Posted on 1 July 2023 by John Hartz

Story of the Week

In a Montana Courtroom, Debate Over Whether States Can Make a Difference on Climate Change, and if They Have a Responsibility to Try

The first youth-led climate lawsuit to go to trial considered if a statute preventing the state’s environmental agency from denying permits for fossil fuel development contradicts its constitution’s guarantee of a “clean and healthful environment.

Plaintiff Mica Kantor, 14, testifies on the second day of the trial. He shared that he felt like a "prisoner in his own home" when he contracted Covid during an outbreak of wildfire smoke and was forced to stay in his basement alone. He suffers from asthma and must stay indoors when the air quality is poor. Credit: Richard Forbes

HELENA, Montana—At the close of the final day of their lawsuit against Montana for its failure to rein in development of fossil fuels in the state and slow climate change, all but one of the 16 young plaintiffs filed out of the Helena courtroom with their lawyers, family members and other supporters. Grace Gibson-Snyder stayed, helping the judge’s scheduling clerk, Farrah Looney, collect the beige and blue cushions that had padded the uncomfortable wooden benches where the plaintiffs sat during the trial.

“You don’t have to help,” said Looney.

 “I know,” responded Grace, who smiled as she continued collecting cushions, unwilling to leave until she’d done what she could to clean up.

It was a fitting scene to close the first youth-led climate trial in the United States last Tuesday. Held v. Montana was, on its face, about a very specific statutory provision buried in Montana’s Environmental Policy Act that forbids the state’s environmental agency from assessing the climate impacts of fossil fuel extraction within the state. But the central tension of this lawsuit was much larger.

Click here to access the entire article as originally posted on the Inside Climate News website.

In a Montana Courtroom, Debate Over Whether States Can Make a Difference on Climate Change, and if They Have a Responsibility to Try by Richard Forbes, Justice, Inside Climate News, June 28, 2023

Links posted on Facebook

Sun, Jun 25, 2023

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• TV meteorologist quits after receiving threats and harassment over climate change coverage by Rachel Ramirez, CNN, June 23, 2023
• 41 million people in the U.S. may be exposed to dangerous heat today by Naema Ahmed & John Muyskens, Weather, Washington Post, June 25, 2023
• Can Law Adapt to Meet the Climate Crisis? by Mark Nevitt, Lawfare Blog, June 23, 2023

Mon, June 26, 2023

• World Bank to suspend debt repayments for disaster-hit countries by Matteo Civillini, Finance, Climate Home News, June 22, 2023
• Australian bush fires to blame for years-long La Niña affecting U.S. by Erin Blakemore, Science, Washington Post, June 24, 2023
• Humans approaching limits of ‘survivability’ as sweltering heatwaves engulf parts of Asia by Rhea Mogul, World, CNN, June 26, 202
• We don’t have to be overwhelmed by climate anxiety. Feel the pain, then act, Opinion by Susie Orbach, Comment is Free, The Observer/Guardian, June 25, 2023

Tue, June 27, 2023

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• Millions expected to suffer as heat dome expands beyond Texas this week: Graphics by Janet Loehrke & Doyle Rice, USA Today, June 26, 2023
• At a glance - Are glaciers growing or retreating? by John Mason & Baerbel Winkler Skeptical Science, June 27, 2023
• The rapidly shrinking carbon budget by Zeke Hausfather, The Climate Brink, June 26, 2023

Wed, June 28, 2023

• To tackle climate change, we need less talk about climate finance and more action on project finance by Daniel Duma & Miquel Muñoz Cabré, Perspectives, Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), June 26, 2023
• The Dynamics of The Green Plate Effect by Bob Loblaw, Skeptical Science, June 28, 2023
• Climate change: Deforestation surges despite pledges by Matt McGrath & Mark Poynting, Science, BBC News, June 27, 2023
• Global warming is disrupting humanity’s ‘Goldilocks zone’ on Earth by Dana Nuccitelli, Yale Climate Connections, June 27, 2023

Thu, June 29, 2023

• Brutal heat wave makes Texas among the hottest places on Earth by Denise Chow, Science, NBC News, Jun 28, 2023
• We’re Building Things Based on a Climate We No Longer Live In by Thomas Frank, E&E News/Scientific American, June 27, 2023
• People urged to stay indoors as smoke from Canadian wildfires continues to create unhealthy air quality from the Midwest to the Northeast by Nouran Salahieh, CNN, June 29, 2023
• US public wants climate change dealt with, but doesn’t like the options by John Timmer, Science, Ars Technica, June 28, 2023

Fri, June 30, 2023

• 2023 STATEHOUSE REPORT: Right-Wing Attacks on the Freedom to Invest Responsibly Falter in Legislatures by Frances Sawyer, Pleiades Strategy, Undated
• Anatomy of a heat wave by Andrew Dressler, The Climate Brink, June 28, 2023
• How Much Hotter Can Texas Get? by Amy Davidson Sorkin, Daily Comment, The New Yorker Magazine, June 30, 2023

Sat, July 1, 2023

• US ‘still on the fence’ as nations debate global shipping emission tax by Joe Lo, Climate Home News, June 28, 2023
• You'll Never Guess Who Wants You to Be Anxious About Climate Change by Miranda Massie & Rebecca Weston, Opinion, Newsweek Magazine, June 29, 2023
• Skeptical Science New Research for Week #26 2023 by Doug Bostrom & Marc Kodack, Skeptical Science, June 29,, 2023
• In a Montana Courtroom, Debate Over Whether States Can Make a Difference on Climate Change, and if They Have a Responsibility to Try by Richard Forbes, Justice, Inside Climate News, June 28, 2023

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