The catastrophic flooding in Asheville, North Carolina, from Hurricane Helene last September is just another example of the devastating climate crisis we’re in. As humans burn fossil fuels, cut down forests, and remove legal protections for the planet, there has been a rise in global warming. In fact, 2023 was the warmest year on record since global record-keeping began in 1850, according to Climate.gov. This impacts our planet, our health and safety, and our kids — and Gen Z is sick of it.
One Montana teen is making her mark by taking a stand and holding legislators accountable for their role in contributing to climate change — and her work is already having a big impact.
Eva Lighthiser is an 18-year-old youth climate activist and one of 16 young plaintiffs in the historic Held v. Montana lawsuit that argued the state of Montana was failing to uphold a constitutional right to “a clean and healthful environment.” With the help of international climate experts, the youth plaintiffs challenged the state’s actions of promoting and producing fossil fuels while explicitly prohibiting climate change from being considered. The lawsuit was filed on Eva’s 14th birthday in 2020 and received a favorable ruling in Aug. 2023 — making it the first constitutional climate lawsuit to go to trial and win. Lauded as the first big victory for youth climate activists, the group scored another big win earlier this December, when in a 6-1 decision, Montana’s Supreme Court upheld the district court’s ruling.
Even after that initial impressive win, Eva hasn’t stopped fighting for change. This past summer, she spoke at the Moms Clean Air Force Play-In for Climate Action event in Washington, D.C. SheKnows Editor-in-Chief Erika Janes introduced Eva and shadowed her as she met with Montana legislators, including Senator Jon Tester, in our nation’s capitol to talk about this issue that is affecting kids right now. (As if reinforcing the importance of the event, the Play-In was held indoors at the National Children’s Museum for the first time ever, thanks to the sweltering temps outside.)
“The further destabilization of our climate disproportionately affects children — from increased exposure to smoke in our lungs or the heightened stress of living in a climate crisis,” Eva said during her speech at the event, where she also admitted that she feels “constant dread” and “anxiety” when thinking about the future.
Speaking to SheKnows, she said that “uncertainty” is the word that pops in her head when considering what’s to come. “There’s just so much up in the air right now and not nearly enough action happening in the midst of this crisis,” she explained. “The time is now, and it has been now for a long time. There’s definitely a sort of impending sense of worry… But knowing that, if we keep our hopes up — if we keep on working towards positive change — it’s going to it’s going to help us out in the long run.”
The truth is, Eva has been worrying about the climate for as long as she can remember. Her mother, Erica Lighthiser, said of her daughter, “I don’t think she knows a time in her life or can remember a time before she was aware of climate change. Eva was able to show up at the trial and share her story about how floods and wildfire smoke have been impacting not just her, but her community, throughout her life.”
She was referring, in part, to the unprecedented rainfall that fell in Montana in 2022 and swelled Yellowstone. A tributary of Yellowstone called Shields River overtook an access bridge and temporarily separated the Lighthisers from their home in Livingston.
“Waking up that morning and finding out that the river was rising at an extremely rapid rate was very alarming,” Eva told us. “We’d never experienced anything like that in Livingston, at least in my lifetime. There have been floods in the past, but none have been nearly as intense or as damaging as that one.”
While this flooding was going on, Eva said she felt “terror of having no idea what’s going to happen to all the places we live in,” and continued, “There was just kind of that need to jump into action.” For the teen, that meant “many, many hours” spent filling sandbags to help her community keep the river at bay.
For Erica, the one bright spot in the climate change her daughter has witnessed has been watching her daughter find her voice as an activist. “I think it was quite empowering to feel like people were listening [at the trial], and you could tell your story and have all these scientists and economists and health experts be able to weigh in on with all this evidence to support your story,” she said, adding that “it’s kind of overwhelming to think about” how her daughter’s voice “is impacting the future in such a positive way.”
Now that Eva is an adult, she plans to continue working in climate activism, motivated in part by her fierce pride in her community and the land she’s surrounded by. “Constantly being reminded of what’s at stake is very important for my inspiration,” she said. “What I love about Gen Z is that we aren’t afraid to speak up. We want change, and if we want it, we will do anything in our power to change it.”
Find tips on talking to your kids about climate change HERE.
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