Wisconsin Youth Take State to Court Over Dangerous Climate Policies

Young activists argue that Wisconsin’s fossil fuel protections violate their constitutional rights and jeopardize their future health and safety

Natalie C. Frank, Ph.D September 15, 2025

Gerry Machen/flickr [CC BY-ND 2.0]

WISCONSIN - Fifteen young Wisconsinites, ages 8 to 17, have filed a groundbreaking lawsuit against the state, saying Wisconsin’s pro-fossil fuel policies threaten their lives, homes, and futures. The August filing is the latest in a wave of youth-led climate cases pushing state governments to honor their clean-energy promises.

The plaintiffs are represented by Our Children’s Trust and Midwest Environmental Advocates, two nonprofit law firms at the center of the national push for climate accountability. The suit challenges two Wisconsin laws that, the youths say, lock the state into decades of fossil fuel use.

The lead plaintiff, 17-year-old Kaarina from Vernon County, has already felt the effects of climate change. In 2023, a freeze-thaw cycle tied to warmer temperatures dislodged a boulder that damaged land near her home on the Mississippi River.

“I had to move away from the childhood [home] I planned to live in my entire life,” she said.

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