We, as minors of all ages, have been told to “do our part” to save the environment: to recycle, to plant a tree, to walk or bike to school instead of driving. That’s all well and good, but it’s not going to be what ultimately stops the ocean levels from rising and thousands of species from dying as our world withers. That change hinges on corporations, which in turn hinge on our government—-a government we don’t have a voice in.
It’s like being a young child who isn’t quite old enough to ride a roller coaster yet. “Wait until you’re older,” we’re told. But, we can’t. By the time we’re in charge of our lives, they’ll have been long ruined by today’s disregard for the environment.
On Aug. 14, however, a judge in Montana set off what could very well allow us to quit idling. Judge Kathy Seeley ruled that the Montana government had failed to give proper consideration to the environmental impacts of the fossil fuel projects it approved, and that such negligence was unconstitutional. The Plaintiffs? 5-to-22-year-olds concerned for their futures. The trial, Held v. Montana, is the only case of its nature ever to be heard in a United States court. Its success means good things for Montana, but great things for the entire nation—-it means that we as youth have received the green light to tackle our problems at the source: corporations and the government.
Held v. Montana is a crack in the no-kids-allowed dam. Its ruling sets a precedent which argues that the future rights of posterity must be more heavily weighed in state decisions, and deems environmental welfare a right. Our environment is, after all, the setting of our very existence, and impacts every aspect of our lives: our health, our economy, our happiness, and just about everything else. Now, with Held v. Montana as a backing, youth have been legally validated as we have never been validated before. We do have the ability to act before it’s too late, and it doesn’t matter how old we are.
It’s time for the kids to go to court. Capitalizing on the momentum of Held v. Montana while we can is critical, and it’s already happening. Our Children’s Trust (OCT) has been up and running since 2010 and is open to assisting groups all across the country, not just in Montana. Twenty-one Oregon youths filed Juliana v. United States in 2015 through OCT, and Ann Aiken, federal judge in the Oregon U.S. district court, granted a motion to have the case go to trial in open court, meaning it will be a publicly accessible trial.
The suit asserts that Oregon’s actions to favor the fossil fuel industry compromise posterity’s rights to have a future of life, liberty, property, and other resources necessary for them to survive, such as potable water and breathable air. Similarly, the lawsuit Navahine v. Hawai’i Department of Transportation was filed in 2022 through OCT and seeks to hold the Hawaiian government accountable for its destruction of the atmosphere through a transportation system rife with greenhouse gas emissions.
This trend of lawsuits, each bolstered by the others, and galvanized, empowered children, will proliferate. It must. We may not have to deal with the full-force devastation of climate change yet, but we will one day. And our children. And their children, and their children, until there comes a time when there are no more children and no life on Earth anymore. Our legal system will make or break our future, and Held is proof we can influence it, no matter our age.
Montana leads, and we must follow.
