Montana
“Unusually high” number of amicus briefs filed in Montana teen environmental lawsuit
HELENA — Last summer, after a weeklong trial, a judge in Helena ruled in favor of 16 young plaintiffs who challenged the state of Montana over the constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment. It was a ruling that state leaders quickly appealed, and that appeal is set to go before the Montana Supreme Court in the coming months.
In the highly watched case of Held v. Montana, the plaintiffs – aged between 5 and 22 – claimed Montana’s handling of greenhouse gas emissions was contributing to climate change and harming their rights, as established in the state constitution.
In her ruling, District Judge Kathy Seeley wrote that climate could be considered part of the “clean and healthful environment” the constitution guarantees. She said there was a “fairly traceable connection” between a state law that prevented regulators from considering greenhouse gas emissions in environmental reviews, and the climate impacts that contributed to the plaintiffs’ harms. Seeley declared that law unconstitutional, along with another that said challenges over greenhouse gases can’t generally be used to void or delay a permit.
Supporters of the plaintiffs called the ruling a landmark, connecting the state’s energy policies to the impacts of climate change – and potentially establishing a precedent for future climate-related court cases.
However, attorneys for the state argued in their appeal brief, filed earlier this month, that the case should never have reached trial. They said climate policy is a political issue that shouldn’t be decided in the courts, and they questioned whether the remedies the plaintiffs were seeking would resolve the harms they had pointed to.
The extensive interest in the Held case can be seen in the number of amicus briefs – filings from groups or individuals who aren’t directly involved in the case, but asked the court to consider their input. As of Friday, the Montana Supreme Court had received nine amicus briefs for this appeal – which Supreme Court Clerk Bowen Greenwood told MTN is far more than a typical case.
The amicus filings include a brief from House Speaker Rep. Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, and Senate President Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, who argued it’s the Legislature’s responsibility to enact laws to ensure a clean and healthful environment and that Seeley’s decision overstepped on their authority.
Other briefs came from Montana chambers of commerce and other business groups, who said the decision could lead to more litigation holding up projects and delaying needed investment in Montana. A group of 15 Republican attorneys general from other states said the judge’s order would inevitably encourage Montana to make decisions that would interfere with energy policy outside the state’s borders, impacting other states’ rights.
The plaintiffs will have until next month to submit their brief in response to the state’s appeal. After that, the state will have the opportunity to make one more reply before the case is sent to the Supreme Court justices.
Once the justices have the case, it will be up to them to decide when they’re ready to make a ruling.
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A band of moderate snow has formed from the Cut Bank area, extending southeast across Chouteau, Fergus, and Judith Basin Counties. Be alert for low visibility and slick road conditions. Icy conditions continue in Lewis & Clark and Broadwater counties, where snow fell on top of ice after some freezing rain overnight. Up to a 1/4″ of ice has been reported on cars and sidewalks. Freezing rain may mix in again this morning as milder air begins to move back in.
Today’s Forecast:
Frigid Friday, several inches of snowfall in parts of the area-Friday, December 12
It will be a frigid today, with high temperatures in the 0s and lower 10s across central and eastern Montana, and mid to upper 30s in Helena.
The snow band will continue throughout the day, bringing several inches of snow to areas east of I-15. The band of snow will gradually push east tonight, impacting Blaine, Phillips, and Valley counties overnight. Snow showers taper off by Saturday morning.
MTN News
MTN News
Expect difficult driving conditions through Saturday morning, especially east of I-15 and into the mountains.
Arctic air slowly retreats north on Saturday. Temperatures start off in the -10s to near 0 on the Hi-Line and in the 0s for central Montana, then climb to the 0s and 10s for the Hi-Line and 10s to 20s in central Montana by Saturday evening.
Meanwhile, it will be a pleasant weekend in Helena with temperatures in the low 40s. A gusty breeze develops on Sunday, as temperatures warm nicely into the low to mid 40s in central Montana and into the 30s in northeast Montana.
