The Montana Supreme Court found that the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it denied the State of Montana and other State appellants’ (State’s) motion to stay the trial court’s judgment that youth plaintiffs’ rights under the Montana Constitution were violated by a provision of the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) that prohibited consideration of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change in environmental reviews. The Supreme Court found that the State did not meet its burden of demonstrating good cause for relief from the denial of the stay. Regarding the first factor for a stay—whether the stay applicant has made a strong showing that it is likely to succeed on the merits—the Supreme Court noted that the State had not made an argument to support its contention that the State “only needed to demonstrate that the case involves novel and unsettled legal questions.” Regarding the second factor concerning irreparable harm to the State, the Supreme Court found that the State did not explain “why it believes it would be exceedingly burdensome to reimplement methods for greenhouse gas and climate impacts analysis when it had previously done so” in MEPA reviews. The Supreme Court also found that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by failing to address whether enjoining a state from enacting legislation constitutes irreparable harm, an argument the State did not make before the trial court. Regarding the third factor, which concerns harms to other parties, the Supreme Court noted that the State did not address the trial court’s reasoning that loss of a constitutional right constitutes an irreparable injury and instead argued that the plaintiffs would not suffer harm because the State would continue to issue permits for fossil fuel projects regardless of whether a stay was in place. The Supreme Court said this failed to meet the State’s burden of showing abuse of discretion. With respect to the fourth factor—where the public interest lies—the Supreme Court found that where each side asserted “a valid public interest,” it could not conclude that the trial court abused its discretion. Two justices would have granted the motion for stay.

Lawsuit seeking declaration of right under the Montana constitution to a stable climate system and to compel Montana to prepare and implement a remedial plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Held v. State

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Montana Supreme Court Declined to Stay Judgment for Youth Plaintiffs in Climate Case Against State of Montana

Filed

United States of America

Montana

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Montana Supreme Court Declined to Stay Judgment for Youth Plaintiffs in Climate Case Against State of Montana

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector