Montana students go to court over climate change

 Sixteen young people who say the state isn’t doing enough to address climate change will get their day in court Monday. The lawsuit argues that lack of action violates plaintiffs’ rights under the state Constitution. This is the first youth climate lawsuit to ever make it all the way to trial in the U.S.

Badge Busse is a 15-year-old high school student who lives in Kalispell. He and his older brother have grown up hunting and fishing in the mountains surrounding their home.

“It's hard to watch the things that I love, like, get depleted slowly, like fishing with my dad,” Busse said. “It's like, my main way to hang out with him and my brother.”

Increasingly hot temperatures have eroded fishing opportunities statewide as angling closures during the hottest part of the day have become more common. The state Constitution, written in 1972, explicitly says citizens have the right to “a clean and healthful environment.”

That’s one reason this case has made it all the way to trial. Young people nationwide have filed dozens of lawsuits about climate change since 2015, but none have actually been heard in court until now.

The Busse brothers and their 14 co-plaintiffs say Montana’s leaders need to establish limits on carbon emissions.

Controls on carbon emission are not popular among the politically powerful here.

For the rest of this article go to NPR Montana News

Missoula High School Students Strike for Climate Change, 2019