country, although many have been dismissed.

Montana plaintiffs had an advantage: part of the local constitution states clearly that “the state and all shall maintain and improve a clean and healthy environment in Montana for present and future generations.”

“We have proven that Generation Z is a powerful force in the fight against climate change,” Varshini Prakash, executive director of the Sunrise Movement, which brings together committed youth to the cause, said in a statement.