Rikki Held grew up on her family\u2019s ranch in Montana, watching the land transform amid the climate crisis. The Powder River, which runs through the property, has sometimes dried up during drought, leaving crops and livestock without water. At other points, rapid snowmelt and heavy rains have caused flooding and eroded riverbanks, making the land difficult to use.<\/p>\n
Two years ago, the 24-year-old and a group of other young people won a groundbreaking legal victory, intended to prevent those impacts from worsening. In August 2023, a judge ruled in favour<\/a> of plaintiffs in Held v Montana, in which 16 young people accused the state of violating their constitutional rights by promoting planet-warming fossil fuels. The state\u2019s supreme court affirmed the judge\u2019s findings late last year, but plaintiffs say lawmakers have since passed new laws that violate that ruling. So last week, they filed a new petition<\/a> calling on the supreme court to enforce their earlier win, one of several youth-led constitutional climate lawsuits filed in the US this year.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to keep working on cases like these,\u201d Held said. More on this eventful year in youth climate litigation, after this week\u2019s headlines.<\/p>\n Essential readsIn focusA factory emits smoke in the background of the New Jersey turnpike in November 2017. Photograph: VIEW press\/Corbis\/Getty<\/p>\n Represented by the nonprofit law firm Our Children\u2019s Trust, US youth brought other accountability-focused climate suits in 2025. In May, 22 young Americans sued the Trump administration, alleging that federal officials were violating their constitutional rights<\/a> with their pro-fossil fuel policies, including moves to declare a \u201cnational energy emergency\u201d and \u201cunleash American energy\u201d, and an order aimed at \u201creinvigorating\u201d the domestic production of coal \u2013 the dirtiest and most expensive fossil fuel. A judge dismissed the lawsuit this autumn, but the group quickly appealed.<\/p>\n Eva Lighthiser, the 19-year-old named plaintiff in the federal court case, is also involved in the Montana litigation. Its earlier success \u201creminded me just how important democracy and the power of young voices are,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWith that in mind, [suing] this current administration was something I approached with confidence in our judicial system and the US constitution,\u201d said Lighthiser.<\/p>\n Young climate plaintiffs also filed cases<\/a> this year against Wisconsin and Utah. In September, some also submitted a petition<\/a> to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, claiming the US was violating international law by perpetuating a fossil fuel-based energy system.<\/p>\n The lawsuits face a challenging path. Although youth climate plaintiffs have notched some victories, they have also seen setbacks. Earlier this year, Juliana v United States \u2013 perhaps the best-known US youth climate lawsuit, which argued the US was harming youth by perpetuating a fossil-based energy system \u2013 ended after wending its way through the court for 10 years, when the supreme court declined to hear an appeal.<\/p>\n But the plaintiffs remain undeterred.<\/p>\n \u201cYoung people are inheriting an uncertain future where climate change is only going to continue to worsen, and it feels essential for us to use our voices and take action in [any] way we can,\u201d said Lighthiser.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Held was initially filed in 2020, I was too young to vote. As young people, taking to the courts can be our only viable option in regard to participating in democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more:<\/p>\n