THROUGH JUDICIAL ACTION

A judge in Montana ruled on Monday that the state violated the state constitutional rights of 16 young people by promoting the use of fossil fuels and ignoring the effects of greenhouse gas emissions, which…

Sixteen young Montanans have accomplished something unprecedented in U.S. history – holding their government accountable for exacerbating the climate crisis and thereby violating their fundamental constitutional rights. In a ruling released August 14, 2023, district…

In the first ruling of its kind nationwide, a Montana state court decided Monday in favor of young people who alleged the state violated their right to a “clean and healthful environment” by promoting the…

It has been described as “landmark” litigation, “groundbreaking” and “first-of-its-kind.” But behind one of the nation’s most watched climate lawsuits — aimed at demonstrating that Montana’s promotion of fossil fuels violates the state’s constitution —…

Young people suing Hawaii’s transportation agency for contributing to climate change will go to trial next June, becoming the second group of youth in the United States to take their government to court over global…

Climate litigation represents a frontier solution to change the dynamics of the fight against climate change. This Global Climate Litigation Report: 2023 Status Review shows that people are increasingly turning to the courts to combat…

At the close of the final day of their lawsuit against Montana for its failure to rein in development of fossil fuels in the state and slow climate change, all but one of the 16…

Montana’s landmark youth-led climate trial entered its second week June 19, and attention turned to lawyers for the state of Montana as they lined up to make their case. The plaintiffs’ case the previous week…

When Lander Busse spoke to the press after closing arguments in Held v. Montana, a trailblazing youth-led climate case that wrapped on Tuesday, he sounded optimistic.

Sixteen young people who sued the state of Montana over its deference to the fossil fuel industry wrapped up the nation’s first youth-led climate trial earlier this week and now await a ruling. Eleven of…

Attorneys for the State of Montana said Friday they will not call one of their top expert witnesses in the only youth climate lawsuit to make it all the way to trial in the U.S.

When I got an assignment to cover the landmark youth climate lawsuit that went to trial in Montana this week, I thought I was going to be able to pop in, grab some salient quotes,…

Hello, and welcome to Part 2 of our series on personal action in the face of climate change. (Check out Part 1 here, looking at why individual action is a fraught concept, and how individuals…

The US’s first-ever trial in a constitutional climate lawsuit kicked off on Monday morning in a packed courtroom in Helena, Montana.

A landmark climate change trial opened on Monday in Montana, where a group of young people are contending that the state’s embrace of fossil fuels is destroying pristine environments, upending cultural traditions and robbing young…

The first-ever constitutional climate trial in the U.S. - led by Montana youth - has begun!

Montana has repealed its 30-year-old energy policy – including a 2011 amendment that prioritized fossil-fuel development. The move comes as a June trial date approaches for a youth-led climate lawsuit against the state.

“These 14 youth are making history. For the first time ever on our planet, these young people in Hawaiʻi are holding their state transportation department accountable for its actions that worsen the climate crisis and…

Sixteen young Montanans have sued their state, arguing that its support of fossil fuels violates the state Constitution....

Natalie R. v. State of Utah was filed by Our Children’s Trust, a nonprofit public interest law firm that provides campaign-based legal services to youths seeking to "secure their legal rights to a safe climate,"…

Youth plaintiffs and their attorneys in the constitutional climate case Navahine F. v. Hawai‘i Department of Transportation appeared today before the Honorable Judge Jeffrey P. Crabtree at the First Circuit Environmental Court in Honolulu to…

Last month, a Utah judge dismissed a suit brought by a group of children and teenagers who alleged that the state was shortening their lives by authorizing fossil fuel developments. The plaintiffs’ lawyers, however, say…

Young people suing the state of Montana over the effects of climate change are expected to go to trial next June, becoming the first youth climate activists in the U.S. to argue their case in…

A Virginia state judge has tossed a lawsuit filed on behalf of 13 young people who claim a state law that promotes fossil fuel development violates their constitutional rights, finding the government is immune to…

A lawsuit brought by 13 young people against the state of Virginia for past and ongoing permitting of fossil fuel projects was dismissed by Richmond Circuit Court Judge Clarence N. Jenkins on Friday.

Rikki Held grew up on a 7,000-acre ranch in Broadus, Montana, where she learned the family business of ranching, hunted deer and elk, and played in the river that cut through the land. But drought,…

Ava Lazar made her first climate documentary at age 11. "When I was little, my older sister was very concerned about climate change, and I didn't really know what it was,” said Lazar. “But she…

For the first time in U.S. history, a youth-led climate change lawsuit will go to trial. In Held v. State of Montana, 16 youth plaintiffs have sued the state over its energy policy, alleging that…