‘Tax Day To Earth Day‘ is a new campaign which brings attention to the importance of shifting our taxes away from things that are destroying our planet to things that are restoring it. This campaign imagines a world where we fund the restoration of our streams, rivers and forests and stop investing in wars that are killing people and our environment. From Mon, Apr 15, 2024 (Tax Day) to Mon, Apr 22, 2024 (Earth Day), SSCAN will be working with aligned groups to bring awareness to all of the ways that the monies allocated to our military budget and war machine could instead be used to protect and preserve out environment. We will be screening movies, hosting conversations, writing our Congresspeople… and we urge you to join us! We are looking for folks to help us with this campaign which is only 2 months away! If you have an idea of ways that we can support these conversations, let us know! We want to work with you!!
Consider these facts and figures:
- This year’s military budget ($858 billion) is ten times higher than Russia’s and 2.5 times higher than China’s. In fact, it’s higher than the next nine countries combined.
- The United States allocates only $1 towards peacebuilding for every $200 that it spends on the military.
- The Pentagon has never passed an audit on its spending. Not once.
The military budget isn’t just wasteful. It’s disgraceful. The biggest threats to domestic security—the climate crisis, rising inequality, systemic racism, white nationalism—can’t be addressed through the Pentagon. Yet year after year, the president requests a record-breaking Pentagon budget, and Congress approves it with very little discussion.*
What would it mean if we could use that $858 billion to clean up our waterways, plant trees, support organic, sustainable agricultural practices, cultivate native plants to support native pollinators, and so many other things that could help protect people from the devastating effects of climate change and environmental degradation? Help us imagine a better world and help us plan ‘Tax Day to Earth Day’. Contact admin@southseattleclimate.org to learn more.
*These facts and figures are taken from the Friends Committee on National Legislation.