Sixteen young Montanans are suing their state over its support of the fossil fuel industry in a climate lawsuit that is the first of its kind to go to trial. If politicians and governments don't act in a manner that their constituents believe to be appropriate, the law courts have frequently sided with the plaintiffs to stop climate damaging activities and the people's rights. If only the grown ups didn't need to rely on their children to seek the right thing.

Opening arguments in Held v. Montana begin today in the state’s First District Court. As climate solutions fellow Katie Myers explains, the plaintiffs argue that the governor, the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, and four other agencies are in violation of the state constitution, which grants citizens the “inalienable” right to “a clean and healthful environment.”
“Although defendants know that the youth plaintiffs are living under dangerous climatic conditions that create an unreasonable risk of harm, they continue to act affirmatively to exacerbate the climate crisis,” the suit states.
Montana is the country’s fifth-largest producer of coal and America's 12th-biggest oil producer. But it was also one of the first states to enshrine a constitutional right to clean air and water. Those distinctions have long been at odds.
“I’ve done as much as I think I can do as a person,” Claire Vlases, one of the plaintiffs, told Grist. “And now I believe it’s time for my government to take action.”