Author: micah
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Battle for a Better Future
Denali Sagner | Flathead Beacon It’s a Monday afternoon in mid-May, and it’s hot for May —75 degrees and sunny. “A lot of kids in my generation grew up playing video games, being stuck indoors. My parents emphasized spending time outdoors and really embracing nature.” Tanner continued. “It’s sort of ingrained in my being to…
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Running Toward a Future in the Face of Climate Change
Micah Drew | Flathead Beacon He finished the race in 40 minutes and 53 seconds, good enough for a 12th place finish behind racers all at least five years older than him. After taking a moment to catch his breath and grab a drink of water, Kantor headed back to the starting line. Less than…
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For the Busse Brothers, Climate Change is a Reality — and a Violation of Constitutional Rights
By Micah Drew | Flathead Beacon “One of the main things I look forward to when I think about my future is looking at weather reports, seeing if fresh pow dropped, and getting to go ski it,” Badge said. While riding the chairlift one winter, his freestyle coach made an offhand comment about the future…
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Who is ‘Held’ of Held v. State of Montana?
By Micah Drew | Flathead Beacon Held was brought to the legal table by a meandering path that runs through the heart of her family’s ranch. Held grew up on a 7,000-acre cattle ranch and saw the destruction of the land and her family’s livelihood caused by the changing climate — an experience she feels…
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Montana Lawmakers Double Down on Fossil Fuels in 2023 Legislative Session
Amanda Eggert | Montana Free Press In 1972, 100 delegates rewrote Montana’s constitution to include the preservation of a “clean and healthful environment” for “present and future generations.” The delegates, everyday people, not politicians, also directed the state’s citizen legislature to adopt laws to protect the state’s “environmental life support system” and guard against the…
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‘To a Clean and Healthful Environment’
By Micah Drew | Flathead Beacon “We the people of Montana grateful to God for the quiet beauty of our State, the grandeur of our mountains, the vastness of our rolling plains, and desiring to improve the quality of life, equality of opportunity, and to secure the blessings of liberty for this and future generations,…
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Montana Youth Prepare for Trial in Bellwether Climate Case Against State
By Micah Drew | Flathead Beacon Filed in March 2020, the lawsuit, Held v. Montana, was brought by 16 youth plaintiffs from across Montana who allege the state has violated their constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment. The complaint focuses on two statutes — provisions of Montana’s state energy policy, which explicitly promotes…
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Judge Rules in Favor of Youth Plaintiffs in Montana Climate Lawsuit
A Montana district judge on Monday issued a ruling in the nation’s first constitutional climate change trial declaring the youth plaintiffs have a “fundamental constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment” while revoking two Montana statutes. The state Attorney General’s office said it would appeal the ruling. The 103-page order by Lewis and Clark District Court Judge Kathy…