Washington (November 18, 2021) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) filed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would cut America’s $768 billion military budget by one percent to invest in global climate assistance and help address the climate crisis around the globe. The legislation would redirect roughly $7.6 billion from the Department of Defense’s budget to fund global climate accounts administered by the Department of State and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to help developing countries adapt and become more resilient to the climate crisis. The first of its kind U.S. National Intelligence Estimate released in October by the Biden administration warned of the national security impacts of climate change and the likelihood that it will “increase the potential for instability and possibly internal conflict in these countries, in some cases creating additional demands on U.S. diplomatic, economic, humanitarian, and military resources.”
“If the United States is serious about ensuring our security, it’s critical we provide additional funding for the national security challenge of our time: the climate crisis,” said Senator Markey. “The Pentagon itself has warned that a failure to arrest the climate the crisis will lead to greater levels of instability, famine, and a spike in climate-displaced persons. Unfettered military spending will not protect us from the destruction of the environment and worsening climate chaos. Increasing military spending as we watch increasing temperatures is not simply ineffective, it is immoral. We need to fund action that will save our people and our planet, not weapons of annihilation. My amendment will help redirect just one percent of funding from our bloated military budget and put it toward world-saving solutions that will drive down global carbon emissions and slow global temperature rise.”
The amendment is co-sponsored by Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.). A copy of the amendment be found HERE.
The amendment is supported by the following organizations: Union of Concerned Scientists, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, Win Without War, Massachusetts Peace Action, Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach, Pax Christi USA, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Franciscan Action Network, The Coalition on Human Needs, National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, Demand Progress, and MoveOn.
Senator Markey is also a sponsor of an amendment with Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to cut the U.S. military budget by $25 billion, returning it to the level requested in President Biden’s fiscal year 2022 budget request for defense spending.
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