Planet Versus Pentagon: US military is world’s biggest polluter

Presenter: Sue Barnhart from Planet Versus Pentagon will be at the No Kings 2 rally Oct. 18.

Sue Barnhart (Planet Versus Pentagon): This Saturday, we’re hoping that everybody comes down to the new federal building, the Wayne Morse Courthouse that’s across from Whole Foods. There’s going to be music from 9:30 a.m. on. The event starts at 10 a.m., and then after that there will be a march and it will end up at City Hall.

[00:00:27] And then at City Hall there’ll be tabling and Planet Versus Pentagon will have a table there. We’ll be sharing a table with Extinction Rebellion and hopefully people will sign up to get our emails. (We don’t send out that many emails, but we do send out emails and we have events coming up.)

[00:00:48] We’re hoping that lots of people show up. It will show our government that not everyone is happy with what’s going on in our government.

[00:00:57] Presenter: We asked Sue to tell us about Planet Versus Pentagon.

[00:01:01] Sue Barnhart (Planet Versus Pentagon): We are an organization that is showing that the biggest contributor to the high carbon footprint is actually the U.S. military. The U.S. military releases more carbon dioxide into the air than any other organization, any other country, any other military, they’re the biggest polluters.

[00:01:30] So besides the fact that they’re killing people, and take up so much of our tax dollars which could otherwise be used for life affirming things, they’re also actually the biggest carbon emitter. And so we do outreach to environmentalists and to all people.

[00:01:54] Since the war started in Gaza, Planet Versus Pentagon has been having a vigil every Wednesday for two years now. Every Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. we’re at the old federal building at 7th and Pearl, and we hold up signs, asking for there to be peace.

[00:02:13] We started off asking for a cease-fire, but now we’ve been asking for peace and justice in all of Palestine.

[00:02:22] Presenter: She’s also active in several other local groups. Sue Barnhart:

[00:02:27] Sue Barnhart (Planet Versus Pentagon): Besides Planet Versus Pentagon, I am also active in Extinction Rebellion and we’re starting this new thing we haven’t done this yet, but soon, some of us will be wearing sackcloth and we’ll be lamenting how we’re so sad about the ice melting, and that the planet is warming and just the whole climate catastrophe that’s happening.

[00:02:59] I’m also involved with Oregon Community Asylum Network. We work with asylum seekers, help them to get established in the community. And so I’m involved with protests down at the ICE office and how we want that ICE to be melting too.

[00:03:20] And then I have been a war tax resister for a very long time. I love paying my taxes, especially when they’re going for things like education for all and food for all, and a house for everyone , health care for everyone, but I don’t like my money going to kill people, so I’ve always, refused to pay half of my taxes though in the end, usually the government does get my taxes.

[00:03:47] The different organizations that I worked for would report what my income was and what my taxes were. And so in the end, it often was garnished over the years, but I didn’t give it willingly.

[00:03:58] Presenter: Sue attributed her lifelong activism to the teachings of her faith tradition, and a love of nature instilled by her parents.

[00:04:07] Sue Barnhart (Planet Versus Pentagon): I was raised as a Christian and raised to obey the Ten Commandments, you know, one of which is not to kill. So I think I took that to heart. And when I was a teenager, you know, the Vietnam War was going on and, I think that’s when I first started to be active.

[00:04:29] You would wear black armbands and you know, protest the war. And all my friends’ older brothers were going over to Vietnam and getting killed. So I think that had a big impression on me. And then also my parents really loved nature and the outdoors, and they would take us camping and canoeing and all.

[00:04:52] And I actually helped start a recycling, glass recycling program in my town. So I think ever since I was a teenager, I was pretty active and helping to make the world a better place.

[00:05:06] Presenter: We asked Sue how the current environment of fear and repression compares with other periods in American history.

[00:05:14] Sue Barnhart (Planet Versus Pentagon): There’ve been bad times before. You know, I was really young during the Civil Rights Movement, but I remember that time too. And of course Native Americans were treated very terribly by our country. And slavery. So it’s not like this is the only time when our country has had leaders that were horrible people.

[00:05:38] But I have to say that in my memory, this is the worst time that we’ve had, where, you know, so many people are afraid that they’re going to get rounded up. It really seems like Germany before World War II, and I’ve seen the meme about that, like: ‘Have you ever wondered what you would do if you’d been in Germany before World War II?’ And then the answer is: ‘What are you doing now?’

[00:06:07] I think about the Japanese put in concentration camps in this country during World War II. I think that lots of people didn’t like it, but they didn’t do anything about it. They were too afraid to do anything. And I feel like now more people are standing up and seeing what we’re doing to immigrants is not okay.

[00:06:30] How could someone who is breaking so many laws still be our president? How could that happen? But he does have a lot of people in power right now who are allowing him to do that. But I think if a lot of us stand up more and more, that could change.

[00:06:53] So I’m hoping that yes, as more and more people do that—stand up, do actual civil disobedience—that hopefully things will change. And it’s great that already we have so many.

[00:07:11] I’ve heard of various countries who nonviolently have changed their governments, so I know it’s possible. I don’t think it’s going to happen unless we have lots of people working on changing this.

[00:07:28] Presenter: You can look for Planet Versus Pentagon and Extinction Rebellion among the groups tabling at City Hall Saturday, at the end of the No Kings 2 march.