The Elephant In The Room Of #ClimateEmergency: Pentagon Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Source: "PentagonFuel Use, Climate Change, and the Costs of War" Neta C. Crawford, Boston University, June 12. 2019

I've been fortunate to meet some of the younger climate activists in Maine recently, those organizing Climate Strikes and also support for the landmark Juliana v. US climate justice legal challenge.

What is striking to me is that young and old alike have been kept effectively ignorant of the central fact that is the elephant in the room of climate emergency: Pentagon greenhouse gas emissions.

As we can see from the chart above, the Pentagon consumes the lion's share of U.S. fuel. That is not even counting its many contractors, such as General Dynamics' Bath Iron Works ship yard here in Maine. More on that in a minute.

Fuel use likewise makes the Pentagon the biggest greenhouse gas emitter of any organization on the planet. Indeed, its CO2 boot print is larger than that of many nations. 

Forbes used Professor Neta Crawford's research to produce a graphic illustration of this alarming fact:

Why have we been so ignorant of this central fact in understanding climate emergency? 

Because, as the report notes, "emissions from international bunker fuels (for military aircraft and ships) and multilateral wars were excluded from national accounts in the Kyoto Protocol negotiations in 1998."

Thus we have the ironic and quite possibly suicidal situation where, in Professor Crawford's words:

"The Pentagon views climate change as a threat...to national security...Yet the Pentagon does not acknowledge that its own fuel use is a major contributor to climate change."

One is science, the other is politics. Our planet's atmosphere, climate, and ability to sustain mammalian life can be understood via science; Bill Nye, science guy, is now predicting the dire effects of climate change for human life will begin as early as 10-15 years from now if we continue down the same path. More conservative scientists are saying 50 years.

Politicians, on the other hand, continue kissing the ring of fossil fuel giants and weapons manufacturers; the latter are so wealthy they are sometimes referred to as the 1% of the 1%. They vote to fund wars for control of the fossil fuels that are killing us, and this is true whether they have D, R or I after their names.

Dud Hendrick of Veterans for Peace called out Maine's congressional delegation for their failure of leadership to address the climate crisis in his piece this week in Common Dreams, "A Call to Put Down Arms."

Hendrick will join me and others for a news conference on June 21 in Portland calling for conversion of the largest weapons factory in Maine, the Bath Iron Works shipyard. We have a great coalition of Native, environmental, peace and faith leaders joining the Conversion Campaign -- yet not a single elected official at the municipal, state or national level had yet found the courage to accept our invitation to join us on June 21.

The following day, dozens will protest at Bath Iron Works as yet another carbon-belching war ship is celebrated.

Be there if you can on Saturday, June 22 at 8-10am in Bath to demand demand conversion of the ship yard to address climate emergency. Let's turn this ship around, before it's too late.

Conversion Toward Peace, Right Here In Maine

The Rev. Mair Honan in blue raincoat being arrested by Bath police for blocking Washington Street during a war ship "christening" at General Dynamics' Bath Iron Works shipyard.

Below are the wise words of The Reverend Mair Honan of the United Church of Christ. Mair had the microphone and was just beginning to speak in Bath on April 27 when she decided to join the civil resistance action, so I invited her to share her thoughts via a guest post to this blog.

Conversion Toward Peace

Martin Luther King wrote “when we are met by physical force we must respond with soul force.” The US is the largest arms dealer in the world. We have the biggest navy in the world, we have more nuclear weapons in our arsenal that any other nation. We are not interested in soul force.

April 27th Bath Iron Works  “christens” the $7 billion Zumwalt stealth destroyer.

One of the myths General Dynamics, owner of BIW, believes is that this production makes America safer. We already have the weaponry to blow up the world - has it made us safer, healthier, happier? Many question whether this “security through destructive strength” can bring us any closer to world peace. Our understanding needs to change. The current global issues of climate change, population growth, water shortages, poverty, failing states, reveal more clearly that security must be global if it is to exist at all.

One step, toward real security, would be the conversion of BIW from a company that builds destroyers to a company that takes its ingenuity and dedicated work force and leads us into the concrete reality of supporting this country by building wind /solar projects, hospital ships, and modern rail systems. This would be a move, right here in Maine, toward real security, toward world peace.

Rev. Mair Honan

Most of the LBJ 25, so named because the war ship was named after the Vietnam War criminal, after our release by the Bath PD. We were charged with obstructing a public way. Photo credit: Jim Anderberg

Another of the LBJ 25 arrested on April 27, Judy Robbins, shared a useful news service with me, Pressenza IPA (in English). In my daily news email from them, I noticed an article from March 5: "These 28 companies are building nuclear weapons" based on a report from the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. 

