Two retired teachers took a coal mine to Australia's highest court — and won

Wendy Wales and Tony Lonergan are retired science teachers from the Hunter Valley in New South Wales. For four years, through their small community group, they fought the planned 22-year extension of the Mount Pleasant coal mine — which would have doubled its output and dug 406 million more tonnes of coal. On October 7, Australia's High Court ruled 3-2 in their favor: the first climate change case ever decided by the country's highest court. The judges found that planners had wrongly ignored the climate impact of the coal once it is exported and burned overseas — 98% of the project's emissions. The ruling sets a binding precedent across New South Wales and is being studied worldwide as one of the most significant climate-law decisions ever.