State environmental regulators must consider climate change as part of their permitting decisions for now. The Montana Supreme Court announced that order this week while they await a full argument in a youth-led climate lawsuit.
Supreme Court justices voted 5-2 against state officials’ request to hold off on enforcing a lower court ruling in the Held v. Montana lawsuit while the appeal is in process.
That ruling found the state’s fossil fuel policies violated the youth plaintiff’s constitutional right to a healthy environment.
It also struck down legislation that enabled regulators to exclude consideration of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions when assessing a project’s environmental impacts.
The state has sought to continue business as usual while their appeal plays out. Both state district court and the state Supreme Court have rejected those requests.
