Hidden in the fine print of the dirty debt ceiling deal we talked so much about last month was the latest version of an old injustice: While President Biden, Joe Manchin, and the fossil fuel fascists in the US house negotiated to cut spending on poor people and domestic programs like staffing at the EPA, they actually increased the US budget for war and weapons by three percent.
Today, we’re putting a new twist on the old No War No Warming campaign because the next few months are a critical time to break the connection between climate change and the US Pentagon. It starts with you sending a message to support the People Over Pentagon Act, introduced by Reps. Barbara Lee and Mark Pocan, which would flip the dirty deal on its head.
Here’s what’s going on: For a long time, politicians in DC have preferred to fully fund the Pentagon, while short changing domestic priorities — especially climate-fighting ones like clean energy. When Russia invaded Ukraine, a conflict that has a lot to do with global supplies of fossil fuels, a bunch of us pointed out that you could actually fight for peace and freedom by funding clean energy and climate action. But after an initial victory getting the Biden administration to use the Defense Production Act to ramp up US production of heat pumps and solar panels, things have actually been getting a lot worse for peace and climate.
President Biden and Congress have sent Ukraine billions of dollars in military aide, while spending a relative pittance in comparison on clean energy and climate action. And to make matters worse, fossil fuel fascist like Joe Manchin are using the war as an excuse to expedite fossil fuel projects, especially fracked gas pipelines and export terminals. Things really came to a head in that dirty debt ceiling deal, when President Biden and a super-majority of Congress supported spending cuts to domestic programs that fight poverty and pollution, while expanding out budget for war and weapons. Even the MVP, which only moves gas from West Virginia to Virginia, was included on the basis that it’s “essential for national security.”
To put it simply, President Biden and Congress are spending too much money on war and fossil fuels, and they’re using the war in Ukraine as an excuse to keep doing it.
That’s why we’re starting with this new bill, the People Over Pentagon Act, which would take money from the Pentagon to not only maintain but strengthen domestic programs and climate action. The bill would repurpose $100 BILLION from weapons and war — budget line items rife with waste and inefficiency — to urgent domestic needs like solar energy, education, and healthcare.
Just as the dirty debt ceiling bill put too many politicians on record as supporting fossil fuels and war; this bil gives us an opportunity to put them on record supporting no war, and no warming.
Whether you’re new to this fight or have been with us for years, it’s time to pile on the pressure and get LOUD. The reality is, activists like us held the line against deeper cuts in the debt ceiling negotiations. But with Ukraine just launching a new summer offensive, we need to dig in and demand Congress keep going and cut the Pentagon budget! We also need to be ready to rally the world around our call for no war and no warming this September at the UN climate ambition summit. If you haven’t already, RSVP to join our kick off call tonight, and get the details on that part of the plan.