Montana Supreme Court takes up kids’ climate case - E&E News by POLITICO
Montana Supreme Court takes up kids’ climate case - E&E News by POLITICO
Montana’s highest court will soon decide the fate of a landmark legal victory for young climate activists that upended the state’s approach to fossil fuel development.
Oral arguments scheduled for Wednesday morning in the Montana Supreme Court come nearly a year to the day after a state judge found that the youth have a constitutional right to a stable climate and struck down laws that bar state agencies from considering climate effects.
The decision, which resulted from a first-of-its-kind U.S. youth climate trial, has inspired similar litigation in other parts of the country. The ruling has prompted the Montana Department of Environmental Quality to hold “listening sessions” to help it revamp state law and has been cited in a push for the Montana Public Service Commission to include climate effects in regulatory decisions.
State officials are now asking the Montana Supreme Court to put a stop to that work.
Related Knowledge Center: Air emissions
More than 30 years after the last major update of the Clean Air Act, the U.S. Supreme Court has upended the ability of Congress to give the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies broad scope to combat air pollution, including the emission of greenhouse gases. Meanwhile, further Biden administration efforts to limit emissions face opposition in the courts.