A Montana judge handed a significant victory to more than a dozen young plaintiffs in the nation's first constitutional climate trial
In a case that could have legal reverberations for other climate litigation, District Court Judge Kathy Seeley ruled that Montana’s continued development of fossil fuels violates a clause in its state constitution that guarantees its citizens the right to a “clean and healthful environment.” Montana is one of several states that have explicit guarantees written into their state constitutions.
“Plaintiffs have a fundamental constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment, which includes climate as part of the environmental life support system,” Seeley wrote in her order. Attorneys for the plaintiffs called the court’s decision a “sweeping win” in a statement.
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