Previous Cases and Legal Actions in Montana

For a timeline of current legal actions in Montana, click here.

May 4, 2011: Petition Filed
Youth petitioned the Montana Supreme Court for original jurisdiction asking the court to declare “(1) that the State of Montana holds the atmosphere in trust for the present and future citizens of the state of Montana, and (2) that the State of Montana has the affirmative duty to protect and preserve the atmospheric trust, including establishing and enforcing limitations on the levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as necessary to mitigate human caused climate change.”

June 15, 2011: Petition Denied
The Montana Supreme Court declined to take up the petition for emergency review on the question of whether the atmosphere is a public trust resource under Montana’s constitution because it concluded that the case “does not involve purely legal questions.” The court made no substantive ruling on the atmosphere as a trust resource or any other jurisdictional issue.