NATE BELLINGER (HE/HIM)

Nate has worked at Our Children’s Trust since its inception, starting as a volunteer in 2010, and has been a part of the organization’s sustained growth. He was the lead attorney in Held v. State of Montana, the first-ever constitutional climate case to go to trial, and won an historic ruling against the state. The court established that every additional ton of greenhouse gas pollution is causing constitutional, human rights injuries to young people, and made clear that ending the era of fossil fuel energy systems is essential to protecting the life, health, and dignity of every child, everywhere. The legal victory forges a legal pathway that all courts everywhere can take to protect climate rights. 

Nate is actively litigating other state and federal cases, all with the goal of protecting children’s fundamental rights from government conduct that fuels the climate crisis and endangers their lives, health, and futures.

Nate has received numerous awards for his work, including Trial Lawyer of the Year from Public Justice (2025); the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Environmental & Natural Resources Section of the Oregon State Bar (2025); and the Al Smith Public Service Award from the Montana Trial Lawyers Association (2024).

Nate is co-author of “A Judicial Duty: Interpreting and Enforcing Montanans’ Inalienable Right to a Clean and Healthful Environment” in Public Land & Resources Law Review at the University of Montana. Another law review article in Wake Forest Journal of Law & Policy, “The Public Trust: The Law’s DNA,” which he co-authored with Professor Gerald Torres, has been cited approvingly by a federal court. Nate has been interviewed for and quoted in numerous national and international media stories. He received his JD from the University of Oregon School of Law, an MA in Geography from the University of Oregon, and a BS from the University of Massachusetts.