ACTION ALERT: The Smog of War:
End the Conflict in Ukraine
CODEPINK
(February 6, 2023) — The war in Ukraine has taken tens of thousands of human lives and has only shown signs of escalating. This appalling war should be opposed on all fronts for its immediate human costs alone.
If this weren’t reason enough to join in calls for peace negotiations, the environmental and climate costs of the war are devastating to all life in the region — and will have long-term effects on us all. So we’ve written a letter directly to Biden and Congress calling on them to call for peace on environmental grounds. Add your signature to show your support!
Tell Biden that it’s time to prioritize people and planet by calling for peace in Ukraine!
Our letter demands that the US cease recklessly perpetuating this environmental catastrophe by dismissing opportunities for peace negotiations. Scientists in Ukraine have been working tirelessly to evaluate the toll on the regional environment, and the situation is dire.
Extreme air pollution from damaged chemical facilities, poisoning of farmlands expected to last for decades, the killing of 50,000 dolphins in the Black Sea, and deforestation on a massive scale are just a few examples of the environmental injustices suffered by the region since the start of the war. Our administration can act now to help protect human lives and the environment in one of Europe’s most biodiverse regions.
Will you join in calls for peace on
environmental and humanitarian grounds?
Your support will not only call for an end to environmental destruction in Ukraine — peace negotiations will benefit every living creature on this Earth. Since the war began, the energy economy has mutated, steering away from a transition to renewables and re-embracing the dirtiest fuels imaginable, like coal and natural gas.
Germany is using disrupted Russian supply chains to justify the approval of massive new coal mining projects, and while consumers have suffered, opportunistic fossil fuel giants have posted record profits from price gouging.
The war in Ukraine is shrinking the time we have to meaningfully confront climate change – it is also bringing us to the brink of nuclear war. Should even a single nuclear incident take place due to the war, its effects will be felt the world over. And if nuclear war breaks out, it is no exaggeration that all life on our planet will be under immediate threat.
THE STATEMENT
President Biden: Call for a Ceasefire in Ukraine Now!
As humans and leaders of environmental movements concerned about the survival of the planet, we demand Biden to call for negotiations in Ukraine now!
Dear President Biden and Members of Congress:
As humans and leaders of environmental movements concerned about the survival of the planet, we call on you to immediately support a ceasefire and peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to massive death and displacement, as well as environmental damage with exponential increases in greenhouse gas emissions from rocket attacks and explosions. Attacks on infrastructure–railways, electrical grids, apartment buildings, oil depots — have led to hollowed-out cities blanketed by charred rubble and toxic munitions.
Additionally, the sabotage of the underwater Nord Stream pipelines supplying Russian gas to Germany led to the release of 300,000 tons of methane gas into the atmosphere, similar to the annual emissions of a million cars. According to the UN Environmental Programme, it was the largest release of methane gas emissions ever recorded.
The shelling of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, particularly the Zaporizhzhia plant, has increased fears of an explosion that would spread radiation throughout Ukraine and beyond.
As the fighting has now gone on for a year with no end in sight, Ukraine braces itself for further disruption of local ecosystems, forest fires, blackened trees, air pollution, sewage leaks and chemical contamination of rivers and groundwater in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, US and Western sanctions on Russian oil and gas have triggered an energy crisis that has led European countries to resume filthy coal-fired power generation and US companies to increase their exports of dirty energy to Europe.
The US alone has given over $100 billion in aid to Ukraine since the war began, with billions more coming from Europe. Meanwhile, the wealthy countries have never fulfilled their 2009 promise to invest $100 billion a year to help poorer countries adapt to climate change, and now the world is looking to the wealthier nations for a loss and damage fund. Instead of pouring our resources into war, we should be investing these resources into seriously addressing the climate crisis.
Our call for a ceasefire is all the more urgent as the world risks the ultimate environmental crime: nuclear war. Should a conventional war not deliver a decisive victory — and we do not see one in the offing — the risk of the use of nuclear weapons increases and jeopardizes the entirety of life on earth.
We must stop this madness before it’s too late! For the sake of future life on this planet, we urge you to initiate peace talks to end this war now.
Sincerely,
Any questions? Please email Teddy@codepink.org for information.
