2020 Action

Planet Earth is Heating Up Faster all the Time

AUGUST: It does not just seem to be getting hotter; it actually is. Each of the last 11 months was the hottest month globally for that calendar month. This year is on track to break our US and global heat records.   

Until now, most wildfires in Western North America are much reduced at night because the temperature decreases while the humidity increases, thus giving the firefighters a chance to rest. But now, the number of high-intensity fires where that cool-off does not occur, has gone from 6 in 2003 to 67 last year. The human heat death toll is staggering. At this year's Hajj in Mecca, 1,300 people collapsed on the sidewalks and died from the heat.

We need to act now to prevent the looming "hell on earth." Former Pres. Trump has called for "Drill, baby, drill." This will increase our burning of fossil fuels, escalate greenhouse gases, and speed-up the global ‘heat-up’. With the enthusiastic support of VP Kamala Harris, Pres. Biden signed a bill with an estimated $450 billion over 10 years to allow the US to shift from fossil fuels to wind and solar energy. Make your choice as to what seems best to you, then get involved in educating and engaging others to vote.

ACTION: Contact The Environmental Voter Project and join their effort to tell people about the global heat threat, and the critical need to vote in November to stabilize our still livable Earth.

CONTACT: The Environmental Voter Project

• Web:  https://www.environmentalvoter.org/
• Email: [email protected]
• Address: Environmental Voter Project, PO Box 962002, Boston, MA 02196

Please write a letter-to-the-editor on this important issue.
It is a good way to educate others and build support for needed policies.

The Threat Posed by Nuclear Weapons is Expanding. What can we do to Counteract it?

June - The world is slipping deeper into the nuclear weapons death spiral. Must we wait for nuclear catastrophe before we decide that nuclear weapons are the ultimate threat to human life? The spread of these weapons, and their modernization, is only making things worse. 

Two House bills H. Res. 77 and H. R. 3472 address these mortal dangers. The first, H.R. 77, opposes the vast costs of modernization planned for the whole U.S. nuclear arsenal. The second, H.R. 3472, calls for the reduction of some programs that were pushed by Pres. Trump but found to be unnecessary by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO). We have enough nuclear weapons subs, and enough plutonium pits (triggering devices for H-bombs) for the next 60 years.

ACTION: Urge your representative to co-sponsor H. Res. 77 and H. R. 3472. Now, 54 years after the U.S. committed to work to eliminate nuclear weapons, are we not finally obligated to take these steps?  It's time to climb back out of the nuclear death spiral of human extinction and make life safer for our kids and grandkids.

CONTACT: Your Representative in Congress

• Web: Find their names and links to their websites at house.gov; send an email or leave a message via ‘Contact’ on his/her website
• Tel: 202 224-3121 (Capitol switchboard-ask for his/her office & leave a message)
• Mail: Representative (first & last name)
  S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. 20515

Please write a letter-to-the-editor on this important issue.
It is a good way to educate others and build support for needed policies.

Stop Selling Weapons & Military Supplies to Israel that are Killing Gazans

April - “US uses loophole to keep 100 arms sales to Israel under the radar. . .” This was the startling March 6^th headline in the Guardian. Each of these 100 arms sales escaped US Congressional oversight--and public knowledge--because each sale was under the dollar amount - $100 million - requiring Congressional approval. The weapons sold are reported to have included precision-guided munitions, small diameter bombs, bunker busters, small arms, and other lethal supplies.

The Washington Post reported the administration did inform Congress of the 100 foreign military sales to Israel in a classified briefing, but few details were released because, keeping each sale ‘small’--under $100 million--meant their contents remained secret. These American made weapons and bombs are what Israel has dropped on Gaza that have killed over 32,000 people and injured over 70,000, mostly innocent women and children. The Guardian reported that this has been one of the most intense bombing campaigns in all of military history!

These under-the-radar deliveries made by the Biden administration to Israel were in addition to the three major military sales worth $573 million that were made public since the start of the war. Sales of tank and artillery shells made in December, also sidestepped congressional scrutiny because they were made under ‘emergency authority.’

ACTION:

Urge Pres. Biden to immediately stop selling military supplies and weapons to Israel. Let him know your disapproval and disgust that the US is providing Israel with these weapons of death and destruction, and your outrage that he is using legal loopholes, emergency authority, and ‘under-the-radar’ tactics to keep many of these sales secret from the American people. Even if you have written to him before, please send him a message again using the White House website below.

 

CONTACT: President Biden

• Web: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/  (leave a message)
• Tel: 1-202-456-1111 (leave a message)
• Mail: The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington DC 20500

Please write a letter-to-the-editor on this important issue.
It is a good way to educate others and build support for needed policies.

Stop US Support for Killing, Destruction, & Catastrophe in Gaza

March - In response to Hamas's horrific attack on Israel that killed 1,200 and took 240 hostages, Israel launched an attack on Gaza that has caused 28,000 deaths so far. This ongoing massacre against Gazans, who cannot defend themselves, includes the deaths of an estimated 12,000 innocent children, many of whom bled to death under the rubble.

