Maine's Congressional Delegation Fails Climate Crisis Again, Votes For 'Writing Huge Checks To Boeing & Lockheed'

Jason Rawn at today's news conference in Portland, singing about flooding already underway 

Three dozen people came together to call for conversion of the Bath Iron Works shipyard to build solutions to climate emergency, but Maine's congressional delegation was nowhere to be found. Despite numerous invitations to Rep. Chellie Pingree (1st District) and Rep. Jared Golden (2nd District), not even a staffer for either politician put in an appearance.

Both Pingree and Golden had just voted for the most gargantuan Pentagon budget ever, $733 billion worth.

Their courageous colleague Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan accurately described the appropriations bill as "huge checks being written to Boeing and Lockheed Martin."

Some of those huge checks are for General Dynamics, too, which could explain why Pingree, Golden, Sen. Susan Collins and Sen. Angus King stayed away from our Conversion Campaign presser in Portland this morning.

All four will no doubt again be the guests of General Dynamics, which owns Bath Iron Works, tomorrow at a celebration for the Arleigh Burke Guided Missile Destroyer Daniel Inouye.

Another carbon belching war ship the U.S. doesn't need, a weapon system allegedly built to address national security while ignoring the real security emergency facing us all: catastrophic climate change.

Dozens of us will be in the streets in front of the shipyard hoping to be glimpsed by our congressional delegation being whisked through the gates in limousines with tinted windows.

Green Party USA two-time presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein will be out in the streets with us after speaking today about the kind of representation that the people of the U.S. and especially the workers at BIW deserve. So will my husband and I and many of the speakers from today's news conference.

I'll have the full line up of speakers and excerpts of their remarks soon when video of the conference is posted.

Hope to see you at 8am on Washington Street near the north gate of BIW in Bath tomorrow, Saturday June 22, 2019.

A press release with more info on the event may be found here.

Bath Iron Works Warship June 22 Will Be Met With Protests, But D.A. Unlikely To Prosecute Arrests

Jason Rawn (foreground) and others blocking busses arriving for a warship celebration in Bath on April 27, 2019.  (Photo: Peter Robbins)

MEDIA ADVISORY: BATH IRON WORKS WARSHIP LAUNCH WILL BE MET WITH PROTESTS; D.A. UNLIKELY TO PROSECUTE PROTESTERS

Statewide peace and environmental  groups will gather to protest the “christening”[sic] of Arleigh Burke Guided Missile Destroyer Daniel Inouye (DDG 118) at General Dynamics’ Bath Iron Works (BIW) shipyard on Saturday, June 22 at 8am.

During the last war ship launch on April 27, 25 protesters were arrested for obstructing a public way blocking a bus headed into the shipyard to join the celebration. District Attorney Natasha Irving declined to prosecute the 25 and is expected to do so if there are similar arrests on June 22. Irving has stated that she considers such cases a drain on the limited resources of her staff.

Currently there are 26 people signed up to engage in civil resistance on  June 22.

Mark Roman of Solon was among those arrested on April 27 out of concern for the Pentagon’s enormous carbon footprint. “The report by Prof. Neta Crawford published this month by Brown University’s Costs of War project counts greenhouse gas emissions since the start of the so-called war on terror in 2001,” said Roman. “The Pentagon is the biggest polluter on the planet, and climate emergency can no longer wait for this to be addressed. We should begin working to convert BIW now!”

Bill Nye clip begins at 18:19 of John Oliver's show. If embedded video does not play for you, see it on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/JDcro7dPqpA?t=18m19s

Bill Nye, science guy, has predicted the beginning of human extinction in as few as 15 years from now without drastic changes to fossil fuel use. More conservative scientists set the deadline at 50 years out.

Bruce Gagnon of Brunswick, a member of VFP who became an activist while in the Air Force during the Vietnam era, said, “Our real security needs as a nation are to urgently address climate change and plan for sea level rise that is already underway. How will this affect BIW’s shipyard in Bath? Continuing to build expensive, provocative and polluting weapon systems like Aegis destroyers ignores climate change as the biggest threat to our collective safety.” Gagnon has helped organize protests at BIW for the past several years. In 2018 he fasted for 37 days to oppose a tax giveaway by the state of Maine to General Dynamics.

Governor Janet Mills signed Maine’s Green New Deal into law this week. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Chloe Maxmin, provides funding for job training needed to convert industries which currently contribute to climate change and global warming.

“Making warships at BIW is not even a good jobs policy. Researchers have consistently found that investment of the same resources in sustainable energy solutions like commuter rail or wind turbines would produce many more jobs,” said Mary Beth Sullivan of PeaceWorks of greater Brunswick. “We need conversion of the BIW shipyard now.” Sullivan referenced the UMass Amherst study in 2011, “TheU.S. Employment Effects of Military and Domestic Spending Priorities: 2011Update” by Robert Pollin and Heidi Garrett-Peltier.

Organizations sponsoring the June 22 protests and resistance include Americans Who Tell the Truth, Citizens Opposing Active Sonar Threats (COAST), Durham Quaker Meeting, Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, Island Peace & Justice, Maine Independent Green Party, Maine Natural Guard, Maine Veterans for Peace, Maine War Tax Resistance Resource Center, Midcoast Peace & Justice Group, Pax Christi Maine, Peace Action Maine, Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine, Peace & Justice Group of Waldo County, PeaceWorks of Greater Brunswick, and Peninsula Peace & Justice.

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