Peace Action is a left-of-center anti-war advocacy organization founded during the Cold War in opposition to nuclear proliferation. Originally called SANE/FREEZE and formed by the merger of the Committee for a SANE Nuclear Policy and the Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign, Peace Action has dozens of affiliates at the state and local level throughout the United States, with among its most active affiliates being Peace Action New York State and Massachusetts Peace Action. The national Peace Action organization is organized as a nonprofit advocacy and lobbying organization and also operates an educational arm, the Peace Action Education Fund. Peace Action continues to lobby for nuclear disarmament while other modern issues of the group include calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and calling for drastic cuts to U.S. defense spending. Peace Action also endorses far-left Democratic candidates for office. ^{1 2 3 4 5}

History

Peace Action was first formed in 1957 as the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy, better known as SANE, headed by prominent peace activists Norman Cousins and Clarence Pickett.  SANE was a prominent activist group in the 1960s, holding a rally at Madison Square Garden and working with Hollywood figures; former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt; civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr.; and philosophers Albert Schweitzer and Bertrand Russell. ³

SANE also opposed U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, and in November 1965 organized the “largest antiwar demonstration up to that time.” SANE supported the 1968 presidential campaign of left-wing Senator Eugene McCarthy (D-MN), which centered around bringing an end to the Vietnam War. ³

SANE continued its activities throughout the 20^th century, and in 1987 became Peace Action when it merged with the Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign, also known as FREEZE, an anti-nuclear testing group that was formed in 1979. ³

Activities

Peace Action operates several campaigns promoting left-of-center and far-left anti-war policies on military involvement and nuclear weapons. ⁴

The group supports a “global abolition of nuclear weapons, stating that “The U.S. must lead the way to a safer world by working towards the complete abolition of nuclear weapons, and taking steps to reduce the threat of nuclear war in the meantime. Important steps include taking our weapons off hair trigger alert, halting our research and development of new nuclear weapons, and protecting treaties in place to prevent further proliferation of nuclear weapons” and “pursue new diplomatic efforts with countries like Russia, China, and North Korea.” ⁴

The group has also been critical of Israel and called for a ceasefire in Gaza, stating that “The shocking, horrific attacks by Hamas on Israel sparked a paroxysm of astonishing violence by Israel against not only Hamas but the people of Gaza, with tens of thousands killed in a matter of months, mainly women and children.” ⁶

Peace Action also supports drastic cuts to military budgets, stating that “massive military budgets eat up funding for critical programs here at home, which takes an overwhelming toll on communities of color and marginalized groups.” ⁷

Opposition to Nuclear Energy

Peace Action is a member of the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability, a coalition that opposes the use of nuclear energy and refers to it as a “dirty” and “dangerous” power source that “makes climate change worse.” ^{8 9}

Nuclear power plants produce no carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gas emissions, and as of 2021 accounted for 19 percent of American electricity production—the largest source of zero carbon electricity in the United States. ¹⁰ An October 2018 proposal from The Nature Conservancy noted that zero-carbon nuclear plants produced 7.8 percent of total world energy output and recommended reducing carbon emissions by increasing nuclear capacity to 33 percent of total world energy output. ¹¹

Associated Organizations

Peace Action has a charitable arm, Peace Action Education Fund, that supports its educational work. Peace Action Education Fund is also based in Silver Spring, Maryland and in 2016 declared revenue of $746,534, expenses of $529,016 and assets of $780,232. ¹²

Coalition Affiliations

Peace Action is a member of the Declaration for American Democracy, a coalition of left-leaning activist groups that advocates for a series of governmental and electoral administration policy changes. The coalition supports proposed federal legislation that would enact several left-leaning policy priorities surrounding elections such as automatic voter registration and restrictive regulations on political campaign-related speech acts. The organization is a project of Public Citizen Foundation, a left of center advocacy group founded by Ralph Nader. ¹³

Declaration for American Democracy advocates for bills in Congress and publicly promotes the need for left-leaning campaign and electoral administration policies. In May 2020, the organization sent an open letter to all 2020 presidential candidates urging them to adopt the coalition’s positions as part of their campaign platform and as policy priorities if elected. The coalition also launched a presidential candidate tracker to assess where each candidate stood on over 90 various policy issues. ¹⁴ Left-wing Democratic primary candidate Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was listed as in support of the most of the policy positions on the Declaration for American Democracy’s platform. ¹⁴

Political Endorsements

In 2024, Peace Action endorsed several Democratic candidates for Congress, including far-left Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Cori Bush (D-MO), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA). ⁵

People

The executive director of both Peace Action and Peace Action Education Fund is Jon Rainwater. He has been involved in various left-leaning organizations including Greenpeace and the California League of Conservation Voters, as well as advocating for legislation advocating for greater government regulation of emissions. He has also worked on “dozens” of campaigns for left-wing candidates and ballot measures. ¹⁵

1. “Peace Action.” Library of Congress Web Archive. Accessed November 10, 2024. https://www.loc.gov/item/lcwaN0002416/
2. “Home.” Peace Action New York State. Accessed November 10, 2024. https://www.panys.org/
3. “History.” Peace Action. Accessed November 10, 2024. https://www.peaceaction.org/who-we-are/our-mission/history/
4. “Who We Are.” Peace Action. Accessed November 10, 2024. https://www.peaceaction.org/who-we-are/
5. “2024 Endorsements.” Peace Action. Accessed November 10, 2024. https://www.peaceaction.org/2024endorsements/
6. “Gaza Ceasefire Now.” Peace Action. Accessed November 10, 2024. https://www.peaceaction.org/what-we-do/campaigns/gaza-ceasefire-now/
7. “Pentagon Spending.” Peace Action. Accessed November 10, 2024. https://www.peaceaction.org/what-we-do/campaigns/pentagon-spending/
8. “Alliance Members: The heart and soul of the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability.” Alliance for Nuclear Accountability. Accessed August 1, 2023. https://ananuclear.org/ana-members/
9. “Nuclear Power.” Alliance for Nuclear Accountability. Accessed August 1, 2023. https://ananuclear.org/nuclear-energy/
10. “Nuclear explained.” U.S. Energy Information Administration. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/nuclear/us-nuclear-industry.php
11. “The Science of Sustainability.” The Nature Conservancy. October 13, 2018. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-insights/perspectives/the-science-of-sustainability/
12.  Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2016. Peace Action Education Fund. Part I. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/521554826/201743199349314764/full
13. “About.” Declaration for American Democracy. Accessed February 23, 2023. https://declarationforamericandemocracy.org/about/
14. “The Positions.” Democracy Platform 2020. Accessed February 23, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20200926055422/https://democracyplatform2020.org/the-positions/
15. Peace Action. “Jon Rainwater.” https://www.peaceaction.org/team/jon-rainwater/.Accessed February 23, 2023.