Overview

• Twenty-two plaintiffs asked a federal judge in Missoula for a preliminary injunction blocking three executive orders that expand drilling, curb electric-vehicle markets, declare a national energy emergency, and prioritize coal extraction.
• The Justice Department, joined by 19 states and Guam, urged dismissal, arguing the case is undemocratic and echoes the failed Juliana litigation.
• Judge Dana Christensen pressed plaintiffs’ counsel on whether granting relief would force the court to supervise future executive actions on climate policy.
• Plaintiffs presented live testimony from youth and experts including John Podesta, climate scientist Steven Running, pediatrician Lori Byron, and economist Geoffrey Heal, while the government called no witnesses.
• Testimony detailed health and environmental harms to children from heat, wildfire smoke, and floods and challenged the administration’s energy-emergency rationale, with a ruling now pending.