Attorneys for the state of Montana rested their case Monday in the youth climate trial after calling the Department of Environmental Quality director and one of its division directors to the stand, along with a lone expert witness who presented data on greenhouse gas emissions that the plaintiffs’ attorneys deemed to be incorrect.

Along with a few procedural matters regarding what evidence can be submitted for Judge Kathy Seeley’s consideration, attorneys for the state as well as the 16 Montana youth who sued are expected to deliver their closing remarks in the Held v. Montana trial on Tuesday. The plaintiffs’ attorneys said they might call a witness or two back to the stand to rebut testimony made by the state’s witnesses and will submit a witness deposition.

After attorneys for the 16 youth plaintiffs called many of the plaintiffs themselves – as well as expert witnesses on climate change, renewable energies, energy policy in Montana, and children’s physical and mental health – to testify in the case last week, the state’s attorneys called only three witnesses Monday before resting their case.