Montana
Plaintiffs from landmark Held case file constitutional climate case against Trump, federal agencies
Twenty-two young Americans, 10 of whom prevailed in the Held v. Montana constitutional climate case, are suing the Trump administration over its climate and energy policies.
The plaintiffs argue in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday that by dismantling climate protections and working to “unleash” American energy, the executive branch is violating the separation of powers clause in the U.S. Constitution. The plaintiffs also argue that the president’s executive orders are threatening their rights to life and liberty.
The lead plaintiff in the litigation is Eva Lighthiser, a 19-year-old Livingston resident who also was a plaintiff in a constitutional lawsuit that challenged Montana’s permissive approach to approving fossil fuel projects. Lighthiser is joined by Rikki Held and eight other plaintiffs from the Montana litigation, as well as a handful of young Americans from Hawaii, Oregon, Florida and California.
During a seven-day bench trial in 2023, the Held lawsuit focused an international spotlight on Montana and its unique constitutional guarantee of a “clean and healthful environment,” which the district court — and later the Montana Supreme Court — interpreted to include a “stable climate system.”
The federal lawsuit Lighthiser and her co-plaintiffs filed on May 29 challenges three executive orders that Trump issued during the first three months of his second term in the White House. The plaintiffs argue that the orders have suppressed climate science and slowed the transition to renewable energy sources in favor of fossil fuels, “thereby worsening the air pollution and climate conditions that immediately harm and endanger Plaintiffs’ lives and personal security.”
The plaintiffs are asking the court to invalidate the executive orders and direct Trump and the 11 federal agencies listed as defendants not to implement or enforce them.
“President Trump’s EOs falsely claim an energy emergency, while the true emergency is that fossil fuel pollution is destroying the foundation of Plaintiffs’ lives,” the 126-page filing reads.
In a press release about the lawsuit, Lighthiser described Trump’s fossil fuel directives as a “death sentence for my generation.”
“I’m not suing because I want to — I’m suing because I have to,” said Lighthiser, who plans to pursue environmental studies in college. “My health, my future, and my right to speak the truth are all on the line. [President Trump is] waging war on us with fossil fuels as his weapon, and we’re fighting back with the Constitution.”
In an email to Montana Free Press on Thursday, White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers defended Trump’s energy agenda.
“The American people are more concerned with the future generations’ economic and national security, which is why they elected President Trump in a landslide victory to restore America’s energy dominance. Future generations should not have to foot the bill for the lefts’ radical climate agenda,” Rogers wrote.
In addition to enumerating the climate harms plaintiffs have reported, including wildfire-related and heat-induced visits to the emergency room, diminished career opportunities, property damage spurred by extreme weather events and a loss of cultural and recreational traditions, the complaint outlines tensions between Trump’s executive orders and the missions of congressionally authorized agencies such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
One of the executive orders named in the lawsuit directs federal agencies to identify and rescind actions that place an “undue burden” on the “identification, development or use of domestic energy resources — with particular attention to oil, natural gas, hydropower, biofuels, critical mineral and nuclear energy resources.” Another directs executive branch agencies to use emergency powers to facilitate energy companies’ access to federally-owned energy resources and the infrastructure required to transport and process them. The third focuses on the development and prioritization of coal-fired electricity.
In the Held v. Montana case, the Montana Supreme Court directed the state to develop a system for inventorying and disclosing greenhouse gas emissions associated with large projects seeking state-issued permits. This spring, the Montana Legislature adopted a framework that state agencies like the Montana Department of Environmental Quality can use to quantify greenhouse gas emissions.
Many of the same attorneys who argued the Held v. Montana case are representing the plaintiffs in this litigation, including Roger Sullivan of Kalispell. Three of the plaintiffs’ attorneys in the case work for Our Children’s Trust, an Oregon-based nonprofit focused on climate litigation that spent the better part of a decade fighting the federal government in the Juliana v. United States lawsuit, a federal constitutional climate case that concluded earlier this year in the government’s favor.
Montana
Montana State doctoral student awarded national research service grant for gut microbiome, arsenic research
MISSOULA — Four out of five members of Montana’s Public Service Commission were in a federal courtroom in Missoula Thursday morning, as the PSC’s former president challenges the disciplinary action taken against him earlier this year. Now, newly released documents are shedding more light on to what led up to this point.
(Watch the video for a closer look at the case.)
New documents shed light Montana PSC dispute
Commissioner Brad Molnar has sued President Jeff Welborn, Vice President Jennifer Fielder and Commissioner Annie Bukacek – the three PSC members who voted in May to require him to work remotely, after an investigation into complaints about his workplace conduct. Molnar has claimed he is being unfairly punished for constitutionally protected speech, and he asked Senior U.S District Judge Donald Molloy to allow him to return to the PSC offices.
Matthew Monforton, Molnar’s attorney, told the judge that barring Molnar from the building was limiting his ability to do his job.
“He has not been officially kicked out of office, but his voice has clearly been diminished,” said Monforton.
But Natasha Jones, an attorney representing the other three commissioners, said the findings were about behavior, not just speech, and that the PSC’s action was a reasonable response.
