Faces of Climate: Eva Lighthiser Turns to the Courts

CORRECTION: Due to an editing error, MoJo published the wrong photograph of Eva Lighthiser. The image has been replaced. This article has also been updated to reflect that the Montana Supreme Court upheld the Held v. Montana decision in Helena’s Lewis and Clark County Courthouse in December 2024, and that growing up, Lighthiser witnessed flooding on both the Yellowstone and Shields rivers.

EDITOR’S NOTE: In our new series, “Faces of Climate,” Mountain Journal is highlighting good work in Greater Yellowstone. As the climate changes the face of the landscape, these people are changing our approach to it. Through interviews and imagery, these are your “Faces of Climate.”

Walking up to the Lewis and Clark County Courthouse in Helena during 2023’s Held v. Montana bench trial, plaintiff Eva Lighthiser was greeted each morning with an eruption of cheers from crowds of supporters. “I saw that this work was something that really matters, that it’s inspiring people,” the then-17-year-old recalls. “It was such a special moment.”

On the witness stand, the Livingston native described “seeing climate change at my doorstep” in her hometown having watched both the Yellowstone River and its tributary, the Shields, flood during two different events .

“The Yellowstone River is the very heart and soul of my community,” says Lighthiser, who in the wake of that flood and its devastating landslides helped haul sandbags to protect her community. “It’s in so many of my memories growing up, and it’s part of my everyday experience living here.”

That testimony, along with Lighthiser’s 15 youth coplaintiffs’ accounts of how worsening wildfires, drought and reduced snowpack were impacting their lives, set a precedent for future climate litigation — and helped shed international light on the courts’ power to hold governments accountable for climate action. Last December, the Montana Supreme Court upheld District Court Judge Kathy Seeley’s ruling that the state’s constitutional guarantee of a “clean and healthful environment” indeed includes a stable climate.

Regarding her decision to “fight back with the Constitution,” Lighthiser is clear-eyed: “As minors we’re not able to vote — taking our fights to the courts is how we can use democracy to the best of our ability.”

Now 19, Lighthiser can cast a ballot. But because she’s seen firsthand the power of sharing personal experience, she once more banded together with 21 fellow young Americans and in May filed a bolder, bigger climate suit: one against the Trump administration, for executive orders to “unleash” American fossil fuel energy development.

Lighthiser v. Trump is predicated on the allegation that the president’s directives aren’t policy preferences, but rather constitutional violations that undermine efforts to address the climate crisis, thus endangering the youth of America’s rights to life and liberty. 

On August 4, defendants filed a motion to dismiss the case, which Lighthiser says was expected. “It’s also invigorating, because it shows that this case holds value and weight — they’re threatened by it.” 

The plaintiffs are asking the courts to declare the executive orders unconstitutional and block their implementation and future enforcement. They’re all between 7 and 25 years old, and hail from Oregon, Hawai’i, California, Florida, and Montana, which includes former gubernatorial candidate Ryan Busse’s kids Lander and Badge.

The lead plaintiff of the eponymous case credits her mother Erica, head of Park County Environmental Council, for instilling a love for the natural world and demonstrating that meaningful climate action starts at the local level. 

Eva Lighthiser reflects on how volunteering with the Park High School Green Initiative helped position her to one day sue the U.S. President: “It started out as a recycling club and went on to host the first youth climate summit in Montana.”

She adds that growing up in a purple state has been an asset as a climate advocate. “Having a diverse pool of plaintiffs who all have different backstories, a lot of people can see their own experiences in our stories,” says Lighthiser, pointing out that the Busse brothers’ testimony is focused around diminishing access for hunting and fishing.

The plaintiffs spent the summer preparing for a hearing on the preliminary injunction and the motion to dismiss, which took place September 16 and 17 in Missoula. “Going into the last trial I was so incredibly nervous and intimidated to testify,” Lighthiser says. “But because I kind of know how it goes now, this was actually exciting.”

As of publication, presiding U.S. District Court Judge Dana Christensen gave no indication for how long it would take him to rule on two motions.

“I felt a lot of empathy when my coplaintiffs were testifying because I went through that during Held,” Lighthiser says. “That was a very nerve-racking experience but also so incredibly empowering.”