Guess which company doing business in Maine is on the nuclear weapons list?

General Dynamics (United States)General Dynamics has a number of contracts related key components for the UK & US Trident II (D5) systems. An initial US$ 30.6 million (€ 28.2 million) contract awarded in 2015 has been modified repeatedly (including five times between November 2017 and December 2018) bringing the total contract value to over US$ 174.4 million (€ 155.6 million). Another General Dynamics subsidiary, General Dynamics Electric Boat received a maximum dollar value of US$ 46.5 (€ 43.4 million) contract in September 2017 for integration work for United Kingdom Strategic Weapon Support System kit manufacturing for the Columbia class ballistic missile submarines. In 2018 this contract was modified significantly, first in April for US$ 126.2 million (€ 102.4 million), and again for US$ 480.6 million (€ 414 million) in September 2018.

Here's a political cartoon I created during our campaign last year to stop General Dynamics from getting a big tax giveaway from our low income state (we succeeded in getting the amount reduced, but the tax bonanza from feds, state and local continues as the climate catastrophe rolls on).

I guess I could have put a mushroom shaped cloud in the background instead of a yacht.

We Have Got To Build A Future That Is Healthy...We Have Got To Start Today

Judy Robbins being arrested April 27, 2019 in Bath, Maine. Photo credit: Jim Anderberg

These are the words that peace and justice heroine Judy Robbins planned to share at Bath Iron Works last weekend. She decided to risk arrest by moving into Washington Street with two dozen others instead, so I am sharing them here. 

We are here

because we have something to say

and it’s important 

Senator Collins and Senator King

we want you to listen

Congressman Golden and Congresswoman Pingree

we want you to listen

we have been to your offices

we have written you letters

we have called you

we have sent emails and tweets

we need you to hear us

instead of listening to General Dynamics,

we want you to hear this message: 

the forests are on fire

the prairies are flooded

the oceans are dying

the air is toxic

this is a climate emergency

this is a climate crisis

it’s no longer global warming

it’s no longer climate change

Banner by Artists' Rapid Response Team (AART!) of the Union of Maine Visual Artists

it’s a climate crisis, a world emergency

and the earth needs your attention

Listen.

we have got to stop launching warships to kill people

we have got to build a future that is healthy

we can change this trajectory

and we have got to start today

love as if everyone is your sister or brother

take care of this world as if it is your beloved home

Judy Robbins April 27, 2019

Image: Anthony Freda

Now, compare Judy's wise words with this snarky unsigned op-ed in the Times Record ridiculing her conscientious action. It's pretty clear that the local newspaper in Bath is carrying water for General Dynamics, owner of BIW.

Consider contacting the editor of the TR here (he's already heard from me with a link to collected resources on Pentagon-fueled climate change):

John Swinconeck, Executive Editor

jswinconeck@timesrecord.com 207-504-8209
Local, State, Opinion

Climate Crisis Is Here, So We Must Be Out In The Streets

My guest post today is from the adorable Connie Jenkins. We were arrested together last Saturday at General Dynamics' Bath Iron Works shipyard to call attention to climate catastrophe fueled by building weapons instead of sustainable energy solutions. Connie made these remarks in Bath prior to her arrest, and they were subsequently printed in Common Dreams. Thanks, Connie and all of the LBJ 25.