“These are serious concerns about a pattern of conduct that has made employees quit,” she said.
Jonathon Ambarian
On Tuesday, Molloy ordered the release of redacted versions of two full investigative reports into Molnar’s conduct – more than 100 pages of documents. Monforton had moved for the full reports to be made public, and Molloy ruled attorneys for the other PSC members hadn’t shown a compelling reason to keep the documents under seal as long as the names of people involved in the investigation were obscured.
While the names remained redacted in the investigation reports, the attorneys for Welborn, Fielder and Bukacek also filed additional documents – including a public declaration from Bukacek and from former PSC executive director Alana Lake, providing information about their allegations against Molnar.
The two reports, from an outside investigator, cover Molnar’s alleged actions over two periods: the first from February to August 2025, and the second from August to October 2025. The investigation began after the first formal complaint, filed by Bukacek in May 2025 – though the reports say employees had been bringing up concerns about Molnar’s behavior informally for several months prior.
Bukacek’s complaint claimed Molnar had repeatedly made what she called “sexualized and demeaning comments.” The examples she cited included saying the PSC should replace “Taco Tuesdays” with “Topless Tuesdays,” reminiscing about watching girls in bikinis as a teenager, and commenting about the beauty of women in areas of China who didn’t get “old and wrinkly.”
In her declaration, Bukacek also claimed Molnar had “maliciously disseminated false information” about her and “engaged in behavior that was dismissive, derisive and otherwise abusive.”
“My primary concern now is not for my safety nor my feelings, but for the rest of the staff who may not have the temperament to speak up or may feel too intimidated to speak up given concerns over job security,” Bukacek said in her declaration.
MTN News
The investigators determined Molnar had violated the PSC’s code of conduct by making comments of a sexual nature, and that it appeared his behavior had continued for some time after he was warned about it. They also found he had behaved unprofessionally and in a belittling manner toward Bukacek, though they said Bukacek herself had at times used “language that could be considered inappropriate” in emails to staff or other commissioners. Bukacek told MTN she “readily self corrected” any behaviors that were brought to her attention.
The investigation also found a violation in connection with a complaint from a PSC staff member, who said he “felt bullied” by Molnar when the commissioner sent an email complaining about his team not being “people with competence.”
However, much of the first report and the entire second report was focused on conduct after the initial complaints, when Molnar was accused of retaliating against people who participated in the investigation. Lake said in her declaration that she saw “an immediate and significant change in his behavior toward staff involved in the process.” She claimed he said he would use an attorney and private investigator to go after people who filed complaints, and she accused him of publicly criticizing her in interviews and removing her job responsibilities because of her handling of the investigation.
Lake said Molnar’s actions led to “declining morale within the agency,” undermined staff members’ ability to do their jobs and damaged her reputation. She said that led her to resign as executive director.
“I believe no employee should be forced to choose between reporting misconduct and protecting their career, reputation, or personal well-being,” she said in her declaration.
Lake has since become Helena city manager.
Jonathon Ambarian
The report said there was evidence to show Molnar had retaliated, including by “making disparaging statements about investigation participants” including Lake, by sending an email warning he could file complaints of his own against people involved, and by taking other actions investigators said could dissuade employees from reporting behavior in the future.
Monforton said during Thursday’s hearing that the initial comments Bukacek complained about were jokes Molnar had admitted were inappropriate, that he regretted saying them, and that he hasn’t made any similar comments in about a year. But he argued the vast majority of the findings against Molnar were about retaliation – and that those were primarily based on speech that the other commissioners don’t have the right to interfere with.
Monforton said it’s unreasonable to punish Molnar for what he said in the July news conference where he announced he was under investigation, in interviews with the media or in commission meetings. He said Molnar’s conduct doesn’t rise to the level of actual retaliation.
“This is an elected official, engaging in speech in his forum,” Monforton said.
He said Molnar may have made harsh comments toward staff, but that he had the right to raise objections about the way the agency does business.
Jonathon Ambarian
Monforton also argued the retaliation claims no longer justify keeping Molnar out of the office, since Welborn, Fielder and Bukacek voted to remove him as president in October and he no longer has the authority he’s accused of misusing. He said there haven’t been further complaints about his behavior since that time.
“We’re not asking for the moon and stars, we’re asking for the status quo as it existed for the last seven months,” he said.
Jones said there is enough evidence to show Molnar would have been punished regardless of whether any protected speech was excluded.
“This is not about a couple of jokes,” she said.
Jones said Molnar made maliciously false statements about people like Lake, and that type of statement isn’t covered by free speech protections.
She also said Molnar’s exclusion from the PSC offices is temporary, and that the PSC will reconsider whether to let him return if he apologizes for his actions, accepts the agency’s code of conduct and undergoes training.
Molloy indicated he saw indications that there was “acrimony” on both sides of the situation, and said he was skeptical it would be resolved easily.
“It would be nice if instead of juvenile behavior, there was professional behavior,” he said.
However, the judge said there was an avenue for Molnar to pursue if he wanted to reach a resolution.
Molloy took no immediate action Thursday. He told the parties he would rule as quickly as he could.
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