Six Generations. One Promise Still Worth Fighting For.
I am the sixth generation of my family to call Montana home. My great great great grandma came to Montana on a wagon in 1866, and my family has been in Montana ever since. From my family, I’ve learned to love this place and become aware of our human connection to the land.
Protecting the environment, protecting our home, is a Montanan value that has never lost its strength. The belief that nature belongs to all of us is ingrained in our hearts, our communities, and even our state constitution. Preserving nature has never been a political issue: it’s always been a common value among Montanans regardless of party.
The Court Told Us to Come Back Later. We Are Out of Time.
I am one of 22 young Americans suing President Trump. I didn't want to have to sue the president as a teenager, but he left us no other choice.
We are students, ranchers, scientists-in-training, artists, and athletes. We come from Montana, Oregon, Hawai'i, California, and Florida, from different places and different backgrounds, but we share one thing: we followed their rules to protect our rights, and the courts still slammed the door on us.
Miko Vergun, Lighthiser v. Trump Plaintiff, Declares: “This is a Great Time to Have Hope”
On Monday, April 13th, Miko Vergun walked into the Ninth Circuit Courthouse in Portland—not as a bystander—but as a plaintiff in a landmark constitutional climate case.
Lighthiser v. Trump is unlike anything that has come before it. Miko and her 21 fellow plaintiffs are challenging President Trump’s pro-fossil fuel executive orders that “unleash” fossil fuels, block renewable energy development, suppress critical climate science, and worsen the climate crisis. They’re asking the court to let their case move forward and be heard on the merits.
Lighthiser v. Trump Youth Urge the Ninth Circuit to Reinstate their Constitutional Climate and Right to Life Case
On April 13, 2026, youth plaintiffs from across the country appeared before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Lighthiser v. Trump, which challenges President Trump’s pro-fossil fuel executive orders that “unleash” fossil fuels, block renewable energy development, suppress critical climate science, and exacerbate the climate crisis.
Delaney Reynolds is Trailblazing a Path to Change
History is shaped by choices. These choices are often born from responding to the world’s needs or recognizing the possibility of a better future. Women’s history has often required an additional choice: not just to step forward, but to step out of the status quo and the box generations of women have been put in that requires them to remain passive and take a backseat to other leaders.
Unity and Action: The Way Forward to Protecting Constitutional Rights
Just weeks after returning from Kenya, Rikki has filed her third constitutional rights climate lawsuit as lead plaintiff in Held v. State of Montana II, a case that seeks to force the state to comply with the landmark climate ruling the Montana Supreme Court issued in Held in December 2024.
Democracy Feels Like I Can Breathe: Joseph is Taking His Future Into His Own Hands
Joseph’s first memory of nature was when his parents took him to Sequoia National Park. That was the first time he realized how vast the wonders of nature were, “relative to my tiny, itsy bitsy, 5-year-old self.”
Ruin to Resilience: How Destruction Led to Action for this 3-Time Plaintiff
Delaney Reynolds has watched the places she loves disappear before her eyes. She has seen her home damaged from hurricanes, felt the surrounding waters of the Florida Keys warm to unprecedented levels, watched the coral reefs near her home bleach and die, and has witnessed the sea level rise consume some of the places she loves most. It was this destruction that compelled her to join Lighthiser v. Trump, a historic youth-led federal climate change case, as a plaintiff.
Generations of Change: An End-of-Year Reflection with Youth Plaintiff Jeff and His Mom, Laura
When Jeff first became a plaintiff in Held v. Montana, he was six years old. His mother, Laura, remembers telling Jeff and his little brother Nate, also a plaintiff, about the case during bathtime. Now, at nearly twelve, after the groundbreaking win of Held v. Montana, Jeff is again stepping into the national spotlight as one of the youth plaintiffs in Lighthiser v. Trump, a case that could shape the future of climate policy for generations.
Youth Plaintiffs Challenge President Trump’s Fossil Fuel Executive Orders in Historic Federal Hearing
As the Trump administration moves aggressively to unleash more fossil fuels through executive orders that worsen climate change, obstruct the clean energy transition, and suppress the very science needed to protect children and ecosystems on the brink, 22 young Americans have bravely stepped forward. They’re suing the administration to protect their constitutional rights to life and liberty, and stop the executive orders that harm their health and safety.