Save the planet. That is real homeland security.

     "The first step in an international approach to climate change should be the disbanding of every military in the World.”  

        Rick Millward

     "In my mind I can't study war no more

Save the people! Save the children! Save the Country!"

         Laura Nyro

This blog recently published the idea that human-caused climate change an article of faith, believed by a great many Americans, is far from "settled." Some people don't believe the science. They consider it a "false alarm." They think the cure of reducing carbon emissions is worse than the disease of maybe--only maybe--damaging the planet. When it is a choice between jobs now or climate disaster later, a great many Americans say we should carry on and take our chances 

Many Democrats think that is crazy. Many Republicans think this is just common sense.

Singer/Songwriter Rick Millward read that blog post and he sent a response. He writes that not only is there a pending climate crisis, Americans--and indeed nearly everyone else, too--are worried about the wrong existential threat. Like heedless American pedestrians on London sidewalks, we are stepping into the street looking to the left, when the bus that will smack into us is coming from the right. Rick thinks we are worried about defending the homeland against enemy fighter jets when we should be worried about destroying our homeland with our lifestyle.

Guest Post by Rick Millward

A Modest Proposal

The Air Force is the largest user of fuel energy in the federal government. The Air Force uses 10% of the nation's aviation fuel. Research by social scientists from Durham University and Lancaster University shows the US military is one of the largest climate polluters in history, consuming more liquid fuels and emitting more CO2e (carbon-dioxide equivalent) than most countries.

Millward

There are 195 sovereign nations. Only 21 do not have a military. Some are larger than others but they all have one thing in common: they all are enormous consumers of energy; oil, electricity, consumable goods, metals, chemicals, a vast amount of resources dedicated to destruction. 

The economies of many countries, including the U.S.  are dependent on military spending. Roughly 10 percent of the $2.2 trillion in factory output in the United States goes into the production of weapons which are sold all over the World. Much more can be said about these and other numbers, but here’s my point:

The first step in an international approach to climate change should be the disbanding of every military in the World.

The U.S. spends around a trillion dollars a year on “defense”, around $20 trillion since the turn of the millennium. It’s simply a matter of taking the dollars spent on war making and divert them to developing technologies to combat climate change, beginning with a moon shot program to develop sustainable energy. Simple in theory, not so much in practice. We desperately need a recognizance of the danger by everyone, or a least a big enough majority to move the issue past partisanship. This is happening but not fast enough, impeded by Regressive attitudes. 

“An Inconvenient Truth” came out in 2006. Since then CO2 in the atmosphere has grown an additional 5.5% more than the already high levels reported in the film. The science concerning climate change is persuasive, and yes, it’s not settled, but not because of some self-serving agenda. Human effects on the environment are the most studied and monitored with the data constantly being evaluated. Some may find it inconvenient, but every revision leads to more dire projections. The effects are starting to be seen all over the planet, and scientists are sounding the alarm. Unfortunately we are in an era where science has become politicized and we are witnessing the absurdity of a debate about what is happening before our eyes, while we are running out of time to do anything to slow it down.

The COVID pandemic is an example of a worldwide planetary threat and as bad as it is, it’s nothing compared to the disruption and human suffering that awaits a World that doesn’t face the emerging climate crisis. The pandemic was a rehearsal for how the World responds to a shared threat and it wasn’t comforting. What should have been a bipartisan effort was immediately politicized by Republicans. The U.S. suffered due to an incompetent administration, with the only saving grace that the U.S. is home to the world’s best researchers who produced an effective vaccine in spite of it. In other countries, like Brazil, corrupt authoritarian governments have made it worse, and millions will die needlessly as a result.

World peace has been a dream of mankind since the beginning of civilization. It’s far from a novel idea. One theme in science fiction is the threat from an alien invasion that would unite all the countries of the World, a romantic idea that strains credulity. Any alien with the technology to travel across interstellar space would probably be more than capable of overwhelming humanity. 

More likely, if one accepts the possibility there are many other planets capable of supporting life, then it follows that a sentient species could evolve and come to a similar crisis as they develop a technological society. If they manage to visit here they will have made it through, most likely by being smart enough to avoid fighting amongst themselves and drowning in their own poop.

What I’m suggesting here is that it’s certain that some, maybe most, planets don’t make it; losing their ability to support life, becoming barren rocks floating through space until their stars die in a nuclear inferno that reduces them to cosmic dust.

 

 

Note to Southern Oregon readers: Rick Millward’s songs are mostly about love, heartache, and joy, not the politics of peace. He will be performing an all original set of songs on Saturday, June 26, 2 p.m. at RoxyAnn Winery in Medford. 

 Here is a sample:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5Lu-0GpLPU