If it’s one thing Israel’s genocide campaign in Gaza has taught us, it’s that there is no room for anyone, especially US lawmakers, to evade accountability. Landmark days like Earth Day have been utilized for far too long as opportunities for Congress to virtue signal and gain credibility while the actual decisions they make do not align with environmentalism. This will no longer be sufficient. This moment demands we challenge Congress to a higher standard and force them to recognize that the weapons and wars they are funding across the globe are the exact opposite of environmentalism. Funding a genocide by sending weapons to Israel is ecocide. These weapons both damage the earth and sever the important tie between indigenous people and the environment, effectively killing both.
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee & House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition have yet to even discuss the detrimental effects Israel’s genocide campaign in Gaza has had on the earth, let alone the combined effect of the wars and weapons the US has funded globally. Despite members belonging to groups specifically concerned with the environment, they prioritize imperial interests over true protection of the earth. This Earth Day, we reject superficiality and demand accountability. Sign the petition below to tell Congress: War is not green! Genocide=Ecocide! We’ll deliver the petition to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee & House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition for Earth Day. If you live in DC or close by, join us!
We, the undersigned, are fed up with the virtue signaling around environmentalism, especially from lawmakers like you who are part of committees which should be taking real action to combat the destruction of the earth globally–not funding weapons and war.
A research study posted to the Social Science Research Network in early January of 2024 concluded that the first two months of Israel’s genocide campaign in Gaza generated more planet-warming emissions than the annual carbon footprint of the world’s top 20 climate-vulnerable nations. This number has certainly grown since Israel's destruction has continued for over 6 months now. Destroying the earth is just another arm of the genocide, as now nearly all of Gazas’s farmland, energy, and water infrastructure has been destroyed or polluted. This has had, and will continue to have, detrimental effects on the health of Gazans, even after years. This does not even touch on the decades of destruction Israel has caused in Palestine since 1948, and the devastating effects this has undoubtedly had on the earth. Despite this, sending more weapons to Israel, and continuing to invest in war globally, is somehow not being strongly advised against by your environmental committee.
The war in Ukraine also presents a catastrophic environmental impact. Rockets, missiles, and ammunition used in the war emit tons of carbon and particulate matter that pollute the air and increase greenhouse gasses. Rockets can also produce hydrogen cyanide vapor, which can cause acid rain. Bombings and fires have not only increased greenhouse gas emissions, but also led to deforestation and the loss of carbon sinks. It is evident that the environmental impact of war extends beyond both the time period and location of the war, meaning war anywhere is a global issue. As the war in Ukraine drags on, these issues will only be exacerbated. Is this the world you want yourself, your family, and the generations that succeed you to live in?
The US military has a long history of destroying the earth, providing you with plenty of time to take significant action to stop this by stopping arms sales, yet you have failed to do so. Your inaction has allowed the US military to carry on, with no consequences, as the world’s largest oil consumer. Its emissions exceed those of over 140 nations. If you allow this to continue as it has been, our health and the environment will pay the price–a consequence that cannot be evaded. The earth does not heal through virtue signaling environmentalism, it takes real action.
As a member of this committee, you have a responsibility to be the loudest in speaking out against the environmental cost of war. We demand you take a hard stance against sending more weapons to Israel, Ukraine, the US-Mexico border, and everywhere else. When the earth pays the price of war, we all feel the effects. We will no longer allow US lawmakers to evade accountability for the destruction of the earth and its inhabitants when it is you who has the greatest power to stop it. We demand better. Vote against funding weapons and war everywhere, and take real action in your environmental committees to recognize the detrimental effects weapons have on the earth, and use your power to stop it. War is not green! Genocide=Ecocide!