Budget Matters Blog

Category: Climate Change


What does national security mean without climate security?

This country’s spending on the Pentagon and nuclear weapons is done in the name of “national security.” Not to mention the billions more for “homeland security,” largely in the form of immigration enforcement, deportations, and border militarization.

Meanwhile, thousands of people in Florida and Puerto Rico are without basic security after Hurricane Ian, having lost power, homes and loved ones to the latest in the string of extreme weather events that have grown more frequent and more devastating due to climate change.


The Climate Justice Movement Must Be Anti-War: Notes from Antiwar Organizers

No matter your specific organizational or ideological affiliation, anyone who cares about climate change today ought to understand the critical connections between war, imperialism, and the climate crisis.


As climate change worsens, the United States under-delivers on finance promises to hardest hit countries

On the campaign trail, Joe Biden promised to “lead a major diplomatic push to raise the ambitions of countries’ climate targets.” But the U.S. continues to under-deliver on climate finance as military spending soars.  


From the Climate Crisis to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Our Militarized Budget Fuels Injustice

While climate change fuels migration, the United States hardens its southern border instead of investing in real sources of safety for people in this country and around the world. 


Invest in Climate Solutions Now or Pay the Price for Inaction Later

A new study finds that the United States experienced 20 separate billion-dollar climate and weather disasters in 2021. The damages from these 20 costly disasters totaled $145 billion. 


A Just Transition For Defense Industries? Lessons from Fossil Fuel Transitions

Plans for a Just Transition away from defense industries do not need to be pulled out of thin air. The ongoing efforts to transition economies, workers, and communities out of the harmful fossil fuel economy provides insights into what works and what doesn’t. 


To Save the Planet, We Need to Demilitarize the Police

Even with climate disasters all around us, nonviolent environmental demonstrations face fierce police repression. Why?


Does Biden Put His Money Where His Mouth Is On Climate?

Last week the White House convened a virtual Leaders Summit on Climate with forty leaders from the world's largest economies presenting their plans to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. Now that the dust has settled, what should we make of the new commitments announced at the summit? 


Returning to the Paris Agreement is a Start, Now We Need New Internationalism on Climate

The United States' reentry to the Paris Climate Agreement is critical, but far from the sufficient. The path to a livable future requires new internationalism rooted in global cooperation, resource sharing, and solidarity.


Muzzling Dissent: How Militarized Police & Fossil Fuel Corporations Are Criminalizing Protest

A new Institute for Policy Studies report exposes the troubling link between new laws criminalizing protesters and the fossil fuel industry’s deep influence over elected officials.