In an historic first, 16 young plaintiffs sued the state of Montana, and won, after asserting that the U.S. state violated their constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment.

In the 103-page decision filed this month in Held v. State of Montana, Judge Kathy Seeley of the First Judicial District Court ruled in their favor based on the state's own Constitution.

The 50-year-old document declares that citizens have a right to a clean and healthful environment and that each Montanan "shall maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment in Montana for present and future generations."

With its decree, the court also invalidated as unconstitutional certain Montana laws that promoted fossil fuels without even considering climate change. The court ruled the youth plaintiffs had proven their standing to bring the case by showing significant injuries, the government's substantial role in causing them, and that a judgment in their favor would change the government's conduct.

Local news reports say the case was "the first case challenging state and national climate and energy policies to make it to trial in the U.S., and is now the first in which the plaintiffs were victorious."

Judge Seeley's Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Order set forth critical evidentiary and legal precedent for the right of youth to a safe climate, including these highlights:

● "Every additional ton of GHG emissions exacerbates Plaintiffs' injuries and risks locking in irreversible climate injuries." ● "Plaintiffs' injuries will grow increasingly severe and irreversible without science-based actions to address climate change." ● "Plaintiffs have proven that as children and youth, they are disproportionately harmed by fossil fuel pollution and climate impacts." ● "The State authorizes fossil fuel activities without analyzing GHGs or climate impacts" ● "(Montana has) the authority under the statutes by which they operate to protect Montana's environment and natural resources, protect the health and safety of Montana's youth." ● "Montana's contributions to GHG emissions can be measured incrementally and cumulatively both in terms of immediate local effects and by mixing in the atmosphere and contributing to global climate change and an already destabilized climate system."

The youth were represented, in part, by attorneys with Our Children's Trust, who called it "a sweeping win."

"As fires rage in the West, 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, Chief Legal Counsel with Our Children's Trust. "This is a huge win for Montana, for youth, for democracy, and for our climate. More rulings like this will certainly come."

"Today we witnessed democracy in action as Montana's judiciary fulfilled its constitutional duty to hold the political branches accountable for actions exacerbating the climate crisis and causing harm to the state's youngest and most vulnerable people," said Nate Bellinger,  a senior staff attorney with the group.

"Despite the state's attempts to avoid any responsibility, the court's decision affirms that the state has the 'discretion to deny permits for fossil fuel activities that would result in unconstitutional levels of GHG emissions, unconstitutional degradation and depletion of Montana's environment and natural resources, or infringement of the constitutional rights of Montanans and Youth Plaintiffs,'" said Barbara Chillcott, senior attorney at the Western Environmental Law Center, who also helped litigate the case.

The trial conducted in June included testimony from 10 expert witnesses as well as 12 of the 16 young Montanans who filed the suit over three years ago. They did not not seek any monetary award in their lawsuit. Instead, the youth sued to protect their right to a clean and healthful environment and to enjoy public lands that are threatened by drought, heat, fires, smoke, and floods.

The legislative and executive branches will now be responsible for conforming their practices around fossil fuels to the judge's ruling, including the admonition that "every additional ton of GHG emissions exacerbates Plaintiffs' injuries and risks locking in irreversible climate injuries."

The State has 60 days to decide whether to appeal the decision to the Montana Supreme Court.

"This ruling, this case; it is truly historic. We are heard! Frankly the elation and joy in my heart is overwhelming in the best way. We set the precedent not only for the United States, but for the world," said Kian, one of the youth plaintiffs.

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