climate damage
Trial begins against Montana: Young US citizens sue for their right to a clean environment
In an emotional statement, lead plaintiff Rikki Held described the impact of climate change on her family
©Robin Loznak/ / Picture Alliance
Because the consequences of climate change are affecting their lives, 16 young people are suing the US state of Montana. A process with potentially far-reaching consequences.
A historic trial began Monday in the United States in which children and young adults are suing the state of Montana for violating their right to a “clean and healthy environment.” The “Held v. Montana” case is being watched nationally because it could lead to similar lawsuits after previous lawsuits were dismissed prior to trial.
The 16 plaintiffs, aged between five and 22, accuse the state of having been harmed by the “dangerous effects of fossil fuels and the climate crisis”. Children are “particularly vulnerable” to the worsening effects.
Hero against the climate crisis
The lead plaintiff is Rikki Held, whose family runs a ranch in Montana. In testimony, at times emotional, she said her family’s livelihoods and well-being are increasingly being impacted by wildfires, extreme temperatures and drought.
She recalls forest fires that burned dozens of miles of power cables, “so we didn’t have electricity for a month.” Livestock died because ranchers couldn’t pump water and grass was scarce because of a drought, she said.
In 2021, forest fires would have taken the air “all summer” to breathe, ash trickled from the sky. Because of the mass evacuations, her family’s motel business suffered, said the 22-year-old graduate of environmental sciences.
It’s about an explanation
At the heart of the lawsuit is a clause in the state’s pro-fossil fuel constitution: “The state and each person shall maintain and enhance a clean and healthy environment in Montana for present and future generations.”
The plaintiffs are not seeking financial compensation, but instead a declaration that their rights have been violated.
Most notably, they question the constitutionality of a provision in Montana’s environmental law that prohibits government agencies from considering climate impacts when reviewing permit applications related to fossil fuels.