On August 14, a state judge issued a landmark ruling in favor of young Montana climate activists in the Held v. State of Montana case. The plaintiffs claimed that the state violated their right to a clean and healthful environment under Montana’s constitution. District Court judge Kathy Seeley declared that a state law violated this right by stopping agencies from considering climate impacts when conducting environmental reviews. This is the first constitutional climate trial in the United States, confronting a state’s responsibility for climate change.
Experts at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, an affiliate of the Columbia Climate School, have been following the case closely since its inception. The case summary and key documents can be viewed in the center’s climate change litigation database; executive director Michael Burger recently wrote a lay explanation of the case. This month, the center also issued a new report that explores trends and prospects in climate litigation around the world.
Below, some of of the extensive media coverage quoting Sabin Center experts. This list originally appeared on center’s website, and will be kept updated there.
Michael Gerrard, Sabin Center faculty director and professor of climate, Columbia Climate School
- Montana judge hands young plaintiffs significant victory in landmark climate trial, CNN, August 15, 2023 “This Supreme Court has been more about taking away rights than granting new ones.”
- Kids Win Huge Case on Climate in Montana Court with Climate Change Law Stand up! with Pete Dominick, August 15, 2023
- Judge rules in favor of young activists in Montana climate change trial NPR, August 14, 2023
- Court sides with kids who sued Montana over climate change, The Hill, August 14, 2023 “That’s what made the big difference here — the fact that this was brought under the environmental rights provision of the state’s constitution. That was the key to victory.”
- Montana Youth Win Historic Case on Harm From Climate Change, Bloomberg Law, August 14, 2023 “I think this is the strongest decision on climate change ever issued by any court.”
- What to Know About the Groundbreaking Climate Change Lawsuit in Montana, Mother Jones, June 26, 2023 “There have been hundreds of lawsuits but very few of them go to trial.”
- Youth-Led Climate Change Trial in Montana Sets the Stage for More, The Messenger, June 20, 2023
- Verdict awaited in historic US climate trial, Agence France-Presse, June 20, 2023
- Dramatic week in Montana climate trial as youngsters tell of toll on lives, The Guardian, June 17, 2023
- Group of 16 young people sue state for allegedly violating its own constitution: ‘The State may have to change its policies‘, The Cool Down, June 17, 2023
- The Lawfare Podcast: Michael Gerrard on Held v. Montana, Lawfare Blog, June 16, 2023
- 16 young people are suing the state of Montana over the climate crisis – one resident says the wildfire smoke makes him want to lie in bed and cry, Insider, June 15, 2023 “We are so far behind where we need to be in reducing greenhouse-gas emissions that every lawful tactic needs to be pursued. And litigation is certainly one of them.”
- Historic first US youth climate change trial starts in Montana, Nation of Change, June 15, 2023
- In Montana, Youth File Historic First Lawsuit Related to Climate Change, GLOBE, June 14, 2023
- In Court Testimony, Climate Scientists Rebuke Montana for Support of Fossil Fuels, Desmog, June 14, 2023
- Landmark youth-led climate case heads to trial in Montana, Washington Post, June 12, 2023
- Do children have a right to a healthy climate? Montana case is a test, Christian Science Monitor, June 12, 2023 “It will also be a moment where climate change scientists can make their case in court about the connection between climate change and extreme weather.”
- Historic First U.S. Youth Climate Change Trial in Montana, EcoWatch, June 12, 2023
- First Youth Trial On Climate Change Starts In Montana, One Green Planet, June 10, 2023
- First U.S. youth climate change trial kicks off in Montana, Reuters, June 9, 2023 “A favorable decision could have a ripple effect around the world, inspiring new cases under multiple theories.”
- In Montana, It’s Youth v. the State in a Landmark Climate Case, The New York Times, March 24, 2023
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Michael Burger, executive director, Sabin Center
Judge Rules in Favor of Montana Youths in a Landmark Climate Case, The New York Times, August 14, 2023 “This was climate science on trial, and what the court has found as a matter of fact is that the science is right. Emissions contribute to climate change, climate harms are real, people can experience climate harms individually, and every ton of greenhouse gas emissions matters.”
- Montana youth climate lawsuit exhibits an emerging front against polluters and stagnant politicians, Footprint Coalition, June 22, 2023
- Landmark climate case heads to judge, The Hill, June 21, 2023 “The trial will be a major stage for the nation to see contemporary climate attribution science, which links climate change to both slow onset changes in the environment and more immediate, short-term, extreme events.”
- The trial that marks a milestone in American youth’s fight for climate starts in Montana, Tech Codex, Jun 13, 2023
- The Stand Science Will Assume, Bolly Inside, June 13, 2023
- Landmark youth climate trial begins in US state of Montana, Agence France-Presse, June 13, 2023 “Governments and the fossil fuel industry “tend to say that… nothing should be done until everybody agrees to do everything, and that no individual contribution can be so big as to matter.”
- Landmark ‘kids’ climate trial begins: how science will take the stand, Nature, June 12, 2023
- Youth litigants say Montana is violating their right to healthy environment, KCRW, June 12, 2023
- Western courts grapple with climate change, Grist, May 24, 2023 “It certainly is possible that the existence of a constitutional right will give an individual judge some greater comfort in making a bold decision.”
- Montana Lawsuit Confronts States’ Responsibility for Climate Change, Brennan Center for Justice, op-ed by Michael Burger, May 22, 2023
- Date set for first youth-led climate trial in U.S. history, NBC, February 7, 2022 “One way that people respond when other systems fail, when politics fail, governments fail, corporate governance fails is they go to court to try and seek redress.”
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Other Media Mentions
Why the Montana Climate Kids Can’t Lose, Heatmap, June 23, 2023
First U.S. Climate Trial Begins and is Led by Kids, Scientific American, June 9, 2023
Montana Youth Prepare for Trial in Major Climate Case against the State, Sierra Magazine, June 7, 2023
