The Montana Environmental Policy Act Violates the Constitutional Right to Clean, Healthy and Environmentally Responsible Lives: A Motion by Julia Seeley

Montana has rights to a clean and healthful environment for residents and future generations. The plaintiffs sought to force the state to drop a provision in the Montana Environmental Policy Act that barred officials from considering the consequences of climate change when permitting new energy projects, saying it violated those constitutional rights.

It is up to the Legislature to bring the policy into compliance. That leaves slim chances for immediate change in a fossil fuel-friendly state where Republicans dominate the statehouse.

The judge’s decision, however, is likely to face legal challenges that would send the case to the Supreme Court of Montana. If that happens, plaintiffs would face a lengthy legal battle before winning any concrete policy changes.

Julia’s statement said the ruling was a huge win for Montana, for the youth, for democracy, and for our climate.

The office of Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen planned to appeal the ruling, which was decried by Emily Flower as “absurd”. She felt that Seeley should have stopped the taxpayer-funded publicity stunt.

The Case for Lowering CO2 Emissions of the Atmosphere: State and U.S. Claims in the June 6-July Trial

Attorneys for the 16 plaintiffs, ranging in age from 5 to 22, presented evidence during the two-week trial in June that increasing carbon dioxide emissions are driving hotter temperatures, more drought and wildfires and decreased snowpack.

The state argued that even if Montana completely stopped producing C02, it would have no effect on a global scale because states and countries around the world contribute to the amount of C02 in the atmosphere. The state said that a remedy had to offer relief, or it wasn’t a remedy at all.

The state tried to prevent the case from going to trial. Seeley didn’t accept those attempts.

Our Children’s Trust has raised over $20 million to press lawsuits in state and federal court. No previous attempts were made to have a trial.

Carbon dioxide, which is released when fossil fuels are burned, traps heat in the atmosphere and is largely responsible for the warming of the climate. This spring, carbon dioxide levels in the air reached the highest levels they’ve been in over 4 million years, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration said earlier this month.