You might expect an organization with over 3.8 million members and a mission to “educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment” to undoubtedly spotlight one of the most destructive forces on Earth: war and militarism. The organization in question is one of the oldest environmental organizations in U.S. history– the Sierra Club.
Yet this vital connection is being overlooked. We celebrate their mission and want to help them fulfill it by addressing the Elephant in the Room: the U.S. military is the largest institutional polluter in the world. It has over 800 toxic bases globally that it uses as launching pads for war. The so-called “War on Terror” emitted more than 1.2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide, leading to devastating floods and fires around the world. The soil in sacrifice zones like Gaza, where the population is already being forcibly starved, will not be suitable for agriculture for decades. We cannot address the climate crisis without addressing war, militarism, and occupation.
Reach out to the Sierra Club to help them learn about the Elephant in the Room!
Over the past few months, because of your outreach, we now have 100 groups that have joined our call to add war and militarism to their climate work. Our new campaign, Elephant in the Room, will reach out to 12 additional organizations with total budgets of nearly $4 billion and around 30 million supporters. We are building a movement to end war and militarism for the people and planet– we need these activists at our side. We are starting with an offer to the Sierra Club.
With an annual revenue of nearly $173 million and more than 3.8 million members, the Sierra Club is in a prime position to set an example for the climate movement and engage to stop our hard-earned tax dollars from being spent on war and genocide. We unequivocally support the Sierra Club’s mission to “...protect the wild places of the earth,” to “practice and promote the responsible use of the earth’s ecosystems and resources.” We can help them achieve this mission by showing them that War is Not Green, so they can include ending war and militarism in their efforts.
Let the Sierra Club know the cost of war is purposely hidden from them – we can help!
We have reached out to the Sierra Club but have yet to hear back from them. We know that many members of the Sierra Club are already engaged in ending militarism and understand war’s cost to the planet. For instance, the Sierra Club Hawai’i has worked with local organizations to close the military bases that maintain the ongoing occupation of Hawai’i and poison Hawai’i’s soil and water. This militarization is only increasing throughout the Asia-Pacific as the U.S. works to create “unsinkable aircraft carriers” from the Philippines to South Korea to Guam, preparing for war on China and North Korea.
We seek to join forces with the environmental movement that raises $16 billion annually to tackle climate change by exposing the Elephant in the Room: war and militarism. The anti-war community receives just .011% of all philanthropy. If we are going to save the planet and end war, we need to join forces. It is clear that if we don’t break down silos between the largest anti-war movement in decades and the environmental movement that ultimately has the same targets, we risk the unthinkable.
The longer the wars and resource extraction continue, the harder it will be to protect the planet. This is why we want to partner with the Sierra Club’s millions of members to save the planet by exposing the cost of war!
I want to express my deepest gratitude for what you and the wider CODEPINK community have done for peace. Your efforts have moved peace and demilitarization into climate week actions and messaging at the UN. There is now a strong global coalition to build campaigns. Join our War Is Not Green working group to help us plan this campaign and more.
🗓️ Also! Save the date for the Global Week of Action for Peace and Climate Justice. If you're in NYC, join us for our War Is Not Green Mini-Summit on September 18th!
👉 Some important further ways to engage:
- Keep growing this list! Send a letter to your favorite climate change organization to sign our War Is Not Green Pledge!
- Check out our Elephant in the Room campaign page.
- Follow us on ournew Instagram page!!
- Explore the War Is Not Green webpage for more resources.
- Read my recent piece with Grace, our Engagement Manager, on Alagator Alcatraz.
Until Liberation,
Aaron, Jodie, and the entire CODEPINK team