Published on

Sunday, April 28, 2019

by

Common Dreams

Another Shameful "Christening" at Bath Iron Works

We Must Be Out in the Streets

by

Connie Jenkins

 5 Comments

Police arrested 25 protesters who they say were blocking roads outside Bath Iron Works on Saturday morning, April 27, 2019 during the christening ceremony for the Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyer USS Lyndon B. Johnson. They face charges of obstructing a public way, a Class E misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. The protesters were primarily members of Maine Veterans for Peace, CODEPINK and the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space. Protesters issued a statement last week that said the Navy and BIW should focus their efforts on the national and global threats posed by climate change and not on building vessels that exacerbate climate change. They said the Pentagon has the largest carbon footprint on the planet. The following were arrested:  Natasha Mayers, 72, of Whitefield,  Virginia Schneider, 60, of South Portland, Lisa Savage, 62, of Solon, James Freeman, 70, of Verona Island, Mark Roman 77, of Solon, Constance Jenkins, 71, of East Blue Hill, Meredith Bruskin, 71, of Swanville, Suzanne Hedrick, 88, of Nobleboro, Roy Pingel, 71, of Queens, N.Y., Dixie Searway, 81, of Parsonsfield, Sophia Ridgely Fuller, 72, of Belfast, Donald Cunning, 72, of Old Brudge, N.J., Dudley Hendrick, 77, of Deer Isle, Daniel Ellis, 71 of Brunswick, Julius Orkin, 80, of Bergenfield, N.J., Carolyn Coe, 52, of Orland, Mary Honan, 71, of Freeport, Ethan Hughes, 48, of Belfast, Russell Wray, 64, of Hancock, Judith Robbins, 70, of Sedgwick, Ellen Barfield, 62, of Baltimore, Md., Robert Shetterly, 72, of Brooksville, Jason Rawn, 45, of Lincolnville, Michael Donnelly, 82, of Brunswick, and Mary Garvey-Donnelly, 80, of Brunswick. (AP)

Three years ago, I was arrested along with 11 others for blocking Washington Street in an act of civil resistance against the “christening” of the USS Michael Mansour, the second Zumwalt destroyer built at Bath Iron Works.  Today the same shameful ceremony will be repeated.

My reasons for taking part in the demonstration in 2016 and risking arrest are the same now as they were then:

• I’m a Christian peace activist, a member of Pax Christi Maine, and have taken a vow of nonviolence.
• I’m a mother, grandmother and great grandmother who would take every nonviolent measure to keep those I love from being sacrificed to the horrors of War.
• I’m a retired nurse practitioner who took an oath to protect life and do no harm.
• And I’m an American citizen who grieves for her country, for I believe we have truly lost our way.  

I was as sickened in 2016 as I am now by the deception and evil carried out in the name of “democracy” and “freedom” and “security”.  

What’s different for me this time around is a deepened focus on “connecting the dots” of permanent warfare, systemic violence and catastrophic climate change as symptoms of a disease, natural consequences of the unrestrained greed that’s part and parcel of our economic system.  

You may have seen an “Earth Day” message from Public Citizen that says it all about where things stand in Washington these days.  But in case you didn’t, here’s the scorecard:

• A coal lobbyist runs the Environmental Protection Agency
• An oil lobbyist runs the Department of the Interior
• A Monsanto executive runs US Fish & Wildlife
• A BP oil attorney is the nation’s top environmental lawyer
• A fossil fuel lobbyist is the EPA’s air pollution chief
• A big energy insider regulates our power grid

If that isn’t awful enough, the climate crisis is also being directly fueled by U.S. foreign policy.  Even the Pentagon says that climate change poses “immediate risks” to national security, that it’s a “threat multiplier.”  But the Pentagon serves the War Profiteers. And General Dynamics, owner of Bath Iron Works, is right at the top of the heap in raking in profits from our War Economy.

It helps that they have “friends” in Congress.  If you take a look at the website of the Center for Responsive Politics, you’ll see that PACs and individuals associated with General Dynamics contributed close to $2 million to federal candidates last year.  It was pretty disappointing to see Angus King’s name at the top of the list, receiving $62,000. But Angus wasn’t the only one to benefit:  Chellie Pingree got $11,000, Susan Collins, $9000, and Jared Golden $615. This might help explain why I haven’t received a response to the letter I sent each of them on April 8th.  I’d like to share the last 2 paragraphs of that letter with you:

I’m writing to ask you not to honor the naming of another weapon of mass destruction with your presence.  How ironic and yet appropriate that the USS LBJ bears the name of the president responsible for so much death and devastation in Viet Nam.  Unfortunately, we seem to have learned nothing since that time. For we are now living with the consequences of George W. Bush’s global “War on Terror,” another debacle based on lies, poor judgment, and hubris.

I find it impossible to believe you truly think the wreckage caused by the notion of “American Exceptionalism” can ever be justified.  Please reconsider your attendance at this shameful event. I appreciate your attention to my concerns.

It seems we are long past the point where it’s enough just to write letters to our representatives, send emails, and visit congressional offices for scheduled appointments.  Those things are important to do, but we don’t have time for business as usual because climate change is the existential threat to most life on the planet, including humanity.  

I believe we need to follow the lead of the climate youth activists and movements who’ve put world leaders to shame:

• If we are mothers or fathers who want to save our children, we must be out in the streets.
• If we are grandparents who want our grandchildren to have a future, we must be out in the streets.
• If we are people of faith who believe we are called to be peacemakers and stewards of the gift of Creation, we must be out in the streets
• If we are environmentalists who cherish and have vowed to protect Mother Earth, we must be out in the streets
• And if we are activists working to end systemic violence in any of its forms, we must be out in the streets.

