Summary/Abstract
This expert report was written by Dr. Jack A. Stanford and filed by plaintiffs in the case Held v. State of Montana.
In this report, the author provides expert testimony regarding the adverse impacts of climate change on Montana’s freshwater ecosystems, and the resulting impacts on the plaintiffs. The author first “describe[s] the interconnectivity of climate, hydrology, geomorphology and ecology of river landscapes, and opine on the fundamental importance of timing and volume of precipitation as drivers of surface and ground water availability (flux).” Then, the expert report documents “how anthropogenic climate change disrupts biophysical connectivity, thereby causing significant degradation and depletion of Montana’s freshwater ecosystems, including lakes, wetlands, rivers, and associated plants and animals.” The author concludes that, based on his experience and the body of scientific evidence, he can “confirm with a reasonable degree of scientific certainty that climate change is causing significant degradation and depletion of Montana’s freshwater ecosystems, through direct effects (increasing temperatures, decreasing runoff) and indirect effects associated with water pollution (toxic compounds and excessive nutrient inputs), food web changes mediated by invasive species and habitat degradation caused by increasing frequency of wildfires.”
The underlying case, Held v. State of Montana, arose when, on March 13, 2020, sixteen young people filed a lawsuit in a state court in Montana, United States, asserting climate change-based claims under the Montana constitution against the State of Montana, its governor, and state agencies. In particular, the case challenged the constitutionality of Montana’s fossil fuel-based State Energy Policy and the “Climate Change Exception” in the Montana Environmental Policy Act. For more information about this case, visit the Sabin Center’s Climate Litigation Database.
Note: This climate attribution research was presented in the context of a contested legal proceeding. Different countries, courts, and legal forums may have different standards for expert testimony, and may conduct fact-finding based on legal standards of proof that differ from those applied in academic publishing. Readers should independently investigate and understand the bases for the assertions made in this document before applying this research in other contexts.