Appeals court again rejects climate challenge to Trump policies

A federal appeals court on Monday declined to revisit a challenge to Trump's fossil fuels and climate policies, which was dismissed by a Montana judge last year. The decision leaves the U.S. Supreme Court as the only remaining legal path for the plaintiffs.

Our Children's Trust brought the case in early 2025 on behalf of 22 young plaintiffs, asking a federal court in Missoula to block three executive orders by President Donald Trump to boost fossil fuel production and consumption.

In his October 2025 ruling, Montana District Court Judge Dana Christensen found the children and young adults were indeed suffering real harms from climate change, and that they were likely to be worsened by the administration's policies. But he ultimately sided with the federal defendants who argued the plaintiff's requests were beyond the power of the courts to grant.

Our Children's Trust turned to the 9th Circuit Court of Federal Appeals, asking a three-judge panel to overturn Christensen's ruling. The panel likewise determined that undoing specific administration policies challenged by the group would violate the separation of powers between the courts and the executive branch.

The plaintiffs followed up last month by requesting an en banc review of the full appeals court. A majority of the 9th Circuit's active judges would need to vote to have a larger panel of them reconsider the appeal.

In a one-page order, the court on Monday denied the request and wrote that none of its judges requested a vote to revisit the earlier appeals court ruling.

Helen Britto, a spokesperson for Our Children's Trust, wrote in an email Monday the plaintiffs have not yet decided whether to pursue the case further. The only remaining legal avenue for the case is an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, Britto said.

“My government made a choice that is actively harming me and my fellow plaintiffs' lives, and we made a choice to do something about it,” lead plaintiff Eva Lighthiser stated in a press release. “That harm has not changed. And it will not change until our government is held accountable.”

Lighthiser, a young woman from Livingston, was also one of the plaintiffs in the successful Held v. Montana case brought by Our Children's Trust. In that challenge to state policies, the Montana Supreme Court found the environmental protections in the state Constitution include a right to a "stable climate system."