Thursday, November 7, 2019

Meet with us on the Capitol steps.


Friends,

  The letter below has been sent not only to Rep. McCarthy, but also to Nancy Pelosi and Senators Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell. We will be risking arrest with Jane Fonda on Friday, November 8.

Kagiso, Max

Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 East 25th Street, Baltimore, MD 21218
Ph: 410-323-1607 Email: mobuszewski20001 at Comcast dot net

November 7, 2019

Representative Kevin McCarthy
2468 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Rep. McCarthy:

  Funding endless war is an existential threat to human life and one of the leading causes of climate chaos, and why it’s urgent that we come together and make the connection between U.S. militarism and climate change. On Friday, November 8, as part of Fire Drill Friday, we plan to be on the steps of the Capitol around 11 AM calling on our legislators to declare a climate emergency. We would appreciate if you could send an aide to meet with us.

   It is essential that to save Mother Earth, major cuts to the military budget must be made and those funds diverted to programs designed to alleviate the effects of climate chaos. 64% of US discretionary spending is wasted on the military, which pollutes our planet more than 140 countries combined! The Pentagon is the single largest institutional consumer of fossil fuels in the world, and the United States military has an enormous “carbon boot print.” If it were a country, its fuel use alone would make it the 47th-largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world, between Peru and Portugal. And for much of the past century, a major function of the military has been to secure access for US-based companies to fossil fuel resources in the Middle East and elsewhere. It’s hard to imagine how to “green” the US’s fossilized war machine without fundamentally questioning its purpose in a 21st century defined by the need for international cooperation against the climate crisis.

  The Poor People’s Campaign and the Institute for Policy Studies recently calculated that the US could safely cut as much as $350 billion from the Pentagon’s current spending and still be left with a bigger military budget than China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea combined. That’s a lot of money that could be reinvested in other priorities like a Green New Deal — enough not just to help ward off the worst climate catastrophes, but to actually improve living conditions for the many who are suffering in today’s economy.

  For instance, just 11% of the Pentagon’s current annual budget — about $80 billion — could produce enough wind and solar energy to power every one of the almost 128 million households in the United States. As renewables get cheaper, that fraction gets even smaller. And with the right kind of regulatory structures, zero-carbon renewable electricity could effectively be made free after the initial investment of construction.

  There are other costs associated with shifting to fossil-free electricity, of course — like developing battery storage, a resilient smart grid to transmit energy across large regions, and other sources of carbon-free energy like geothermal and tidal. But even accounting for these, one estimate calculates the total cost of shifting our electricity to 100% renewable energy over 10 years at $4.5 trillion. That’s still less than the $6 trillion that we’ve spent on almost two decades of endless wars waged since 9/11.

   But direct public job creation in low-carbon sectors of the economy, like education, health care, and clean energy, would have much greater positive economic impacts per tax dollar than war-related jobs. The military creates about seven jobs per $1 million of spending, according to a study from the Costs of War Project, while clean energy and infrastructure each support 10 jobs, health care supports 14, and education supports 15. No wonder Green New Deal advocates support a public jobs guarantee as part of the framework.

   Everything we need to transform the US to a green economy is technically and economically feasible. But our government’s enormous and unnecessary military expenditures, which are now approaching World War II–era levels, have warped our sense of what's possible. That’s tricked us for decades into believing we can't afford to make big investments in improving our lives or keeping our planet habitable.

   But skimping on the survival of human civilization isn’t an option. Inaction on climate change could soon cost the gross domestic product on the scale of five Great Recessions per year — supposing that economic modeling is even equipped to calculate the costs of an uninhabitable Earth. The good news is we know exactly where to find the funds. So we look forward to a meeting with an aide on the Capitol steps, so that we can flesh out the points made in the letter.


  If you are not yet convinced that Congress must declare a climate emergency, see this article Climate crisis: 11,000 scientists warn of ‘untold suffering’ on November 5, 2019 in  The Guardian -- https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/05/climate-crisis-11000-scientists-warn-of-untold-suffering. The article written by Damian Carrington, Environment editor, also makes the point that “Most countries’ climate plans ‘totally inadequate’ – experts.”

 

Please join the struggle to save the planet.  We look forward to your response.

 

In peace,

 

Max Obuszewski and Janice Sevre-Duszynska

 

Representative Nancy Pelosi, 123 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515

Senator Mitch McConnell, 317 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510

Senator Chuck Schumer, 322 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510


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