Looking ahead to next week, mild and windy conditions kick off the workweek, followed by active weather returning midweek.
MTN News MTN News
MTN News
Warm temperatures and an “atmospheric river” of precipitation that flowed into northwestern Montana this week have generated a state of emergency in Montana’s northwesternmost county, Lincoln, as local waterways run unseasonably high.
Around 12 p.m. Wednesday, the National Weather Service started issuing flooding watches as area snowpack sites reported 24-hour precipitation totals that were approaching record levels. NWS meteorologist Dan Borsum told Montana Free Press Thursday that the “rain-on-snow” nature of the recent precipitation has led to widespread flooding.
Borsum called the weather pattern “unusual” for mid-December, instead likening it to a warm April.
Zach Sherbo, the public health manager for the Lincoln County Health Department, said in a Thursday afternoon phone call that additional precipitation is expected through Thursday evening, so rivers could continue rising into Friday.
The Lincoln County communities of Libby and Troy have been hit the hardest by the deluge, which prompted emergency services personnel to issue a state of emergency Thursday afternoon. Residents are cautioned against unnecessary travel and those served by the Libby city water supply are under a boil-water order as a precaution in the event of water supply contamination. School has also been canceled for students in Libby and Troy, Sherbo said.
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department has identified a handful of bridges that have been compromised or are washed out as a result of flooding. It suggests residents looking for information on road closures and bridge conditions review an interactive map that is available online and linked in a press release posted to the Lincoln County Health Department’s Facebook page.
“It’s going to take a long time to recoup from this, just structurally, just with the bridges we’ve lost already and the condition that they’re in and going toward,” Sherbo said. “It’s a pretty big combined local effort right now.”
Justun Juelfs, the Kalispell-area maintenance chief with the Montana Department of Transportation said three stretches of state-managed roadways were closed or under monitoring status as of 4 p.m. Thursday.
An approximately 80-foot section of the Farm to Market Road south of Libby has washed out as Libby Creek carved a new channel. MDT is also monitoring erosion that is occurring along a U.S. Highway 2 bridge southeast of Libby and along a section of Highway 56 near Bull Lake. Juelfs encouraged motorists to review MDT’s road conditions report for up-to-date information on impacts to state highways.
The Army Corps of Engineers is assisting with sandbag-filling and distributing efforts and the Red Cross has set up a shelter for those in need at the Assembly of God Church in Libby, according to Sherbo.
The Montana Disaster and Emergency Services agency is also lending a hand with the flood response. In an email to MTFP, Anette Ordahl with DES wrote that a district field officer and a recovery coordinator are on the ground in Libby to offer assistance.
In a Thursday afternoon press release, Gov. Greg Gianforte noted that Sanders and Flathead counties have also recognized the flooding by issuing emergency or disaster declarations. Up to four inches of additional rainfall are expected across western and south-central Montana, according to a disaster declaration Gianforte’s office included in a 3 p.m. press release.
The National Weather Service reported Thursday morning that the Bear Mountain snowpack monitoring site, located just across the border in Idaho, received 6.5 inches of precipitation as of this morning, making it the third-wettest 24-hour period for the site in its 44-year monitoring history. The six-day precipitation total for Dec. 6-11 is 13 inches.
Borsum, with the National Weather Service, said the recent, unseasonable warm spell in western Montana combined with the “super strong” atmospheric river to melt early season snowpack and drive flooding. A similar rain-on-snow event in early June of 2022 led to widespread flooding in parts of south-central Montana that required extensive repairs to roadways and bridges.
Thursday, the Yaak River near Troy surpassed its official flood stage, running at more than 7,500 cubic feet per second. Its usual volume for this time of the year is about 200 cfs.
The Fisher River near Libby was also nearing flood stage. As of Thursday afternoon, it was running at nearly 4,000 cfs, more than 20 times its usual volume for mid-December.
Zeke Lloyd and Jacob Olness contributed to this reporting.
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