2023—Montana district-court judge Kathy Seeley rules (in Held v. Montana) that sixteen Montana children have standing to challenge the constitutionality of Montana’s state energy system, and, further, that a state law that bars agencies from considering greenhouse gas emissions and climate impacts for any project violates the children’s right to a clean and healthful environment under the state constitution.
In determining that the children have standing to sue, Seeley makes a very feeble case that she is able to redress plaintiffs’ alleged injuries. By her account, Montana accounts for less than ½ of one percent of global carbon-dioxide emissions. It’s utter speculation whether requiring Montana agencies to consider greenhouse gas emissions in issuing permits and approvals would result in any reduction in associated annual emissions, much less in the cumulative emissions over recent decades that Seeley says matter far more.