Montana Climate Ruling Boosts Case for States’ Green Amendments

Montana youth activists in the first US climate case to make it to trial owe much of their victory to environmental provisions in the state’s constitution, infusing urgency into efforts in other states looking to adopt similar climate rights.

A state judge’s ruling this month that Montana’s energy project permitting laws violate constitutional rights to a healthy environment is a historic win that highlights how affirmative constitutional climate rights—also called green amendments—can be useful in the legal movement to stem emissions.

“It is really going to galvanize these ongoing debates about the value and utility of having a green amendment,” ...