Don’t Bank on the Bomb Scotland has produced an excellent new report that looks at the links between nuclear weapons, tackling the climate crisis and degradation of the environment. Written by Linda Pearson the report collects together a wealth of useful links for anti-war and climate campaigners alike. The aim of the report is ‘to highlight the connections between climate change, nuclear weapons, militarism, environmental destruction, racism, gender inequalities and social injustice in order to build a broad-based movement that can challenge existing power structures and bring about systemic change’.
Scot.E3 from its formation has argued that defence divestment needs to be part of the transition to a sustainable zero carbon economy. We agree with Don’t Bank on the Bomb that ‘… any Green New Deal plans should include a transition away from military production, as well as a transition away from fossil fuels’.
The new report highlights the expenditure of huge sums of money on ‘modernising’ nuclear arsenals around the world. The nuclear industry (military and civilian) is perhaps the most centralised and authoritarian manifestation of the military-industrial complex. We would argue that it’s not simply that the money spent on nukes should be spent on developing a new sustainable economy; the nuclear industry and arms manufacture more generally distorts economic and social choices and constrains civil liberties. The skills of engineers and scientists that could be devoted to productive, environmentally useful activity are instead harnessed to a system that produces waste, trashes the environment and risks all our lives. The report highlights the interconnections between the drive for profit, the impact of climate change and increased military tensions. One example of this is the race for commercial and military dominance of the Arctic.
Further Reading:
Scot.E3 Briefing Scotland Deindustrialisation and Diversification
Employment, Energy and Environment 