A Montana judge dismissed a children's lawsuit against United States President Donald Trump's energy policies.
On Wednesday, a federal district court in Montana granted the Trump administration's request to have a youth-led lawsuit challenging the government's efforts, which is to increase the extraction and use of fossil fuels and other actions that suppress climate science and undermine renewable energy, tossed out.
Montana Court Dismisses Lawsuit Against Trump Admin
While the Montana court found it plausible that these actions would result in grave harm to the health and well-being of children, it also determined that it was simply powerless to stop them from being carried out.
Because if the court tries to do so, that would mean it would tread into the realm of policymaking that is reserved for Congress. When the court made its determination, it followed what is viewed as a binding precedent from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
It ruled in the landmark Juliana v. United States youth climate case that courts do not have the authority to provide the plaintiffs' requested relief to alleviate the harms of climate change, according to Inside Climate News.
The decision in the latest case, known as Lighthiser v. Trump, comes after the court held a two-day hearing in mid-September. That hearing included live testimony from some of the youth plaintiffs and six expert witnesses.
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The witnesses included climate scientists, doctors, economists, and renewable energy experts. That hearing marked the first time in the history of the United States that a federal court heard live testimony in a youth climate lawsuit.
The 22 plaintiffs in the latest case included youths who won in a landmark climate trial against the state of Montana two years ago. During the testimonies, activists and experts described Trump's actions as a growing danger to children and the planet, the Associated Press reported.
The Threat of Climate Change
On Wednesday, a United Nations agency said that heat-trapping carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere rose by the highest amount last year. This allegedly "turbo-charged" the climate and made weather more extreme across the globe.
Judge Dana Christensen dedicated long portions of the decision to recounting what expert witnesses and plaintiffs had testified about in court. He said, "The record further demonstrates that climate change and the exposure from fossil fuels present a children's health emergency."
On the other hand, the Justice Department, which represented the president and 12 federal agencies and their leaders, also spoke. They said that the court's decision throws out a sweeping and "baseless attack on President Trump's energy agenda," as per the New York Times.
