2024 Free Expression Awards

Sixteen young people from Montana challenged their state on laws that favor the fossil fuel industry and are destroying their environment in violation of their fundamental constitutional rights. They are hikers and hunters, anglers and skiers, the children of farmers and ranchers. All share a passion to protect their right to a safe climate. They assembled at rallies, leveraged the media, and ultimately shared their stories in court. The world watched as they testified about how climate change has impacted their physical and mental health, their families, their food production, their ancestral and family traditions, their air, their land and their rivers. When they filed their case in 2020, they were ages 2 to 18. Last year, they won the first-ever constitutional climate change lawsuit tried in the United States. In Held v. Montana, a judge ruled that the “plaintiffs have proven that as children and youth, they are disproportionately harmed by fossil fuel pollution and climate impacts.” Lead plaintiff Rikki Held said, “As youth, we are exposed to a lot of knowledge about climate change. We can’t keep passing it on to the next generation when we’re being told about all the impacts that are already happening.”

The plaintiffs are Rikki H., Badge and Lander B., Sariel S., Kian T., Georgianna F., Kathryn G., Eva L., Mica K., Olivia V., Nathaniel and Jeffrey K., Claire V., Lilian and Ruby D., and Taleah H. They are represented by Our Children’s Trust, McGarvey Law and the Western Environmental Law Center.