MISSOULA, Mont. — Grace Gibson-Snyder can remember when, at the ripe old age of 16, she asked her parents if she could join a lawsuit, along with 15 other young Montanans, that argues the state’s dependence on fossil fuels is directly tied to “dangerous climate disruption,” which directly harms them and violates their constitutional rights.
“It never crossed any of our minds that we’d be on national television or having this kind of groundbreaking case,” Gibson-Snyder, 19, said. In a statement to NBC News, Emilee Cantrell, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Austin Knudsen, said: “This case should have never made it to trial, and we look forward to proving that. It would be impossible for the court to grant relief to the plaintiffs that would remedy their alleged injuries. The plaintiffs are just looking for another line in their next documentary.”
“Some of them have lost friends and have been criticized by classmates, even teachers in some instances,’ he said. “The fact that they’ve stood up to their government, in the current landscape in Montana, where it’s really challenging to do that, it really demonstrates a lot of courage and persistence on their part.”