By Amy Beth Hanson and Matthew Brown
A Montana judge on Monday sided with young environmental activists who said state agencies were violating their constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment by permitting fossil fuel development without considering its effect on the climate.
The ruling in the first-of-its- kind trial in the U.S. adds to a small number of legal decisions around the world that have established a government duty to protect citizens from climate change.
District Court Judge Kathy Seeley found the policy the state uses in evaluating requests for fossil fuel permits — which does not allow agencies to evaluate the effects of greenhouse gas emissions — is unconstitutional.
Julia Olson, an attorney representing the youth and with Our Children’s Trust, an Oregon environmental group that has filed similar lawsuits in every state since 2011, celebrated the ruling.
“As fires rage in the West, fueled by fossil fuel pollution, today’s ruling in Montana is a game-changer that marks a turning point in this generation’s efforts to save the planet from the devastating effects of human-caused climate chaos,” Olson said in a statement. “This is a huge win for Montana, for youth, for democracy, and for our climate. More rulings like this will certainly come.”
Judge Seeley wrote in the ruling that “Montana’s emissions and climate change have been proven to be a substantial factor in causing climate impacts to Montana’s environment and harm and injury” to the youth.
However, it's up to the state Legislature to determine how to bring the policy into compliance. That leaves slim chances for immediate change in a fossil fuel-friendly state where Republicans dominate the statehouse.
Attorneys for the 16 plaintiffs, ranging in age from 5 to 22, presented evidence during the two-week trial in June that increasing carbon dioxide emissions are driving hotter temperatures, more drought and wildfires and decreased snowpack. Those changes are harming the young people's physical and mental health, according to experts brought in by the plaintiffs.
The state argued that even if Montana completely stopped producing C02, it would have no effect on a global scale because states and countries around the world contribute to the amount of C02 in the atmosphere.
A remedy has to offer relief, the state said, or it’s not a remedy at all.
Tax filing season is officially upon us, just as the IRS returns to full strength following the five-week government shutdown. But tax filers should expect some turbulence along the way, said Nicole Kaeding, director of federal projects at the Tax Foundation, a tax policy think tank.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Monday, Jan. 28, 2019.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
President Trump announced on Friday that he reached a tentative deal with Democrats to reopen the government temporarily while the two sides continue to negotiate on border security. The continuing resolution would fund the government at current levels for three weeks, until Feb. 15. While Trump framed the deal as a victory, he was essentially agreeing to the same proposal that was offered by Democrats before the shutdown, which he had rejected.
President Trump's longtime ally Roger Stone was arrested Friday in connection with Robert Mueller's Russia probe. The FAA reported delays at several major airports across the U.S. because of an increase in employees taking sick leave at air traffic control centers. And Lois Backon, head of Corporate Partner Marketing for JPMorgan Chase, tells Cheddar how the bank partners with celebrities to share their financial planning tips.
Early Friday morning, FBI agents in riot gear arrested Roger Stone, a longtime Trump adviser, at his Florida home. He was charged with five counts of making false statements, one count of witness tampering and one count of obstruction, related to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the election.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Friday, Jan. 25, 2019.
As the partial government shutdown enters its sixth week, it's up to moderates on both sides of the aisle to compromise on a solution to reopen the government, even if it means giving President Trump a partial victory on border funds, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) told Cheddar. "Let me be clear, I'm willing to support more border security," the Virginia Democrat told Cheddar's J.D. Durkin on Wednesday. "But we ought to do it without these lives being held in hostage. Let's get the government open, even if it's for a few weeks, to let us negotiate."
It was an urgent warning from a group of professionals not known for a proclivity to scare the public. "In our risk averse industry, we cannot even calculate the level of risk currently at play, nor predict the point at which the entire system will break. It is unprecedented," the statement read in part. It was issued jointly on Wednesday, from the unions representing America's air-traffic controllers, pilots, and flight attendants.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019.
