Article IX of the Montana Constitution is entitled Environment And Natural Resources. In Section 1, Article IX, it says:
- The state and each person shall maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment in Montana for present and future generations.
- The legislature shall provide for the administration and enforcement of this duty.
- The legislature shall provide adequate remedies for the protection of the environmental life support system from degradation and provide adequate remedies to prevent unreasonable depletion and degradation of natural resources.
In the 2023 session of the Montana legislature, Republicans passed new laws that attempted to limit the effect of that section of the state’s constitution. In its ruling, the court brushed aside those new laws as being clearly unconstitutional. Montana has the largest reserves of recoverable coal in the nation and has a flourishing oil and methane gas industry. The Guardian reports that its greenhouse gas emissions exceed those of some nations.
Steve Hanley
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There are many competitors for craziest court decision this year, but the Montana Supreme Court may take the prize. A 6-1 majority this week effectively declared—get this—a state constitutional right to protection from climate change. What’s next? A right to sunshine?
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