by JIm Driscoll with modifications by Tarak Kauff
The U.S. military is more dangerous to the climate than is Donald Trump.
The U.S. military generates more greenhouse emissions than any other organization on earth.
The U.S. military wastes money that could be used to shift our nation to a green economy-and forces other nations to do the same.
War itself generates emissions and destroys the environment as does rebuilding after war.
Military reports on climate as a threat to national security merely make a new list of wars they are ready to fight.
Psychologically, the military prevents people from taking action on climate. If you have been socialized in the military to fight in war and or traumatized by war and the fear of future wars, you are far less likely to undertake the cooperative, sharing efforts whether domestically or globally which are required to save our species. Indeed, we see these psychological affects of war not just in the current participants, but in their families and their descendants, for generation after generation.
Sociologically, the hierarchical, violent, destructive nature of militarized organizations is not compatible with the horizontalist, relational, cooperative institutions required for a society to flourish on fewer resources.
The military and militarized police oppose our protests and give protection to oil, coal, natural gas and other environmentally destructive corporate interests.
A militarized species will simply not survive.
Some veterans who have figured this out need to speak truth to the Pentagon's attempts to greenwash their role in our society and the world.
Having said all this, VFP and others must reach out to the good human beings who, like us, work in the military and the police and build positive relationships. The necessary transition to a climate-friendly society will have a much greater chance of succeeding if the military and the police refuse to follow orders when the time comes than if they simply follow orders and shoot us.