Below
is a draft resolution for the city of Arlington, Virginia. There is a
group which is working on this matter. It will be some time before the
organizers actually present it to a legislative body. I am curious to see
if there would be interest in engaging in such a process in Baltimore. Please
share your perspective.
Kagiso,
Max
Draft
resolution:
A
RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE DIVESTMENT OF COUNTY OPERATING FUNDS IN ANY COMPANY
INVOLVED IN THE PRODUCTION OF FOSSIL FUELS OR THE PRODUCTION OR UPGRADING OF
WEAPONS AND WEAPONS SYSTEMS
WHEREAS
Arlington County formally declares its opposition to investing County funds in
any entities that are involved in the production of fossil fuels or the
production or upgrading of weapons and weapons systems, whether conventional or
nuclear, and including the manufacture of civilian arms;
and,
WHEREAS pursuant to the Virginia Security for Public Deposits Act ( Virginia
Code Section 2.2-4400 et seq.), and the Virginia Investment of Public Funds Act
(Virginia Code Section 2.2-4500 et seq.), the County Treasurer has sole
discretion over the investment of County operating funds;
and,
WHEREAS the County Treasurer has a duty to invest all County funds with the
primary objectives of safety, liquidity, and yield;
and,
WHEREAS the primary investment objectives for operating funds of safety,
liquidity, and yield can be achieved while supporting the Board’s opposition to
investing County funds in any entity involved in the production of fossil fuels
or the production or upgrading of weapons and weapons systems;
and,
WHEREAS weapons companies that Arlington County can commit to not investing in
produce weapons that have been used in mass shootings in Virginia and which are
likely to be used in more mass shootings in the future;
and,
WHEREAS on June 20, 2017, Arlington County resolved to track and reduce
greenhouse gas emissions and plan for climate adaptation, and on September 21,
2019, Arlington County updated its Community Energy Plan which makes a strong moral
and financial case for a shift to sustainable energy and commits Arlington
County to wise energy use;
and,
WHEREAS U.S. weapons companies supply deadly weapons to numerous
brutal dictatorships around the globe;
and,
WHEREAS the current federal administration has labeled climate change a hoax,
moved to withdraw the U.S. from the global climate accord, attempted to
suppress climate science, and worked to intensify the production and use of
warming-causing fossil fuels, with the burden therefore falling on city,
county, and state governments to assume climate leadership for the sake of
their citizens’ wellbeing and the health of local and regional environments;
and,
WHEREAS continuing on the current course of climate change will cause a global average temperature
rise of 4.5ºF by 2050, and cost the global economy $32 trillion dollars;
and,
WHEREAS the President of the United States has said that the current U.S. war in Syria is being
fought exclusively in order to take Syria’s oil, the consumption of which would
do serious damage to the earth’s climate;
and, WHEREAS five-year averages of temperature in
Virginia began a significant and steady increase in the early 1970s, rising from
54.6 degrees Fahrenheit then to 56.2 degrees F in 2012, at which rate
Virginia will be as hot as South Carolina by 2050 and as
northern Florida by 2100;
and,
WHEREAS economists at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst have documented that military spending is an
economic drain rather than a jobs-creation program, and that investment in
other sectors is economically beneficial;
and,
WHEREAS satellite readings show water tables dropping worldwide, and more than one
in three counties in the United States could face a “high” or “extreme” risk of
water shortages due to climate change by the middle of the 21st century, while
seven in ten of the more than 3,100 counties could face “some” risk of
shortages of fresh water;
and,
WHEREAS, wars are often fought with U.S.-made weapons used by both sides
(Examples include U.S. wars in Syria, Iraq, Libya, the Iran-Iraq war, the Mexican drug war, World War
II, and
many others);
and,
WHEREAS local government investing in companies producing weapons of war
implicitly supports federal war spending on those same companies, many of which
depend on the federal government as their primary customer, while a fraction of the same spending could pay for a Green New Deal;
and,
WHEREAS heat waves now cause more deaths in the United
States than all other weather events (hurricanes, floods, lightning, blizzards,
tornados, etc.) combined and dramatically more than all deaths from terrorism,
and an estimated 150 people in the United States will die from extreme heat
every summer day by 2040, with almost 30,000 heat-related deaths annually;
and,
WHEREAS the rate of mass shootings in the United States is the highest anywhere
in the developed world, as civilian gun manufacturers continue to reap enormous
profits off bloodshed that we do not need to invest our public dollars in;
and,
WHEREAS between 1948 and 2006 “extreme precipitation events” increased 25% in Virginia, with negative impacts on
agriculture, a trend predicted to continue, and global sea level is projected
to rise an average of at least two feet by the end of the century, with rising along the Virginia coast among the most rapid
in the world;
and,
WHEREAS climate change, like gun violence, is a serious threat to the health,
safety, and welfare of the people of Arlington, and the American Academy of
Pediatrics has warned that climate change poses a threat to human health and
safety, with children being uniquely vulnerable, and calls failure to take “prompt,
substantive action” an “act of injustice to all children”;
NOW,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Supervisors of Arlington, Virginia
that it declares its support and encouragement of any and all persons acting on
behalf of County investment activity, to divest all County operating funds from
any entity engaged in the production of fossil fuels or the production or
upgrading of weapons and weapons systems within 30 days.
Donations can be sent
to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD
21218. Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
"The master class
has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.
The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject
class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their
lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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