America’s first climate court case is being led by young people

In a US-first, a group of sixteen young people are taking their state’s government to court over the climate crisis. They say local officials have violated their constitutional rights to a healthy environment.

At Thred, we know young people are the voice of change. That statement continues to ring truer as a group of sixteen young people lead America’s first-ever court case over the worsening climate crisis.

Made up of individuals between the ages of 5 to 22, the group is accusing Montana’s state officials of violating their constitutional rights to exist within a healthy and environmentally safe environment.

Building the case, they’ve pointed to Montana’s 1972 Constitution which explicitly states that current and future citizens have a right to a ‘clean and healthful environment.’ Only Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New York have written up this type of environmental protection in their constitutions.

Similar to what’s unfolding across the world, Montana’s air quality has been reduced as a result of increasingly frequent wildfire smoke, winter snowfall and wildlife levels are steadily depleting, and the state has seen a…