PEACE AND CLIMATE ACTIVISTS DEMAND ACTION AT CONCORD RALLY: STOP THE CLIMATE CRISIS AND END WARS
CONCORD, NH - 50 people from across NH joined the Rally for Peace and Planet in the snow on Saturday to demand an end to war, climate chaos, and the policies that enable these atrocities to take place. Musicians brought people together in song while sponsoring organizations brought their calls to action for rally participants to partake in. Speakers at the rally addressed the devastating impacts of war, inaction on climate, nuclear proliferation, and the alternative path we can choose by building a peaceful, clean-energy powered future together.
“Back from the Brink is proud to be part of Concord's Earth Day Rally because we believe in a world rooted in peace, justice, and care for the planet,” said Jeremy Love with Back from the Brink, a grassroots coalition working towards a world free of nuclear weapons. “The systems that perpetuate nuclear weapons and environmental destruction are the same - and it’s up to all of us to imagine and build something better. Together, we can dismantle the old cycles of violence and create a thriving, sustainable future for all life on Earth.”
Community organizations fighting for peace and environmental justice in NH are threatened by a state and a federal government that prioritize corporate profits over peacemaking, people and the planet. NH Legislators ignore climate science while spearheading bills that ban offshore wind, eliminate renewable energy, and increase nuclear resources. The federal government continues to invest more money in war than in clean energy. By coming together for Earth Day, the sponsoring organizations hope that people see how interconnected the fights for social justice are and that everyone has a role to play in building a better future. NH Peace Action, 350NH, Sierra Club NH, Climate Action NH, Back from the Brink, Third Act NH, NOFA-NH, and the Cowasuck Band of the Penacook Abenaki sponsored this event.
“The more we learn about the way wars and militarism decimate environments and speed up climate instability, the more it becomes clear that peace is integral to a habitable planet for us and those that come after us,” Said Amy Antonucci, Chair of the Board of NH Peace Action Education Fund. “We must find other ways to solve human conflicts.”
Some of the speakers also addressed the genocide in Gaza, enabled by U.S. funding to the Israeli government. They said that the path to climate justice includes a Just Peace for the Middle East. “Perhaps the most insidious aspect of the ecological destruction in Palestine is the quiet way in which it has become invisible to the outside world,” said Lefty Morrill, Director the NH Peace Action Education Fund. “While the world’s attention is often focused on the violent clashes, the bombings, the endless cycle of occupation and resistance, the environmental catastrophe plays out in the shadows.”
Elected officials who are bought out by the fossil fuel industry and warmaking industries have opposed climate action and reductions in military funding for decades. The U.S. military is the #1 institutional polluter in the world. Bipartisan support for endless military spending results in a horrifying 4.6 billion gallons of fuel annually. If the U.S. redirected just a fraction of the money spent on wars to the clean energy transition today, we could easily transition to 100% renewable energy by 2035.
“If we are going to stop the climate crisis, stop wars, and make conditions in this country better for everyday people, we need to address corporate greed,” said Rebecca Beaulieu, Communications Director with 350NH. “Our power as people is tied into our collective action. When we come together to demand a better world, we can make change. Without the workers keeping production going on a manufacturing line, the billionaire that owns that corporation does not make money. Without the voters who go door to door to get somebody elected to office, the politician does not get elected. Without us, there is no them.”
This coalition also brought concerns about the federal administration’s treatment of activists and the First Amendment. They brought a sign-on letter to the rally, calling on Governor Ayotte and Attorney General Formella to uphold the First Amendment right to peacefully assemble, encouraging all participants to sign on.
“All people have the rights of freedom of speech and to peacefully assemble,” said Cathy Corkery, Director of the Sierra Club NH. “Everybody gets the protections of all of the constitution, not just citizens. New Hampshire, since the earliest days of colonization, has a storied history of protecting the rights embedded in the constitution. We demand that Governor Ayotte defend and uphold all of these rights for the people of New Hampshire.”
This was one of many rallies hosted by these organizations in an effort to bridge the work between peace activists and environmental activists.
