Close All U.S. Bases Abroad To Slow Climate Change & Promote Environmental Justice

Popular Resistance "Close All US Military Bases on Foreign Soil"

Recently I signed on to a new campaign with the goal of closing U.S. military bases abroad.

U.S. troops stationed abroad

There are many reasons why closing military bases abroad would be a major step toward restoring both environmental justice and human rights.

As is typical of U.S. imperial ambition, environmental considerations are tossed aside when expansion is seen as serving the empire. Just this week the Department of Homeland "Security" announced that it has the power to skip environmental impact studies in building a wall on our border with Mexico. Thankfully, the Center for Biological Diversity has challenged this in a lawsuit, arguing that sidestepping the EPA is unconstitutional.

What about the harm caused by military bases outside the U.S.? The story of how life fares in the vicinity of a U.S. military base is a sad one.

Let's start with one of the most egregious examples: Okinawa. Can you find it on this map?

Okinawa is an island that was colonized by imperial Japan, became a major battleground in WWII, and then has been forced into serving as a U.S. military outpost ever since.

Native Okinawan Moé Yonamine wrote in "Fighting for Okinawa -- My Home, Not a Military Base":

“They are burying our beautiful ocean,” read the recent message from my mother in Okinawa, as though she was grieving the loss of a loved one. 

After decades of protest by Okinawan people to completely get rid of all U.S. military bases that occupy a fifth of the Ryukyu Island chain, the United States and Japan signed a treaty to evacuate one of the most contested bases located in the center of the main island, Futenma Marine Corps (MCAS) base. In exchange for the removal, both governments announced that they would construct a floating military base off the northeast coast of Henoko. Okinawans expressed vehement opposition, with a majority voting in a referendum for the complete removal of all bases.

Photo by Tomaz Vajngerl / Creative Commons

Futenma Marine Corps Air Station is notorious for human rights abuses in its vicinity. Rape and murder by military personnel victimizing Okinawan girls and Japanese tourists have fueled local resistance to the base for years.

Al-Jazeera "Ex-Marine charged with rape, murder of  Okinawa woman"

The base is also a source of air pollution and noise pollution, and a stressor on sea life in the vicinity.

And, it is just one of many bases on the small island of Okinawa.

Globally, activists who work to reduce carbon pollution in the atmosphere must stop ignoring the Pentagon's role in this global security threat. The Pentagon is the organization with the largest carbon bootprint on the planet.

We of the Maine Natural Guard will bring this often ignored, inconvenient truth to a climate change conference this fall. Tabling at the Sierra Club Maine's third annual Climate Action Conference September 16 in Lewiston, we will provide information and invite others to sign on to our pledge to connec the dots between militarism and environmental harm.

You can take the Natural Guard pledge, too, by clicking here. 

And you can click here to endorse the campaign to close all U.S. military bases abroad.

Black Women Worked 7 Extra Months To Earn The Same Amount As White Men In 2016

Recently I saw this poster repurposing a bus kiosk in Berkeley. What did the author mean by "dirty ass system"? Maybe the fact that yesterday was Equal Pay Day for Black Women, 2017. It was yesterday because it took until July 31 for black women to earn the same amount as white men had earned the previous year.

Black women, on average, worked seven extra months to earn what white men earned in 2016.

How fair is that?

Tennis star Serena Williams, arguably the highest paid woman in the country despite facing racist obstacles throughout her career, serves on the board of SurveyMonkey. Yesterday she reported their research about the salary problem in Fortune:

Sixty-nine percent of black women perceive a pay gap, while just 44% of white men recognize the issue.

Nearly two-thirds of black women say that major obstacles remain for women in the workplace.

In addition to gender, black women see obstacles to racial equality: three-quarters of black women workers say there are still significant hurdles holding back minorities.

Still, some black women remain optimistic: more than 43% of black millennial women believe men and women have equal opportunities for promotion.

Homeowner Aishon Jones in Syracuse, NY

Salary equity is just one metric we can apply to measure racial inequality in this country. Another set of data that shocked me seven years ago was the disparity in net worth  along racial lines found in a study by the  Insight Center for Community Economic Development. This is the best argument for reparations that I have encountered. Some key findings:

-Single Black women (across all ages, from age 18 to 64) have a median wealth of $100 and single Latinas have a median wealth of $120. Single white women clock in at $41,000. 

-Almost half of all Black women and Latinas have zero wealth or negative wealth. That is, their debts exceed their assets. 

-And even though white women (from 36 to 49 years old) have a median wealth of $42,600, women of color in the same age bracket have a median wealth valued at $5.

-Women of color 65 and older are least likely to receive retirement income from pensions or other assets.

The pay gap undermines the economic security of the more than 4 million families headed by Black women. #BlackWomensEqualPayDay

— ACLU National (@ACLU) July 31, 2017

Help tear this dirty ass system down! Help by raising awareness of the real inequities it was built upon.

Love the people by standing up for what's fair so that another generation does not labor under the burden of structural, systemic racism. Defend affirmative action, practice diversity in hiring, and lobby for diversity in your own work place or school.

How many talents like Serena's get wasted every year? What brilliance do black and brown girls growing up today have to share with the world? Let's not miss out on it!