On the anniversary of Putin’s war American local elected officials ask to support Ukraine’s democracy February 24, 2024 Since Russia launched its full-scale war against Ukraine on February 24, 2022, an estimated 3.7 million people have been driven from their homes and are internally displaced, and more than 6.3 million people have been forced to leave their country. At least […]
On the anniversary of Putin’s war American local elected officials ask to support Ukraine’s democracy
February 24, 2024
Since Russia launched its full-scale war against Ukraine on February 24, 2022, an estimated 3.7 million people have been driven from their homes and are internally displaced, and more than 6.3 million people have been forced to leave their country. At least 10,000 civilians, including more than 560 children, have been killed and over 18,500 have been injured, according to the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. While America, European nations and democracies around the world have helped in various ways, right now the county is in desperate need of the $61 Billion weapons aid package that Republicans in Congress have blocked.
“The people of Ukraine have been defending Democracy for the world. The domino effect is real. America has helped defend a lasting peace in Europe since World War II. Part of that ongoing work means we need to keep our promise to the people of Ukraine,” said Alex Cornell du Houx, former Maine state Representative, Marine combat veteran, President of the Elected Officials to Protect America and Co-Founder. “We also need to start an Energy Security Marshall Plan that will help Ukraine rebuild their economy with clean energy technologies, giving them energy independence from fossil fuels and the Petro-states that use their polluting resources to cause instability and insecurity around the globe. The Ukraine Energy Security Marshall Plan would be a crucial opportunity to undermine Putin’s war, strengthen global security, and increase clean energy production.”
The original Marshall Plan was an audacious, innovative strategy that gave European nations the stimulus they needed to rapidly rebuild after World War II.
Autocratic Petro-states drive up oil and gas prices when they see fit, causing instability and insecurity for people from nations around the world. Putin used the fact that European nations had become energy dependent on Russian oil and gas to wage his war against Ukraine.
“I was welcomed to the US with open arms in Berkeley where I’m proud to call home, yet my homeland will always be Kiev, Ukraine. Every day a part of me dies knowing we’re still fighting on the front lines, still upholding our democracy. We’re a proud nation who will never give up,” said Igor Tregub, Fmr. Commissioner, Berkeley Rent Board. EOPA California Leadership Council. “I know we can rebuild infrastructure that has been hit by drones and missiles with distributed smart microgrids right now, as part of the Energy Security Marshall Plan for Ukraine. It would be inhumane to wait for the end of the war as millions continue to suffer.
Igor has been the Political Director for Hromada (Ukraine advocacy organization and nonprofit), and in that role helped raise over $60,000 in relief funds for his embattled homeland.
Micro grids of distributed clean energy that are more resilient against attacks than traditional infrastructure as they don’t have single points of failure. Some hospitals in Ukraine are using this technology now, but there is so much more we must do.
Destroyed petrol stations can be replaced with interconnected, yet self-generating, clean energy electric vehicle charging stations without the need for the grid. Electric minivans and buses can then be used for mobile energy storage to provide emergency power for hospitals and command posts in times of need.
US military bases at home and abroad will be powered with smart clean microgrids by 2035.
“Ukraine underscores how dependency on fossil fuels fills the coffers of tyrants and dictators like Putin, and that a rapid transition to clean and renewable energy is not just necessary for our environment, but critical to our economic, national security and true energy independence,” said Debbie Sarinana, New Mexico State Representative Air Force Veteran, EOPA National Leadership Council Chair. “The only way to prevent tyrannical leaders from getting the financial resources they need to create conflicts is to reduce, and eventually eliminate, our dependency on fossil fuels. A global clean energy economy will increase international security with healthier, more prosperous countries. Ukraine can be rebuilt as a model for the world.”
There’s a reason American military leaders have been taking climate seriously for years. The Pentagon first called global warming a “threat multiplier” in 2014, and openly says that climate change is a risk to national security. Direct threats from extreme weather will increase conflicts around the world as drought and floods impact critical water and food supplies, and vast mass migrations of refugees happen.
Last year, the hottest year in history, The UN reported that 67 percent of conflicts worldwide have been linked to the effects of the climate crisis and fossil fuel production. Meanwhile, globally, countries are spending a record $7 trillion on fossil fuel subsidies.
Fnd more about the EOPA Energy Security Marshall Plan for Ukraine HERE.
Helpful science tips in playful videos that explain principles we all deal with to understand our climate crisis. The series is the creation of Olivia Baaten.
