In the US states that have green amendments, climate advocates will certainly rely on the Montana youth case as they challenge state laws that promote climate change
In a case called Held vs State of Montana, 16 young Montanans sued their state over climate change and emerged victorious on August 14, 2023 from the trial.
The plaintiffs claimed that state energy policies violate their constitutional right to “a clean and healthful environment” — a right that has been enshrined in the Montana Constitution since the 1970s.
In the states that have ‘green amendments’, climate advocates will certainly rely on the Montana youth case as they challenge state laws that exacerbate climate change.
What is a green amendment? Green Amendments are part of a state’s constitution which emphasize environmental health and safety as being part of our basic civil liberties.
While the US Constitution does not contain a green amendment, several state constitutions like Pennsylvania, Montana, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Illinois do. These state constitutions were amended during the environmental movement of the 1970s.
Green amendments function as limits on what the government can do. In 1999,when green amendments were all but forgotten, a single case in Montana brought by local environmental groups over water quality concerns at a proposed gold mine vindicated this right again.
A permit for a project had been issued that would discharge pollutants into Montana waters without conducting any environmental review. In the early 2010s, Pennsylvania enacted a state law that gave the oil and gas industry the right to commence hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, anywhere in the state.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down this state law as violating Pennsylvanians’ constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment. In 2022, New York became the first state since the 1970s to adopt a green amendment.
Success in Montana Judge Seeley’s ruling suggests that in other states with green amendments, state laws cannot forbid the consideration of greenhouse gas emissions and their climate impact during environmental review.
However, Seeley made it clear that she does not have the power to order the state to create a remedial plan to address climate change.
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