Who is making this massacre possible?  Over the last decade, Israel has received $3.8 billion annually in military aid from the U.S., making us the largest supplier of offensive arms to Israel. We also provide Israel with the most advanced military equipment in the world, including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

ACTION:

Tell Pres. Biden to stop sending military supplies and arms to Israel—including 2,000 lb. bombs and missiles. The Indiscriminate bombing & killing of 28,000 civilians, including 12,000 children in Gaza is having a genocidal effect. The environmental destruction is beyond measure. Tell the President that you, an American citizen and taxpayer, are outraged and repulsed at being made an accomplice to the death and destruction in Gaza.

 

CONTACT: President Biden

• Web: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/  (leave a message)
• Tel: 1-202-456-1111 (leave a message)
• Mail: The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington DC 20500

Gaza Civilians Have A Right Not To Be Forced To Starve

January - The situation in Gaza is critical. Oct. 7 is the day of the horrific massacre of Israeli civilians by Hamas. That day, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu pledged "revenge". The next day, his senior advisor Mark Regev called for "payback". On Oct. 10, Israel's Defense Minister Gallant announced a policy of "no food, no water" to be allowed into Gaza. 

And so it was for days. Gradually the number of food trucks were allowed to increase, but they never reached anywhere close to pre-war food levels. The horrifying result of this inhumane policy, according to Time Magazine's website on Dec. 21, is that "more than half a million people in Gaza -- a quarter of the population -- are starving."

It is also a war crime. The International Criminal Court has defined "intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare..." as a war crime. 

ACTION:

Ask President Biden to urge Mr. Netanyahu in the strongest terms to end Israel's policy of intentionally forced starvation of Gaza's civilian population. It is brutal, inhumane, and illegal.

CONTACT: President Biden

• Web: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/  (leave a message)
• Tel: 1-202-456-1111 (leave a message)
• Mail: The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington DC 20500

Report on World Climate Change & What You Can Do to Help Stabilize Our Climate

December 2023 - In the 2015 Paris Accords the countries of the world committed to cut Greenhouse Gases (GHG) sufficiently to keep the global rise in temperature below 1.5 Celsius or 2.7 Fahrenheit. New research projects that we'll blow right past these levels by 2028.

In the meantime, the U.S., Russia, and Saudi Arabia are each planning to increase their drilling for fossil fuels. Not surprising, in the face of still rising consumer demand for oil and natural gas to power our cars and heat our homes and businesses.

This needs to change. The most effective action each of us can take—bigger than all other actions combined for most households—is to get heat pumps to heat and cool our homes, and to sign up for 100% fossil-free electricity to power them. This is absolutely the most effective thing we each need to do NOW.  It’s time to ask several installers for free bids on how your home would be best heated and cooled by heat pumps. It’s a little more complex than just buying another furnace. When your furnace fails, usually in winter, you want a quick fix, so it helps to have heat pump plans in place. You don't want to panic and buy another fossil fuel burning furnace which will need replacement before 2050 because by then the U. S. plans to be fossil-free. Also, sign up for 100% fossil-free energy now.

ACTION:

Call several local heat pump installers to get design plans and cost bids for a heat pump for your home. There will be a lot of factors to consider. Also, call your electricity provider and ask how you can get 100% fossil-free energy. Please tell your family, friends, and neighbors about this.

CONTACT: Your local heat pump providers & installers, and your electricity provider.

Please write a letter-to-the-editor on this important issue.
It is a good way to educate others and build support for needed policies.

U.S. Nuclear Policy in the Current Middle East

November 2023 - Ever since the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), nonproliferation has been the central pillar of U.S. nuclear policy. So it is extremely disturbing that the Biden administration is now negotiating a dangerous three-way deal with Israel and Saudi Arabia. The deal would: 

a) establish diplomatic relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia,
b) take some unspecified action toward a 2-state solution for the Palestinians, and
c) give the Saudis a U.S.-run uranium enrichment operation.

This third item is extremely dangerous. Knowing the record of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudis could take over the enrichment operation and then be able to manufacture weapons-grade uranium. Saudi Arabia has already bought Chinese-made nuclear-capable missiles.

ACTION: Contact President Biden

Urge him not to set up a uranium-enrichment facility in Saudi Arabia. It's too risky and Saudi Arabia is an ideal location for solar energy.

In addition, tell the President that the US should send Israel only defensive military equipment. Also, ask him to immediately urge Israel to lift the deadly embargo on food, water, and fuel to the 2 million innocent civilians in Gaza, to forestall an even greater humanitarian catastrophe.

CONTACT: President Biden

• Web: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/  (leave a message)
• Tel: 1-202-456-1111 (leave a message)
• Mail: The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington DC 20500

Please write a letter-to-the-editor on this important issue.
It is a good way to educate others and build support for needed policies.

