Montana AG says climate lawsuit should be rejected

The attorney general's office asked the Montana Supreme Court on Monday to reject a climate lawsuit that seeks to force regulation of greenhouse gases, as a group of conservative state lawmakers said they want to intervene in the case. The developments followed a lawsuit, among other legal actions, filed last month by environmental groups in Montana and other states as part of a plan to force government intervention on climate change. Their goal is to have the atmosphere declared a "public trust" deserving special protection. The attorney general's court filing agreed with the Republicans that the lawsuit should not be granted original jurisdiction with the high court. It argued that the issues should be debated at the Legislature, under agency oversight or perhaps though a lawsuit filed at the district court level...more