Sabin Center Staff Weigh in on Held v. Montana Case

On August 14, a judge ruled in favor of the Montana youth plaintiffs in the Held v. State of Montana case. The youth activists claimed that the state violated their right to a clean and healthful environment under Montana's constitution. The judge declared that a Montana law violated this right by stopping agencies from considering climate impacts when conducting environmental reviews. The trial for this case began on June 12. It is the first constitutional climate trial in the United States, confronting the state's responsibility for climate change. Read the case summary and documents in the Sabin Center's climate change litigation database here. Michael Burger, the Sabin Center's Executive Director wrote an opinion piece on the case and the issues at stake here. 

Below is the full list of Sabin Center experts weighing in on the Montana lawsuit, including through podcasts. This story may be updated as news articles are published.

Michael Gerrard, Faculty Director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

• Youth group who won landmark Montana environmental case enters NW Energy lawsuit, KTVQ, December 1, 2023
• What implications does the Montana court ruling have for the UK?, ENDS Report, August 30, 2023
• Climate Change Litigation: The Montana Precedent, CounterPunch, August 23, 2023
• Montana youth climate ruling could set precedent for future climate litigation, NPR, August 23, 2023
  • Michael Gerrard: "I thought this was one of the strongest decisions on climate change issued by any court anywhere...In every respect, the court agreed with the plaintiffs that fossil fuel combustion is the main cause of climate change and [that] climate change is having all kinds of terrible health and environmental impacts which will get worse unless we stop those emissions." 
• Kids’ landmark Montana court win adds momentum to fight for climate protections, The Hill, August 23, 2023
• Montana climate ruling could shape future action to curb greenhouse gases, Helena Independent Record, August 21, 2023
  • Michael Gerrard: “It’s one of the strongest judicial decisions ever rendered on climate change, and it will be helpful to litigants around the world…I can’t say it will necessarily have a huge political impact, given the partisan divisions we have.”
• Climate Change Litigation: The Montana Precedent, Dissident Voice, August 20, 2023
• Montana’s landmark climate ruling: three key takeaways, The Guardian, August 20, 2023
• Youths sued Montana over climate change and won. Here’s why it matters., Sun Journal, August 20, 2023
• MY TURN: Stemming global warming begins at home, Coeur d'Alene Press, August 19, 2023
• DeBriefed 18 August 2023: Landmark US youth climate case; Himalayan landslides; Ecuador votes on Amazon’s future, Carbon Brief, August 18, 2023
• ‘This changes everything’: Experts respond to Held v. Montana climate ruling, Bozeman Daily Chronicle, August 18, 2023
• Montana youth win unprecedented climate case: What does this ruling mean for Canada?, Yahoo News Canada, August 18, 2023
• Montana Youth Climate Case Win and the Power of Constitutional Amendments, Earth Island Institute, August 18, 2023
  • Michael Gerrard: " the significance of these amendments is now emerging full force.”
• How climate science won in the Montana youth climate case, High Country News, August 18, 2023
  • Michael Gerrard: "It was better than hoped for." Though the immediate direct ramifications in Montana are "extremely narrow,...[t]he much greater significance is that we now have a ruling that affirms climate science after a trial and says that where there is a constitutional right to a clean environment, that can have consequences on climate change."
• A climate lawsuit won big in Montana. What will it mean for other cases? Grist, August 18, 2023
• ‘This Changes Everything’: Experts Respond to Landmark Youth Climate Ruling, Flathead Beacon, August 17, 2023
• A Court Win in Montana Could Help Climate Litigation Everywhere Else, Bloomberg, August 16, 2023
• A Win for Young Environmentalists in Red State Montana, Background Briefing with Ian Masters, August 16, 2023
• Judge sides with youth activists in groundbreaking climate change lawsuit, Popular Science, August 15, 2023
• Montana Judge Rules in Favor of Climate Activists in Lawsuit Over Fossil Fuels, Meet the Press NOW, August 16, 2023 (Michael Gerrard's appearance at 00:44 minute mark)
• A deep red state just delivered a huge win for climate justice, op-ed by Michael Gerrard, MSNBC, August 16, 2023
• 1 big thing: Climate law's elemental challenges, Axios, August 15, 2023
  • Michael Gerrard says that only a handful of U.S. states, including Pennsylvania and New York, have constitutional language guaranteeing a right to environmental protection. 
• Montana judge hands young plaintiffs significant victory in landmark climate trial, CNN, August 15, 2023
  • Michael Gerrard: “This Supreme Court has been more about taking away rights than granting new ones.”
• Kids Sued Montana over Climate Change and Won, Scientific American, August 15, 2023
• Kids Win Huge Case on Climate in Montana Court with Climate Change Law Expert from Columbia Professor Michael Gerrard, Stand up! with Pete Dominick, August 15, 2023
• 16 Young People in Montana Just Won a Historic Climate Lawsuit, MotherJones, August 14, 2023
  • Michael Gerrard: “The plaintiffs’ lawyers very effectively put on the stand several young Montana residents who testified how they were personally affected negatively by climate change...Putting a human face on this global problem worked well in this courtroom, and may well be followed elsewhere.”
• 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
  • Michael Gerrard: “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
  • Michael Gerrard: “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
  • Michael Gerrard: “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
• Historic US climate trial may conclude Tuesday, Phys.org, 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 
  • Michael Gerrard: "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
  • Michael Gerrard: “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
  • Michael Gerrard: “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

Michael Burger, Executive Director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law 

• Montana Court’s Groundbreaking Climate Change Ruling, State Court Report, op-ed by Michael Burger, September 13, 2023
• Episode 119: Can the Law Keep Up with Climate Science?, American Constitution Society, August 29, 2023
• Montana Youths Triumph in Landmark Climate Case, Haute Living, August 25, 2023
  • Michael Burger: “He pointed out that the court’s affirmation of climate science’s accuracy and the acknowledgment of the link between emissions and climate impacts would resonate throughout the legal landscape, both in the United States and globally.”
• Behind Landmark Climate Ruling in Mont., a Trailblazing Nonprofit Law Firm and an Army of Youth Activists, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, August 18, 2023
  • Michael Burger: “Their strategic campaigns to deploy youth-based climate cases to move the needle on government ambition has been a leading light in the field...By putting those stories front and center, Our Children’s Trust has moved the discussion of climate change away from a technocratic problem that is far off in time and space to a very human problem that is felt immediately, that is happening now, and that needs to be addressed now.”
• Youth win Montana climate lawsuit, hailed as a ‘game-changer’, CBC News: The National, August 15, 2023
• Young activists in Montana win landmark climate change lawsuit against state, PBS, August 15, 2023
  • Michael Burger "argues that the longer impact, the broader impact of this ruling will be nationwide, because the findings of fact in this case were affirmed by the judge that said, climate change is real, that emissions drive climate change, that climate change can be harmful, and that local emissions in your own state can damage the people who live in that state."
• Judge Rules in Favor of Montana Youths in a Landmark Climate Case, The New York Times, August 14, 2023
  • Michael Burger: “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. These are important factual findings, and other courts in the U.S. and around the world will look to this decision.”
• 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
  • Michael Burger: “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
  • Michael Burger: 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
  • Michael Burger: “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
  • Michael Burger: “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.”

     

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

The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys with Our Children's Trust and Montana co-counsel at the Western Environmental Law Center and McGarvey Law.