CAMBRIDGE — Massachusetts Peace Action today endorsed Senator Ed Markey for re-election to the US Senate.

“Senator Markey is a bold progressive leader on nuclear disarmament and the Green New Deal,” says Cole Harrison, executive director of Massachusetts Peace Action. “Today, the climate emergency is a critical peace issue. Without international cooperation, the world won’t be able to come together to solve climate change. Senator Markey’s leadership in the fight for a Green New Deal shows that he understands the importance of this issue.”

Senator Markey is the leader for nuclear disarmament in the Senate and has long fought for the issue. From the Nuclear Freeze resolution, which he filed in 1982 and which helped to end the Cold War, to the Presidential First Use bill in the current session of Congress that would prohibit the President from initiating a nuclear attack unless the country has been attacked or Congress has declared war, Markey has been a leader for peace.

Likewise, Senator Markey has led the effort in Congress to combat the climate change emergency, from his “American Clean Energy and Security Act” in 2009, which would have created a cap and trade system for greenhouse emissions, to today’s Green New Deal resolution which he introduced along with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).

“Climate change is linked to national security,” says Andrea Burns, co-chair of Mass. Peace Action’s legislative-political committee. “It is causing destruction and displacement all across the world. As one of the world’s biggest consumers of fossil fuels, the United States must lead the way in constructing a bold plan to try to halt the impacts of climate change. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Markey’s Green New Deal resolution matches the seriousness of the need.”

Redirecting military spending to sweeping domestic programs, including the Green New Deal, will have to be on the table.

Senator Markey has long supported the Progressive Caucus budget, which calls for cutting military spending. The U.S. military is a bigger polluter than 100 countries combined, a huge consumer of fossil fuels. Where there are bases there is a high level of soil, air and water degradation and high rates of cancer amongst servicemen & women.

Senator Markey’s career has centered on concern for the planet—from abolishing nuclear weapons to environmental protection and the impact of climate change. Peace Action member Rosalie Anders summed it up, “The Senator has been a national leader on energy reform, climate and related issues for about forty years, as well as a tireless champion for peace. We must return him to the U.S. Senate where he can continue the critical work on issues of war, peace and survival.”

Massachusetts Peace Action is the state affiliate of Peace Action, the nation’s largest peace organization, founded in 1957 as the Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy (SANE). Peace Action works to abolish nuclear weapons, promote government spending priorities that support human needs, encourage real security through international cooperation and human rights, and support just and nonmilitary solutions to the conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Palestine, and prevent war with Iran, Korea, and Venezuela. The public may learn more and take action at masspeaceaction.org. For more up-to-date peace insider information, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or YouTube at @masspeaceaction.

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