Support US Arms Control Outreach to China and Iran

July 2023 - The news from Washington about arms control isn't always bad. Recently, Secretary of State Blinken and President Biden have renewed efforts to bring China into arms control discussions. Proposals include advance notification of missile tests, improved crisis communication channels, and committing not to hand over launch authority to an A.I. system but to have a human make the ultimate decision about launching nuclear weapons. Although these proposals are modest, they are absolutely in the right direction and might lead to more substantive agreements in the future. 

The U.S. is also pursuing behind-the-scenes talks with Iran to create a “political cease-fire”. In such an agreement Iran would agree to limit uranium enrichment to 60% purity, halt lethal attacks on American contractors by proxies in the region, and expand cooperation with international nuclear inspectors. In exchange, Iran would receive assurances that the US would not tighten economic sanctions, seize foreign oil-tankers, or seek new punitive resolutions at the UN. These agreements are also modest but might create time and space for future discussions of a renewed nuclear deal. 

ACTION:

The Biden administration may be concerned about the political risks of pursuing these efforts during a presidential campaign. They need to hear from the American people that there is support for such actions. Contact the President and Secretary Blinken to indicate that you support their outreach to China and Iran concerning arms control.

CONTACT:

Secretary of State Blinken:
Web:  https://register.state.gov/contactus/contactusform
Tel: 202 512-1800 (from 8 am to 4:30 pm EST)

President Biden: Web: 
https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/  (leave a message)
Tel: 1-202-456-1111 (leave a message)
Mail:  The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington DC 20500

Please write a letter-to-the-editor on this important issue. It is a good way to educate others and build support for needed policies.

How Well Has Delaying Nuclear Diplomacy Served Us?

May 2023 - In 1949, in its first action, the United Nations voted in favor of the elimination of nuclear weapons. Being the only nuclear state, the US refused. Then the Soviets managed to get nuclear weapons, and soon after, also the UK, France, and China, to a total of over 60,000 warheads. The threat of the proliferation of these weapons around the world produced the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1970, essentially a grand bargain: those 5 nuclear states committed to negotiate to eliminate their nuclear weapons, while non-nuclear states committed to forgo nuclear weapons. 

The intervening 53 years have yet to see the first negotiation meeting. Now Israel, India, Pakistan, and North Korea also have them, Iran and Saudi Arabia are making moves in that direction, and the threat of terrorists and criminal gangs getting them is even more terrifying. Clearly, delaying negotiations to eliminate nuclear weapons has not made such negotiations easier. On the contrary, it has made them harder at every step along the way. We need to negotiate nuclear weapons elimination while we still can. The alternative looks bleak indeed. Fortunately, there is a House bill, H. Res. 77, that urges preparatory steps for such negotiations to rid the world of nuclear weapons.

ACTION:

Urge your Representative in Washington to co-sponsor this very critical bill, H. Res.77, to address this terrifying threat. If your Representative is opposed to the bill, ask what his or her plan is to protect and save you, your family, and the world. A superpower nuclear exchange would kill the "lucky" ones immediately, and the rest by starvation due to nuclear winter.

CONTACT: Your Representatives

• Web: Find his/her name and link to their website at house.gov; send an email or leave a message via ‘Contact’ on their website
• Tel: 202 224-3121 (Capitol switchboard-ask for his/her office & leave a message)
• Mail: Representative (first & last name) S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. 20515

Please send this email on to family and friends and/or write a letter-to-the-editor on this important issue. It is a good way to educate others and build support for needed policies.

End Military Training through Junior R.O.T.C. in US High Schools

January - Thousands of American high schoolers are being pushed into regular school-day Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (J.R.O.T.C.) programs across the country. The Pentagon budgets $300 million per year to pay faculty, buy equipment, and buy uniforms for these programs which are regarded as “critical to their military recruitment strategy”. The National Rifle Association (NRA) co-sponsors some of these programs to promote gun use among young people. Although the Pentagon asks these programs to be non-compulsory, many students are pressured to join and to continue their participation. While instruction in the program contains some general elements of character building, it also includes biased, military-oriented perspectives on American history and international relations. Publicly funded schools should not be promoting military-oriented history, military-oriented careers, and military-oriented thinking about international affairs.

ACTION: Contact your Representative in Congress and ask him/her to inquire and let you know if any schools in your Congressional District have these Junior R.O.T.C. regular school-day programs--and that you oppose them in your Congressional District or anywhere. Ask him/her to oppose funding for these programs in upcoming military budgets. Public school course offerings should not promote military-oriented history, military-oriented careers, and military-oriented thinking about international affairs.

You may also want to call your city or town’s School Superintendent to ask if they have Junior R.O.T.C. programs during the regular school day. If they do, let your Superintendent and school board members know your thoughts about this.

CONTACT: Your Representative and your local school Superintendent

• Web: Find your Rep’s name and link to their website at house.gov; send an email or leave a message via ‘Contact’ on their website
• Tel: 202 224-3121 (Capitol switchboard-ask for his/her office & leave a message)
• Mail: Representative (first & last name) U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. 20515

Please send this email on to family and friends and/or write a letter-to-the-editor on this important issue. It is a good way to educate others and build support for needed policies.