A group of youth climate activists opened a two-day hearing Tuesday in federal court, seeking to block three of President Donald Trump’s pro-fossil fuel executive orders. The case marks the first time a federal judge will hear live testimony in a youth-led constitutional climate lawsuit.
The plaintiffs, aged seven to 25, argue that Trump’s directives — including those declaring a “national energy emergency,” promoting the expansion of U.S. energy production, and reviving domestic coal — amount to unlawful executive overreach and violate the state-created danger doctrine, which prevents governments from causing harm to citizens.
“At a time when we need to reduce fossil fuel reliance, the federal government is actively setting us back,” said Georgi Fischer, one of the plaintiffs. “It’s incredibly important for us to fight back against these unconstitutional attacks on our rights to life and liberty.”
The case was filed in May by the non-profit law firm Our Children’s Trust, which previously won a landmark ruling in 2023 when a Montana judge found that the state’s pro-fossil fuel policies violated constitutional rights. Some of the plaintiffs in that case are also involved in the new federal challenge.
Plaintiffs are expected to testify alongside five expert witnesses and six fact witnesses, including Columbia University economist Geoffrey Heal, Stanford engineering professor Mark Jacobson, ecology researcher Steven Running, and John Podesta, a former senior White House advisor on clean energy under Joe Biden. “The plaintiffs make a compelling case that these orders will only make the climate crisis worse,” Podesta said in a statement.
The White House has not commented on the litigation. Alyse Sharpe, spokesperson for the Department of the Interior, said the agency does not comment on active cases.
The federal government has moved to dismiss the lawsuit. Montana and 18 other states, along with Guam, also filed to have the case thrown out. The government does not plan to call any witnesses during the hearing.
The lawsuit faces challenges similar to a previous federal case filed by Our Children’s Trust that was ultimately rejected by the Supreme Court earlier this year. “These are always uphill battles, especially under a Trump administration determined to tilt the scales toward fossil fuels,” said Mat dos Santos, general counsel for the group. “But the Constitution is clear: no president can sacrifice children’s rights and futures to prop up one industry.”
A ruling in the plaintiffs’ favor, advocates said, would reaffirm that presidential authority has limits, particularly when the health and safety of young Americans are at stake.
