Landmark Montana Ruling on GHGs Could Support Other Climate Litigation
August 18, 2023–Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)–Fossil fuel litigation filed by youths across the U.S. could be affected by an August 14 ruling from a Montana district judge, who ruled that a state law prohibiting the assessment of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from current or planned fossil fuel projects was unconstitutional.
The Montana constitution guarantees residents “the right to a clean and healthful environment,” the judge wrote in her opinion. She ordered state agencies to “invalidat(e) statutes prohibiting analysis and remedies based on GHG emissions and climate impacts.”