Contribution to  the CPUSA’s Peace Conference 2.0: Driven by Justice — United for Peace, Nov. 8, 2025.

We are living through a frightening moment. Across the globe, nations are pouring vast resources into militarization, none more so than the US. At the same time, we are witnessing record floods, fires, and warming of the Earth’s surface that push us dangerously close to irreversible climate tipping points. These two crises — militarism and climate disaster — are intimately linked in a vicious cycle and pose an existential threat to working people the world over.

Militarism drives climate change. The Pentagon alone is one of the world’s top polluters. And climate chaos, in turn, creates the instability that fuels violent conflict.

At the heart of this is the Military Industrial Complex. This powerful network of weapons manufacturers, tech giants, and financial institutions shapes our economy and politics, diverting trillions of dollars into war while gutting social services and environmental protections.

The environmental cost is staggering. Beyond emissions, war and military production poison land and water with toxic waste, degrading our quality of life and ruining land for decades or even centuries.

This system is fueled by a quest for profit that exploits both people and the planet. Fossil fuels and rare minerals, so central to this machine, have been the cause of countless wars, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of extraction and violence.

So, what is the alternative?

We must fight for a worker-led transition to a sustainable, peaceful world. This means shifting our economy away from imperialism and extraction, and toward a future built on economic democracy, social justice, and ecological harmony.

It takes a powerful, unified movement to achieve this — one that bridges labor, civil rights, racial justice, and other struggles. We have seen this power before, in the women-led anti-nuclear movements that forced a test ban treaty, in student divestment movements, and in the workers today protesting their companies’ ties to war.

A Just Transition means defunding the Pentagon’s bloated budget and investing in a renewable energy grid, climate-safe infrastructure, and social programs. It means standing in solidarity with those on the front lines, from the Gaza Strip to the mining zones of the Congo to the farmworkers in our own fields.

The future envisioned by the militarists is one of plunder and disregard for life. Our vision is different. It is a vision of a peace ecology, a just transition away from militarism and capitalism, and toward an ecologically conscious, socialist future. Our task is to organize and to make that vision a reality.

The opinions of the author do not necessarily reflect the positions of the CPUSA.

Image:  NYC 4 Ceasefire 2/28/24 action at city hall, CPUSA. Creative Commons CC BY-NC 2.0.