Climate change event in Portland

Today a group of us went to Portland, Maine for the Rise for Climate march and rally on the climate change issue.  We carried larger banners made by Tarak Kauff and Ellen Davidson (who joined us) under the name of Veterans For Peace.

Prior to the rally at the gathering spot in Lincoln Park friends Martha Spiess and Lisa Savage organized a short program on the connections between climate change and the Pentagon's #1 carbon boot print.

Amazingly not many of those assembled had ever heard of that connection before.  A key reason is that the climate change movement has to a considerable extent been under the wing of the Democratic Party.  My educated guess is that most of the national and regional climate change organizations get some level of funding from foundations allied with the Democratic Party.

The Democrats push full funding for the military industrial complex just like the Republicans.  The Dems hope to ride the climate change fears back into control of the House of Representatives in Washington during the next election.  They don't want the military issue to be connected to the climate change issue.  It would create problems for the Dems.

The endless war machine is a bi-partisan policy.  I gave the example during my speech of the 'christenings' at Bath Iron Works (BIW) here in Maine when the politicians from both parties come to help bless the new Navy destroyers that are outfitted with 'missile defense' systems - key elements in the US first-strike attack program.  They are Ronald Reagan's 'Star Wars shield' - still alive and kicking and being used today to encircle Russia and China.

A fuller version of my talk will likely be available in the next couple days and I will post here once I get it.

Bruce