Judge rules in favor of Montana young people in a first-of-its-kind win for climate activists; decision is being appealed

Plaintiffs in Held v. Montana celebrate in Helena, the state capital.
(Photo by Thom Bridge of The Associated Press)

In a landmark decision, a Montana judge ruled in favor of young people who claimed the state's fossil fuel emissions violated their right to a "clean and healthful environment," reports Kate Selig of The Washington Post. "The court determined that a provision in the Montana Environmental Policy Act has harmed the state's environment and the young plaintiffs by preventing Montana from considering the climate impacts of energy projects. The provision is accordingly unconstitutional, the court said."

The ruling came as a surprise to some and "represents a rare victory for climate activists who have tried to use the courts to push back against government policies and industrial activities they say are harming the planet," Selig writes. "In this case, it involved 16 young Montanans, ranging in age from 5 to 22, who brought the nation's first constitutional and first youth-led climate lawsuit to go to trial. Those youths are elated by the decision, according to Our Children's Trust, which brought Held v. Montana."

The case will be appealed to the state Supreme Court, "Emily Flower, a spokesperson for Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen (R), decried the ruling as 'absurd' and said Montanans cannot be blamed for changing the climate," Selig reports. "Despite the track record of dismissals for youth-led climate cases in the United States, experts said the Montana youths had an advantage in the state's constitution, which guarantees a right to a 'clean and healthful environment.' Montana, a major coal producer, is home to the largest recoverable coal reserves in the country. The plaintiff's attorneys say the state has never denied a permit for a fossil fuel project."

In an unexpected choice, the state did not use a debunking-climate-change defense, but focused on arguing that the legislature, not the courts, should decide what the law means. Michael Gerrard, the founder of Columbia University's Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, told her: "Everyone expected them to put on a more vigorous defense. And they may have concluded that the underlying science of climate change was so strong that they didn't want to contest it." Selig reports, "The state’s defense was unsuccessful. Judge Kathy Seeley determined that the state’s emissions could be fairly traced to the legal provision blocking Montana from reviewing the climate impacts of energy projects. She further wrote that the state’s emissions and climate change have caused harm to the environment and the youth plaintiffs."

"Republican state lawmakers and a petroleum industry representative said that while they are hopeful the state's appeal will be successful. . . . Seeley's decision could result in fewer energy projects being permitted or subject permitting decisions to cumbersome litigation," Selig reports. "Though it remains to be seen whether the Montana Supreme Court will uphold Seeley's findings, experts said the favorable verdict for the youths could influence how judges approach similar cases in other states and prompt them to apply 'judicial courage' in addressing climate change."

EPA spending $177 million to help communities advance environmental justice through help with grants, organizing

Environmental Protection Agency map shows regions
for EPA's new environmenal justice program.

The Environmental Protection Agency is spending $177 million to advance local environmental justice through a new program, the Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center. The money is being distributed through 17 regional centers that will get at least $10 million each.

"These centers will provide training and other assistance to build capacity for navigating federal grant application systems, writing strong grant proposals, and effectively managing grant funding," EPA says. "In addition, these centers will provide guidance on community engagement, meeting facilitation, and translation and interpretation services for limited English-speaking participants, thus removing barriers and improving accessibility for communities with environmental justice concerns."

The initative aims to "enhance leadership and organizational capabilities among individuals and communities, foster community decision-making and cooperative ventures, facilitate connections, and furnish research and information that strengthens community and economic development," says the University of Kentucky, one of eight universities that are part of the Southeast center, run by the nonprofit research institute Research Triangle International.

“Many communities in need tend to be places where there's a higher ratio of minority populations as well as higher levels of poverty,” said UK agricultural economics professor Alison Davis, executive director of the Community and Economic Development Initiative of Kentucky, which will lead Kentucky’s involvement in the program.

'The biggest social and environmental injustice' in a town of 10,000 is to be eliminated, mainly with federal money

Veterans who live in the neighborhood were on the front row
for Gov. Andy Beshear's announcement of the federal grant.
(Photo by Marcus Dorsey, Lexington Herald-Leader)

In 1965, the year Congress passed the Voting Rights Act and the year after it made Civil Rights Act the law of the land, the City of Paris, Ky. (current population 10,000), built a waste incinerator in the main Black neighborhood of the 13% Black town. The site, which had been a park for Blacks in the days of official segregation. Then it also became the city's transfer station for solid waste, now getting 30 trucks a day at the end of a residential street. Residents have long called the site "the city dump," a term mentioned by the Bourbon County Citizen in its Aug. 11 story about a $2 million federal grant to move the station.

“It’s been the biggest social and environmental injustice in our county,” Bourbon County Judge-Executive Mike Williams said after a press conference Monday to formally announce the grant. Beth Musgrave of the Lexington Herald-Leader paraphrases him: "It’s like so many public-works projects in the 1960s — it was placed in an area that had little political will to fight it." Or political power.

The community development block grant, from federal funds, is contingent on the city coming up with another $2 million by 2024 to finish the project. City Manager Jamie Miller told Musgrave that it might use pandemic relief money.

The sign on the building says "City of Paris Municipal Incinerator." (Lexington Herald-Leader photo by Marcus Dorsey)