A group of young people in Montana won a landmark lawsuit on Monday when a judge ruled that the state’s failure to consider climate change when approving fossil fuel projects was unconstitutional.

The decision in the suit, Held vs Montana, coming during a summer of record heat and deadly wildfires, marks a victory in the expanding fight against government support for oil, gas and coal, the burning of which has rapidly warmed the planet.

“As fires rage in the West, fuelled by fossil fuel pollution, today’s ruling in Montana is a game-changer that marks a turning point in this generation’s efforts to save
the planet from the devastating effects of human-caused climate chaos,” said Julia Olson, the founder of Our Children’s Trust, a legal nonprofit group that brought the case on behalf of the young people. “This is a huge win for Montana, for youth, for democracy, and for our climate. More rulings like this will certainly come.”

The ruling means that Montana, a major coal and gas-producing state that gets one-third of its energy by burning coal, must consider climate change when deciding whether to approve or renew fossil fuel projects.

The Montana attorney-general’s office said the state would appeal, which would send the case to the state Supreme Court.

“This ruling is absurd, but not surprising from a judge who let the plaintiffs’ attorneys put on a weeklong taxpayer-funded publicity stunt that was supposed to be a trial,” Emily Flower, a spokesperson for the attorney-general, Austin Knudsen, said in a statement. “Montanans can’t be blamed for changing the climate.”

The case is part of a wave of litigation related to climate change that is targeting companies and governments around the globe. States and cities are suing companies like Exxon, Chevron and Shell, seeking damages from climate disasters and claiming that the companies have known for decades that their products were responsible for global warming. And individuals are now suing state and federal governments, claiming that they have enabled the fossil fuel industry and failed to protect their citizenry.

Michael Burger, executive director of the Sabin Centre for Climate Change Litigation at Columbia University, said the Montana case would reverberate around the country. “Emissions contribute to climate change, climate harms are real, people can experience climate harms individually, and every tonne of greenhouse gas emissions matters,” he said.

The Montana case revolved around language in the state Constitution that guarantees residents “the right to a clean and healthful environment”, and stipulates that the state and individuals are responsible for maintaining and improving the environment “for present and future generations”.

New York Times News Service