Kids Just Brought Montana To Court Over Climate Change. The Case Could Make Waves Beyond The State

Kian T. did not have to give his full name in open court. The judge and the attorneys knew it, but the spectators and press crowding into the courtroom in Helena, Mont., on June 14 didn’t. Kian T. is only 18 years old and, as a minor, he is afforded a certain amount of anonymity. Still, full name or not, he had a personal story to tell about what has become of the climate in his state. “I have had many, many soccer practices canceled for smoke and heat,” he said. “Playing soccer on turf in the heat is miserable. Imagine your feet are boiling in your cleats, burning every single step you take on the field. It burns you out.” [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Claire V., 20, followed Kian T., and for her it is the local wildfires that have made living in Montana so hard. “When I think about summer, I think about smoke,” she said. “It sounds like a dystopian movie, but it’s real life.” As for the prospect of a smoke-free summer in Montana? “Unimaginable,” she said. Kian and Claire are just two of 16 plaintiffs—ages five to 22—in the case of Held v. State of Montana, a first of its kind trial in which the youths sued the state, arguing that the government was violating their right to a clean and healthy environment, and that their generation will bear a greater burden from climate change than the adults doing the damage. The case, which was heard from June 12 to June 19, was a bench tri...
Source: TIME: Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Uncategorized activism climate change healthscienceclimate Source Type: news