Montana officials made their case today in the first-of-its-kind climate trial underway in Helena. The trial could end earlier than expected after the state pulled one of their key witnesses.
The Director of Montana’s Department of Environmental Quality was the state’s first witness to argue against the 16 youth plaintiffs' claim that the state has violated their right to a clean and healthful environment by promoting fossil fuels.
Director Chris Dorrington said recent changes made to the Montana Environmental Policy Act bar the agency from considering greenhouse gas emissions in environmental assessments of any development project.
“Those permitting statutes are what we follow in order to permit,” Dorrington said. “We have no right with changes enacted by May 10, 2023 to not follow the law.”
The state also called upon an economics professor to detail Montana’s greenhouse gas emissions and argue that they play a minor role in global climate change. District Court Judge Kathy Seeley appeared swayed by the plaintiffs’ efforts to call into question the professor’s data, which was corrected in pretrial reports.
The state announced Friday that their expected top expert witness will not appear in court. The state did not say why Judith Curry, a climatologist known for disagreeing with the scientific consensus on human-caused climate change, will not take the stand. With the change, the trial could wrap up as early as Tuesday.
