In this episode of “THIS… Is CNN… The Most Trusted Name in News”…

When we last visited CNN, sourpuss host John Berman and the network’s chief business correspondent twisted themselves into ridiculous pretzels as they preposterously posited that Bud Light’s continuing fall is rooted in “flat-out changing tastes” in beer rather than the disastrous decision to pay TikTok influencer “transgender” Dylan Mulvaney, who pretends he’s a frenetic teenage girl, to feature the beer in his videos.

Welp, here we go again.

On Friday’s episode of “CNN This Morning,” the embattled outlet fired up a divisive segment on 16 young people, ages 5-22, suing the state of Montana over the existence of anthropomorphic (human-caused) climate change, or, as the left loves to call it, “the existential threat to mankind.”

The lawsuit singles out Montana state Republican lawmakers and blames them for the continuing extraction and usage of fossil fuel, which the CNN panel called “fascinating” and “such a great story.”

As reported by NewsBusters, CNN’s chief climate correspondent, Bill Weir, breathlessly portrayed the young people as heroes doing their courageous best to fend off the evil Republican-controlled Montana state government, despite admitting that the lawsuit won’t change a thing even if the judge rules in their favor.

Judge Cathy Sealy doesn’t have the power to shut down any extraction or usage of fossil fuels, but a judgment for the young plaintiffs could set a powerful precedent for Our Children’s Trust.

But, hey— liberalism has always been about symbolism over substance, so…

The lawsuit hinges on a single clause in the Montana state constitution:

The state shall maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment for present and future generations.

Nate Bellinger, senior staff attorney for Our Children’s Trust, which has represented young people in Montana legal actions since 2011, claimed that “fossil fuel-induced climate change forfeited the young people’s right to a healthful environment.”

Okay, let’s go to the tape.

Veteran CNN host Erica Hill, now a substitute host, or whatever, set the table for the divisive segment.

Montana is emerging as a key climate battleground state right now. A fight there is brewing between the state itself and a group of kids who have now sued the state. And they’re arguing that its support of fossil fuels is in direct violation of their constitutional rights. CNN’s chief climate correspondent Bill Weir has more.

Weir beclowned himself immediately, ridiculously suggesting the lawsuit was movie-worthy — and an ominous movie at that.

In Big Sky Country, it’s a story fit for a big screen. On one side, 16 young people from ranches, reservations, and boom towns across Montana, ranging in age from five to 22.

On the other side, the Republican-led state of Montana, which lost a three-year fight to keep this case out of court but is still determined to let fossil fuels keep flowing, despite the warnings from science that burning them will only melt more glaciers, blacken more skies, and ravage more rivers.

The agenda-driven climate correspondent continued with his silly movie analogy:

And the whole plot pivots around the Montana constitution that promises the state shall maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment for present and future generations.

Sariel Sandoval, a first-year UC Berkeley student from the Flathead Reservation in northwest Montana, melodramatically said: “You know, it’s really scary seeing what you care for disappear right in front of your eyes, prompting Our Children’s Trust lawyer Nate Bellinger to ask: “How does make you feel knowing that the state is not considering climate impacts in its permitting decisions?”

Sandoval replied:

Makes me feel like the state is prioritizing profits over people. Because they know that there is visible harm coming to the land and to the people, and they are still choosing to make money instead of care for Montanans.

I don’t want to rain on the boo-hoo parade, but isn’t that always part of the left’s narrative about evil corporations? Prioritizing profits over people. From Wall Street to billionaire entrepreneurs (except for Bill Gates) to America’s fossil fuel industry, it’s like “people be damned; we’re all about the cash.”

Just one problem. As even the Environmental Protect Agency (EPA) acknowledges:

Clean Air Act programs have lowered levels of six common pollutants — particles, ozone, lead, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide — as well as numerous toxic pollutants. Between 1970 and 2020, the combined emissions of the six common pollutants … dropped by 78 percent. This progress occurred while U.S. economic indicators remain strong.

The emissions reductions have led to dramatic improvements in the quality of the air that we breathe. Between 1990 and 2020, national concentrations of air pollutants improved 73 percent for carbon monoxide, 86 percent for lead (from 2010), 61 percent for annual nitrogen dioxide, 25 percent for ozone, 26 percent for 24-hour coarse particle concentrations, 41 percent for annual fine particles (from 2000), and 91 percent for sulfur dioxide.

These air quality improvements have enabled many areas of the country to meet national air quality standards set to protect public health and the environment.

As the panel continued to beat the Montana constitution clause to death, Weir said (emphasis, mine):

I don’t think the Republicans have a chance to take that out of the constitution right now, but we’ll see what kind of a defense they put up, whether they counter the science of climate change in all, whether they say, you know, the economy is just too dependent on this to do anything about it. But it really is a tipping point as people try to use the courts to get some action because legislation [has] done nothing.

Hmm. I’ve yet to visit Montana, but the EPA itself begs to differ as it relates to the entire country. Hell, maybe it’s much more Armageddon-like in Big Sky Country, right CNN?

CNN continues to prove its brief, semi-flirtation with objective journalism is toast.