kids in Montana sued saying they had right to a clean environment and approving polluting energy sources was taking away that right. Appealed and Montana Supremes voted 6 -1 in a strong opinion backing them. Effectively saying that any permit granted must consider global impacts of the permit and that includes climate change. Interesting State Supreme Court issues landmark ruling to uphold constitutional right for children: 'The ... law is affirmed' The Montana Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in a case regarding environmental issues. According to the EHS Daily Advisor, the court upheld a lower court's ruling that the state constitution provides a "fundamental constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment [that] includes climate as part of the environmental life support system." The judgment comes from a case filed by 16 young people aged between 2 and 18. They sued the state, the governor, and multiple state agencies, alleging that their permitting of dirty energy providers in the oil and natural gas sector was contributing to the warming of our planet. They focused specifically on the Montana Environmental Policy Act, which they believed to be unconstitutional. MEPA stated that any environmental review of new energy deals, such as fracking or oil drilling, could not include actual or potential impacts of that activity that were "regional, national, or global in nature." In other words, companies would not have to acknowledge our heating planet when they discussed the environmental impact of new projects. The Montana Supreme Court upheld a lower court's ruling that the law was unconstitutional by a 6-1 majority.
