Montana youth stand tall for the state's future

In federal court in Helena, 16 Montana youth have answered the call to serve and are standing tall for themselves, their communities and Montana’s future.

Montanans have a long history of service including one of the highest per capita rates of military service during times of conflict and peace. Likewise, these young patriots are standing to defend their communities and the state from the threat of global warming that’s already taken a toll on their lives – their physical health, mental well-being, and the landscape and flora and fauna for which they express great connection and love.

The youth are challenging state government to reduce the state’s reliance on fossil fuels – a major contributor to global warming – and to end preferential treatment for extraction, transportation and refining, and combustion of fossil fuels in meeting state energy needs. In doing so, they call upon their constitutional right to a “clean and healthful environment.”

The two-week trial began last week with youth plaintiffs testifying to personal impacts they’ve noted over their lifetime and with nationally and internationally renowned Montana scientists testifying to data collected over decades (and in some cases centuries) showing how a documented rise in the temperature of the earth’s atmosphere is impacting Montana through changing annual and seasonal precipitation patterns, stream flows, unpredictable weather occurrences, and resultant smoke.

First-week expert witnesses included climate scientists Dr. Steve Running (UM emeritus who received a Nobel Prize with an international team of climate scientists), Dr. Cathy Whitlock (MSU climate scientist), Dr. Jack Stanford (long-time director of UM’s research station on Flathead Lake), Dr. Dan Fagre (glacial researcher in Glacier National Park), and Dr. Lori Byron (physician and respiratory specialist from Hardin).

They presented evidence of the atmosphere’s rising temperature, the major cause of which points directly to greenhouse gases (combustion of fossil fuels), and the dramatic change global warming is having on Montana’s water resources, seasons, flora and fauna, and the health of its youth.

One outstanding takeaway from their testimony is the variable degree to which global warming impacts different regions. It’s not equal everywhere. One plaintiff recalled, as a young child, raising funds for the Marshall Islands with a Marshallese friend. The Marshall Islands are now threatened by rising sea level and submergence.

Likewise, Montana, a landlocked and high-elevation state dependent on winter mountain snowpack, is seeing greater impact than many other states or regions.

A carbon-accounting expert from the Stockholm Environment Institute, Seattle-based Peter Erickson, provided data for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in Montana, the nation, and the world, and concluded that CO2 emissions to the atmosphere contribute to global warming in a collective manner. One ton of CO2 released to the atmosphere in one place is equal to one ton of CO2 released in another.

Yet, as Montana scientists testified, the heating impact of one ton of CO2 is not equal. Impact appears to be greater on Montana.

On Friday, June 16, Stanford University’s Dr. Mark Jacobson provided documentation for feasible Montana pathways to renewable non-global-warming energy sources and alternative technologies. He showed that Montana and Montana citizens would realize great savings over time through transition away from dependence on fossil fuels.

Dr. Jacobson’s testimony pointed to roadblocks to transition pathways, corroborated by earlier testimony by expert Anne Hedges from the Montana Environmental Information Center regarding historical energy policy and permitting activities in Montana. That testimony showed threats to Montana from global warming were recognized by state government as early as the 1970s, and initial steps to study and adapt were undertaken.

More recently, however, efforts to address global warming have been largely discarded by state government while roadblocks have been added or reinforced.

In cross-examination, attorneys defending Montana state government in the lawsuit repeatedly shirked or attempted to shift state responsibility off to other states, agencies, or nations, arguing Montana’s CO2 contribution is small, thus no big deal.

Yet expert testimony stated that all contributions are equal, and impacts on Montana may be greater.

State attorneys also turned to the lack of EV charging stations in Jordan and along the Hi-Line. Their argument coincidentally highlights a failure on the part of state government to address or plan for the needs of these residents today and into the future.

The greatest takeaway from this lawsuit so far is that Montana citizens and communities can be extremely proud of these young Montana plaintiffs for standing up and demanding removal of state roadblocks to clean energy that deny them their constitutional rights and threaten the future of all Montana citizens.

Hal Schmid is a researcher, writer, and educator from Lake County and a member of Northern Plains Resource Council, a grassroots conservation and family agriculture group.