The young Montanans who sued to challenge President Donald Trump's 2025 executive orders expanding fossil fuel production are asking the full Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider their case after a panel ruling went against them.
Our Children's Trust, the Oregon-based nonprofit representing Helena plaintiff Eva Lighthiser and 21 co-plaintiffs, filed a petition for an en banc rehearing — a request for the full court, rather than a three-judge panel, to take up the appeal. En banc rehearings are granted at the court's discretion and are relatively rare, typically reserved for cases the court considers legally significant or where a panel decision conflicts with prior precedent.
Lighthiser and her fellow plaintiffs have argued that federal fossil fuel expansion policies violate their constitutional rights by contributing to climate change in ways that harm their generation disproportionately. The litigation is part of a broader national strategy by Our Children's Trust to establish climate liability through the courts.
The case originated from Trump's early second-term executive actions directing federal agencies to accelerate oil, gas, and coal production. Whether the Ninth Circuit agrees to rehear the case en banc will determine whether the plaintiffs can keep their constitutional claims alive at the appellate level.