8/18/2023 0 Comments Waterford ct doppler![]() ![]() While it wouldn’t be binding outside Montana, it would give guidance to judges in other states, which could impact upcoming trials such as one in Hawaii, Gregory said.Īttempts to get a similar decision at the federal level were boosted by a June 1 ruling allowing a case brought by young climate activists in Oregon to proceed to trial in U.S. Most of those cases, including a previous one in Montana, were dismissed prior to trial.Ī ruling in favor of the Montana plaintiffs could have ripple effects, according to Philip Gregory, Our Children’s Trust attorney. The case was brought in 2020 by attorneys for the environmental group Our Children's Trust, which has filed climate lawsuits in every state on behalf of young plaintiffs since 2011. They rented a nearby theater to livestream the proceedings for those who can’t fit in the courtroom. Supporters of the lawsuit predicted an overflow crowd when the trial starts Monday in Helena. He argued climate change could ultimately benefit Montana with longer growing seasons and the potential to produce more valuable crops. “Montana energy or environmental policies have virtually no effect on global or local climate change because Montana’s GHG (greenhouse gas) contributions to the global total is trivial,” Anderson said in court documents. So the state could, and likely would, proceed as before,” he said.Įconomist Terry Anderson, a witness for the state, said that over the past two decades, carbon dioxide emissions from Montana have declined, but that's in part due to the shuttering of coal power plants. “A declaratory judgment would be a symbolic victory, but would not require any particular action by the state government. Still, such a ruling would have no direct impact on industry, said Huffman, dean emeritus at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. ![]() That would set a new legal precedent of courts weighing in on cases typically left to the government's legislative and executive branches, environmental law expert Jim Huffman said. ![]() Instead, the judge could issue what's called a "declaratory judgment” saying officials violated the state Constitution. Even if the plaintiffs prevail, Seeley has said she would not order officials to formulate a new approach to address climate change. ![]() In prior rulings, State District Judge Judge Kathy Seeley significantly narrowed the scope of the case. One reason the case may have made it so far in Montana, when dozens of similar cases elsewhere have been rejected, is the state's unusually protective 1972 Constitution, which requires officials to maintain a "clean and healthful environment." Only a few other states, including Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New York, have similar environmental protections in their constitutions. In a June 6 ruling, the state Supreme Court rejected the latest attempt to dismiss it, saying justices were not inclined to intervene just days before the start of a trial that has been "literally years in the making." Lawyers for Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, a Republican, tried repeatedly to get the case thrown out over procedural issues. Some plaintiffs and experts will point to farmers whose margins have been squeezed by drought and extreme weather events like last year's destructive floods in Yellowstone National Park as further evidence that residents have been denied the clean environment guaranteed under Montana's Constitution.Įxperts for the state are expected to downplay the impacts of climate change and what one of them described as Montana’s “miniscule” contributions to global greenhouse gas emissions. The other young plaintiffs include members of Native American tribes, a ranching family dependent on reliable water supplies and people with health conditions, such as asthma, that put them at increased risk during wildfires. In high school, Gibson-Snyder was an environmental activist who was too young to vote when she signed on as a plaintiff. ![]()
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