A federal court in Montana has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a group of 22 young people from across the country accusing the Trump administration of violating their constitutional rights with a coordinated set of executive orders that prioritize the expansion of fossil fuels and threaten to further destabilize the climate.

The complaint challenged three executive orders: "Unleashing American Energy," "Declaring a National Energy Emergency" and "Reinvigorating America's Beautiful Clean Coal Industry." The lawsuit argued that with the orders, the Trump administration knowingly is advancing an agenda that will increase greenhouse gas pollution that already is stressing the global climate to a dangerous extent.

The plaintiffs alleged the executive orders violated their constitutional rights to life and liberty. But the court held it was bound by a prior decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that ruled that granting such relief exceeded the authority of courts because it dealt with complex policy matters that must be addressed by the executive and legislative branches of government.