Young environmental activists prevailed in a closely watched Montana lawsuit that said state officials weren’t doing enough to protect them from climate change.

Legal observers called it a landmark victory for the 16 plaintiffs: It marks the first time a court in the U.S. has declared that a government has a constitutional duty to protect people from climate change.

These young people were arguing that Montana’s embrace of fossil fuels was hurting the state’s environment by pumping all these carbon emissions into the air, and that that was harming the environment, that it was driving climate change, and that it was violating the state’s Constitution, which Montana has this very unique clause in its Constitution, which says that citizens have a right to a clean and healthful environment.

Source: PBS

[https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/young-activists-in-montana-win-landmark-climate-change-lawsuit-against-state](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/young-activists-in-montana-win-landmark-climate-change-lawsuit-against-state)