NATE BELLINGER

Nate has worked at Our Children’s Trust since its inception, starting as a volunteer in 2010. He has been a part of the organization’s sustained growth over the past 14 years and now supervises staff attorneys and leads cases. He is the lead attorney in Held v. State of Montana, the first ever constitutional climate case to go to trial, and won an historic ruling against the state – which has one of the largest reservoirs of fossil fuels in the U.S. The court established that every additional ton of greenhouse gas pollution is causing constitutional, human rights injuries to young people, and made clear that ending the era of fossil fuel energy systems is essential to protecting the life, health, and dignity of every child, everywhere. The legal victory stops fossil fuel expansion in Montana, specifically, and will require the phase out of those fuels by mid-century—exactly what the science demands. It also forges a legal pathway that all courts everywhere can take to protect climate rights.  

Nate is also the lead counsel in Layla v. Commonwealth of Virginia and is always working to develop new cases. With Roger Sullivan, Nate is the author of “A Judicial Duty: Interpreting and Enforcing Montanans’ Inalienable Right to a Clean and Healthful Environment” in Public Land & Resources Law Review at University of Montana. Another law review article in Wake Forest Journal of Law & Policy, “The Public Trust: The Law’s DNA,” which he co-authored with Professor Gerald Torres, has been cited approvingly by a federal court.   

Nate has been interviewed for and quoted in numerous national and international media stories. He received his JD from University of Oregon School of Law, MA in Geography from University of Oregon, and BS from University of Massachusetts.