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Montana’s Supreme Court has ruled that youth plaintiffs have a right to a “stable climate system” and revoked a law that prevented regulators from considering the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions when permitting fossil fuel projects.
Leehi Yona
Assistant Professor of Law, Cornell Law School
Cornell University climate and environment legal scholar, Leehi Yona, says the ruling marks a “groundbreaking moment,” and that the case could serve as a model for future lawsuits. Yona’s research focuses on legal frameworks for greenhouse gas accounting, climate justice and regulatory strategies for transformative environmental governance.
Yona says:
“The Montana Supreme Court ruling in Held is a groundbreaking moment for climate litigation. In siding with the plaintiffs, the state’s highest court emphasizes that young Montanans have a right to be protected from the harms of climate change.
“Critically, this decision highlights that the state has a responsibility to account for greenhouse gas emissions when it analyzes the environmental impacts of government actions.
“This is a historic case and one that could serve as a model for state-level lawsuits, particularly as an alternative to federal courts (such as the U.S. Supreme Court, which currently seems unreceptive to climate cases).”
