As the smoke from a nearby wildfire billowed over the town of Helena a few weeks ago, 16 young people walked into the Montana Supreme Court — to listen as attorneys representing their state argued against them.

Last summer, the 16 plaintiffs, all under the age of 22, had won a surprising and significant victory in state court, for their argument that Montana’s prioritizing of fossil fuels extraction was violating their rights, through its contribution to climate change. Montana has a significant coal industry; but it also has a unique state constitution that enshrines a right to “a clean and healthful environment,” allowing the youth plaintiffs and their lawyers to creatively utilize the legal system to fight for the change they felt had been frustratingly hard to obtain through traditional advocacy and protests. 

On July 10th, the Montana Supreme Court heard the state’s appeal of last summer’s decision. The stakes are high, with the fate of at least one major new project, a gas plant near Billings, tied to the outcome of the youth plantiffs’ case. 

As Richard Haass tells us in his book, “The Bill of Obligations: Ten Habits of Good Citizens,” “Getting Involved” with our democracy can take many forms: from volunteering for a local campaign, to attending a community board meeting, or advocating for a specific cause — as the Montana plaintiffs are doing, in the case of global climate change. The goal is to become a true stakeholder in your community.

But suing one’s state government in court takes particular courage, Nate Bellinger, the plaintiffs’ attorney at Our Children’s Trust, says. “To walk into court, take the stand while the lawyers for your state are looking at you, preparing to cross-examine you, and tell your story before a packed courtroom, that is something most adults will never do, let alone teenagers.” 

18-year old plaintiff Kian Tanner made the three hour drive to return to Helena for the Supreme Court hearing, to show his face to the judges to remind them of whose future was at stake; he says he welcomes the pressure, on behalf of his generation.