I’d like to end with part of a prayer from one of my guides on the path to peace and nonviolence, Fr. John Dear.  This is from his book Radical Prayers on Peace, Love, & Nonviolence:

Dear God,

Give us a new will,
a new spirit,
a new heart,
a new grassroots movement to protect creation,
that we might respect and protect creation
and create a new culture of nonviolence for Mother Earth.

We love you for the gift of your creation
For the beauty of Mother Earth.
Thank you for such a gift.
Do not let us destroy it.

Do not let the nations of the world burn it down.,
wage permanent war,
and kill millions of sisters and brothers
along the way.

Give us the wisdom and way forward,
that we might become who you created us to be—
your loving stewards of your beautiful paradise.

Amen

-----

Protesters Arrested Demanding BIW Convert To Building For Climate Solutions, Not Carbon Belching War Ships #LBJ25

Most of us who were arrested at Bath Iron Works war ship "christening" 4/28/19, after our release from the Bath Police Department. 

Jim Anderberg, who supported the protest as a photographer, posted this comment: 

The last Zumwalt class destroyer was launched at Bath Iron Works today. 25 people were arrested in a protest. A $7.5 billion boondoggle. 

Think what that money could be used for to alleviate our use of fossil fuels and address the global warming crisis.

The #LBJ25 are mostly Mainers: Natasha Mayers, Whitefield; Ginny Schneider, South Portland; Jim Freeman, Verona Island; Connie Jenkins, East Blue Hill; Meredith Bruskin, Swanville; Suzanne Hedrick, Nobleboro;  Dixie Searway, Parsonsfield; Ridgely Fuller, Belfast; Dud Hendrick, Deer Isle; Dan Ellis, Brunswick;  Carolyn Coe, Orland; The Reverend Mair Honan, Freeport; Ethan Hughes, Belfast (who returned home from Bath by bicycle!); Russell Wray, Hancock; Judy Robbins, Sedgwick;  Robert Shetterly, Brooksville; Jason Rawn, Lincolnville; Mike Donnelly, Brunswick; Mary Garvey-Donnelly, Brunswick; Mark Roman, Solon; and Lisa Savage, Solon.

We were grateful to be joined by several Veterans for Peace who traveled to Maine for the protest: Ellen Barfield, Baltimore, Maryland; Don Cunning, Old Bridge, NJ; Julius Orkin, Bergenfield, NJ; and Roy Pingel, Queens, NY.

Other supporters of the protest: Peter Baldwin of Waldo County Peace & Justice who brought his drum; VFP members Ellen Davidson and Tarak Kauff, who designed and produced the banners pictured above; VFP's John Morris and Ian Collins, logistical and jail support; song leader Rosie Paul of Peaceworks; BIW stalwarts Maureen and George Oestensen of Smilin' Trees Disarmament Farm and Akemi Wray of Citizens Opposing Active Sonar Threats (COAST); photographers Peter Robbins, Roger Leisner, Regis Tremblay, and Richard Kane (who was on hand filming for a documentary on portraitist Rob Shetterly of Americans Who Tell The Truth) and a sound technician with Kane whose name I didn't catch before I was arrested.

It would be impossible for me to name all of the 75 or so folks who turned out yesterday, but I love you all!

Suzanne Hedrick, the eldest of those arrested, was featured in this great video by Peaceworks.


(If you're unable to view the embedded video, you can see it here on YouTube.)

I departed suddenly from my role as MC at the rally where speakers noted the urgency of the need for conversion as the Pentagon and General Dynamics/Bath Iron Works barrel full speed ahead toward the cliff of climate catastrophe. I look forward to videos sharing both the first half of the rally and the second half, which I missed after moving into Washington Street to help halt traffic.



A partial list of the news coverage:

"Twenty-five protesters arrested near Bath Iron Works" Darcie Moore, Times Record & Portland Press Herald

"BIW Christening" Kennebec Journal & Waterville Morning Sentinel

Dud Hendrick, VFP, engaged in civil resistance (Photo credit: David Sharp, Associated Press)

"LBJ's Daughters Christen BIW Destroyer Ship Bearing Their Father's Name" Caitlin Troutman, carrying water for the military industrial complex at Democrat leaning news service Maine Public.

The LBJ 25 were charged with obstructing a public way and ordered to appear in court on June 18 at 1pm in West Bath. 

If you're in the area, we hope to see you there!