Ch. 45 Provide for the Common Defense

"To 'provide for the common defense' today means protecting our citizens from all existential threats—whether they come from abroad or arise from our own policies and practices that endanger our climate, our communities, and our children's future."
Justice William O. Douglas

There's a profound disconnect in how we conceptualize "common defense" in America today. 

When most people think of this concept in the Constitution, they likely think of protecting citizens from foreign invasion or conquest. Today, we spend more on military defense than the next nine countries combined, yet some of the biggest threats to the survival of humanity come not from foreign armies, but from environmental degradation and domestic gun violence.

Rethinking What We Defend Against

The threats facing America's youth today aren't soldiers marching across our borders. Instead, we're confronting:

Climate change; without a doubt the most serious existential threat to humanity's continued survival. We're already seeing the effects with intensifying wildfires, heat death, drought, depleted water resources, and increasingly unpredictable weather patterns that threaten agriculture, infrastructure, and human health. And these effects will only get worse, unless we do something to stop it. 

Gun violence. Bullets have become the #1 cause of death for young Americans. This insane statistic represents thousands of preventable deaths each year. Deaths that devastate families and communities across the nation every day.

If we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit that those most impacted by these daily assaults on humanity are our young people. And they are fed up.

Young People are Taking the Lead

Young Americans, recognizing these threats to their future, are stepping up where most of us have failed.

In Montana, sixteen young environmentalists filed a landmark lawsuit arguing that climate change directly threatens their health and well-being. In 2023, they successfully argued that increasing wildfires pollute their air while drought and decreased snowpack deplete their rivers. By 2024, the State Supreme Court upheld the ruling that Montana violated residents constitutional rights to a clean environment by permitting fossil fuel projects without regard for climate change.

It should be noted that Montana isn't the only state that has environmental protections in their state constitutions. Hawaii, New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Pennsylvania do as well. 

In Utah, seven young people sued the state over policies promoting fossil fuels, arguing that these directly contribute to poor air quality and adverse climate impacts, violating their constitutional rights to life, health, and safety.

Youth-led organizations and activists are also fighting against gun violence through advocacy for gun safety laws, community organizing, and raising public awareness. They are fighting to create a future where they don't have to fear being shot at school, at concerts, or just knocking on a stranger's door.

We've Seen This Before...

This isn't our first rodeo. We've been here before. There are remarkable similarities between the Fossil Fuel Industry's tactics, and those once employed by Big Tobacco that we shouldn't ignore.

• Both of these industries systematically misled the public about the harms of their products. Exxon's own scientists warned of climate change dangers as early as the late 1970s, yet the company publicly denied these findings.

• Both employed deceptive advertising and, in the case of fossil fuel companies, "greenwashed" their products as healthier or more environmentally friendly than they actually are.

• Both funded fake science and backed "experts" who would counter legitimate scientific consensus.

The fossil fuel industry (and I would argue, the gun industry) can and should be held liable for failing to acknowledge that their products are killing people every day. Just as the tobacco industry was forced to do by the courts. 

Our Responsibility

Our younger generations are under attack, not from foreign missiles but from preventable threats that you and I have allowed to grow and fester. 

These young people are showing remarkable courage in fighting for their right to a livable future through legal action, advocacy, and organizing.

The question we must ask ourselves is simple... If our children are willing to stand up against these existential threats, how can we possibly justify standing on the sidelines?

To truly "provide for the common defense" today requires that we defend against all serious threats to American lives and well-being, not just those that come wearing an enemy's uniform. 

Our kids are facing the threat of mass shootings and the symptoms of climate collapse every single day. How can we even pretend to promote the general welfare until we address these clear and present dangers to our well-being and the future of humanity?

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SOURCES TO CITE BELOW. THEY DON'T NEED TO BE EDITED

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/montana-supreme-court-upholds-state-judges-landmark-ruling-in-youth-climate-case

-In Montana young people have sued the government saying they have obligation 

to address climate change since its a direct threat to their health

-2020 - lawsuit filed by 16 young environmentalists in Montana 

-2023 trial - plaintiffs argued that climate change profoundly affects their lives, 

i.e. increasing wildfires pollute the air, drought and decreased snowpack deplete 

rivers  

-2024 - State supreme court upholds ruling that Montana was violating 

residents’ constitutional rights to a clean environment by permitting oil, gas and 

coal projects without regard for climate change

-Hawaii, New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Pennsylvania also have 

environmental protections in state constitutions 

https://www.climateinthecourts.com/utah-supreme-court-hears-appeal-of-youth-climate-case-challenging-states-fossil-fuel-energy-policies/

-In Utah a group of 7 young people sued the state over policies that promote and 

perpetuate fossil fuels 

-2022 - plaintiffs argue that the state is actively causing and contributing to 

Utah’s poor air quality and climate impacts with fossil fuel projects, which 

violates their state constitutional rights to life, health, and safety

-2024 - escalated to Supreme Court after district court dismissed case in favor 

of state 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jul/05/us-lawsuit-big-tobacco-big-oil-fossil-fuel-companies

-Tobacco industry and fossil fuel industry have many similarities

-both industries misled the public and regulators about the harms of their 

products (Exxon knew about climate change as early as the late 1970s)

-deceptive advertising and “greenwashing”

-fake science, monetarily backing climate change deniers 

-“At the core of the liability issues for the fossil fuel industry is that no company 

has acknowledged – just as the tobacco companies refused to acknowledge – 

that its product is the problem.”

-In America, bullets are the number one cause of death for young people

-https://www.kff.org/mental-health/issue-brief/child-and-teen-firearm-mortality-in-the-

u-s-and-peer-countries/

-“In 2020 and 2021, firearms contributed to the deaths of more children ages 1-17 

years in the U.S. than any other type of injury or illness.”

- “But, even states with the lowest child and teen firearm deaths have rates much 

higher than what peer countries experience.”