Climate & Peace

Our mission is to educate and act on the interrelationship of US militarism and the global ecological and climate crisis.   We seek to integrate anti-militarism into the climate and ecological narrative by demonstrating how world peace and nonviolent conflict resolution are inseparable from environmental and climate justice, using educational events, action opportunities and solidarity work with climate and related social movements.

Background

 

US militarism is a major driver of the climate emergency.

Unless military operations are dramatically scaled back, attempts to mitigate the worst effects of global heating will not be effective. The Pentagon is the largest single institutional consumer of oil worldwide with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions comparable to those of some industrialized countries. It commands an extensive global network and vast infrastructure – more than 800 offshore military bases, over two million people, 11 nuclear aircraft carriers, scores of jet planes and tens of thousands of tanks and Humvees. It demands an immense, continuous supply of reliable energy, described by one general as the “lifeblood” of its war-fighting capabilities. Conflicts and military exercises sharply increase its consumption of oil: during the first four years of the Iraq war 141m tonnes of carbon were released to the atmosphere, more than the annual emissions from 139 countries in that period. Moreover, because the US military is in turn required for the protection of and access to foreign oil and shipping lanes, US militarism drives a perpetual loop of oil consumption.

Events

News

Fukushima: A Lasting Tragedy

Tens of years on, the United States, the largest owner of nuclear power plants, still promotes nuclear power as “safe and clean energy.” by H. Patricia Hynes  Then In 2011 the Great East Japan Earthquake and ensuing tsunami devastated northeast Japan, taking the lives of

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Stop Line 3 protest, Jamaica Plain, Aug 25, 2021
Jamaica Plain Rally to Stop Line 3

Article and photos by Howie Rotman Wednesday evening, August 25, 2021 hundreds of supporters in solidarity with the First Nation Indigenous-Led movement against the Enbridge Corporation’s construction of the Line 3 tar sands crude oil pipeline held a rally and vigil at the Jamaica Pond

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Climate Justice is Anti-Militarist

by Nick Rabb When considering the climate crisis and its numerous intersections with other movements for justice, one that is often overlooked is the role of militarism. At first glance, it may seem that the two are worlds away, but a deeper analysis reveals that

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President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., with Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, kicks off the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate in Washington, D.C., on April 22, 2021. [White House photo by Adam Schultz/ Public Domain]
Biden’s Climate Plan: Unprecedented Yet Insufficient

by Maryellen Kurkulos This point cannot be overemphasized: The earth’s climate is changing irreversibly, while the window of opportunity to keep global heating to less than 1.5ºC is closing fast. Droughts, floods, wildfires, and storms are ever more frequent and more intense. Atmospheric CO2 levels

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Get Involved

The Peace & Climate working group meets monthly at 7 pm on Thursdays. If you’d like to participate please email Rosalie Anders at rosalie.h.anders [at] gmail.com or John MacDougall at John_Macdougall [at] uml.edu.

features

Company

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