By Taylor Smith-Hams and Janet Weil, World BEYOND War, May 31, 2024
Veterans For Peace (VFP) has been running the No Military Airshows (No MAS!) campaign for years to protest military air shows by the Navy (Blue Angels) and Air Force (Thunderbirds) for glorifying militarism and spewing pollution. 350.org’s U.S. team recently joined the campaign and is encouraging 350.org supporters to work with local VFP chapters and members to protest military air shows across the country.
The U.S. military is the world’s single largest institutional consumer of fossil fuels and the world’s single largest institutional emitter of greenhouse gasses. Jet planes like the Blue Angels are one of the most egregious contributors, consuming over 1,200 gallons of jet fuel per hour.
The air show program in the U.S. started in 1946 amidst Cold War tensions and when the CO2 concentration in the global atmosphere was 310 ppm. Military air shows have been important recruitment and propaganda tools of the U.S. military for decades. To this day, they continue to be billed as “free entertainment” (even though taxpayers foot the bill) and as a patriotic way to support our troops. The No MAS! campaign works to expose military air shows for what they are: polluting displays that glorify militarism and machines of war while emitting shocking amounts of emissions.
VFP invited 350.org to collaborate on the No MAS! campaign after 350.org hosted a teach-in about the connections between militarism and the climate crisis earlier this year. Since VFP reached out to 350.org, we have co-hosted a virtual training about why and how to protest military airshows and created a guide for activists to support them in organizing their own protests.
On May 22nd, 350.org and VFP worked with local peace and climate activists in Maryland to protest the Blue Angels airshow in Annapolis. We had a small but mighty group with great visuals. We handed out over 200 informational flyers to passersby about why we should ban military airshows, reduce military funding, and fund climate solutions instead.
We encourage more climate and peace activists to work together to protest similar air shows across the country this year – there are over 60 Blue Angels and Thunderbirds air shows scheduled in 2024. If you’re interested in organizing a protest at an air show near you, let us know here so we can follow up about supporting your action.
