In the summer of 2023, the 16 plaintiffs, all under the age of 22, won a surprising and significant victory in state court. They argued that Montana’s prioritizing of fossil fuels extraction violated their rights, through fossil fuels’ impact on climate change. Montana has a significant coal industry; but it also has a unique state constitution that enshrines a right to “a clean and healthful environment.”

The constitution allowed the youth plaintiffs and their lawyers to creatively utilize the legal system to fight for what they felt had been frustratingly hard to obtain through traditional advocacy and protests.

On July 10, 2024, the Montana Supreme Court heard the state’s appeal of the 2023 decision. The stakes are high, with the fate of at least one major new project – a gas plant near Billings – tied to the outcome of the youth plantiffs’ case.

As Richard Haass tells us in his book, “The Bill of Obligations: Ten Habits of Good Citizens,” “Getting Involved” with our democracy can take many forms: from volunteering for a local campaign, to attending a community board meeting, or advocating for a specific cause — as the Montana plaintiffs are doing, in the case of global climate change. The goal is to become a true stakeholder in your community.