Youth climate activists are taking the Trump administration to court this week over its anti-environment agenda.
In a two-day hearing in Missoula, Montana, starting Tuesday, the young activists, who are between seven and 25, will argue that a federal judge should block three of Donald Trump’s pro-fossil fuel executive orders.
The hearing, which follows the filing of litigation in May, will mark the first time a federal court hears live testimony in a youth-led constitutional climate case.
The lawsuit specifically targets executive orders declaring a “national energy emergency” and aiming to “unleash American energy”, and another April order aimed at “reinvigorating” the domestic production of coal – the most polluting and costliest fossil fuel. Those actions, they will say, constitute unlawful executive overreach and violate the state-created danger doctrine, a legal principle meant to prevent government actors from inflicting injury upon their citizens.
“At a time when we need to reduce fossil fuel reliance, the federal government is actively setting us back with these executive orders designed to unleash fossil fuels,” Georgi Fischer, a plaintiff in the case, told the Guardian. “It’s incredibly important for us to fight back against these unconstitutional attacks on our rights to life and liberty.”
The Guardian has contacted the White House for comment, as well as the six agencies named as defendants. Alyse Sharpe, a spokesperson for the Department of the Interior, said: “We don’t comment on litigation.”
The litigation was filed by non-profit law firm Our Children’s Trust, which in 2023 notched a landmark win in the lawsuit Held v Montana, when a judge ruled that Montana’s pro-fossil fuel policies violated a group of youth plaintiffs’ rights under the state’s constitution. Some plaintiffs in the new federal litigation, including Fischer, were also challengers in the Montana case.
“If the Held v Montana case taught me anything, it’s that our voices and stories can be incredibly powerful and so I’m hoping the court listens to us and understands how our lives and our futures are being harmed by these unconstitutional executive orders,” Fischer said.
During the hearing this week, some of the plaintiffs will speak. They will be joined on the stand by five expert witnesses and six fact witnesses, including Columbia environmental economist Geoffrey Heal, Stanford University civil and environmental engineering professor Mark Jacobson, global ecology expert Steven Running, and John Podesta, former White House senior advisor on clean energy under Joe Biden.
“I’m proud to speak on behalf of these young plaintiffs about the devastating impact of these executive orders,” Podesta said in a statement. “The plaintiffs make a compelling case that these orders will only make the climate crisis worse, putting at risk the health, safety, and economic well-being of these young people as well as their families and communities.”
The federal government will not call any witnesses.
Last month, the federal government moved to dismiss the youth plaintiffs’ case. In an unusual move, Montana and a coalition of 18 other states plus Guam also called for the lawsuit’s dismissal.
The lawsuit could face an uphill battle in court. A previous federal climate lawsuit filed by Our Children’s Trust ended in a denial from the supreme court this year after being filed a decade earlier.
“These are always uphill battles, especially under a Trump administration determined to tilt the scales toward fossil fuels, but the constitution is clear: no president can sacrifice children’s rights and futures to prop up one industry,” said Mat dos Santos, Our Children’s Trust’s general counsel. “A victory would mean that even presidential power has limits, especially when children’s lives, health, and futures are at stake.”
