WILPF eAction
Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Fukushima: We Need Our Nuclear Free Future Now!
by Carol Urner, Co-Chair, DISARM/End Wars Issue Committee
March 11 is the second anniversary of the initial Fukushima disaster. The tragedy continues. The disaster is not done.
Listen to and share Ellen Thomas’ song, "Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Fukishima," sung by Courtney Dowe. We think the haunting melody expresses the anguish so many of us feel as we work for a nuclear free world.
In March WILPF DISARM-End Wars is focusing on the dangers of nuclear power, but we know that nuclear power and nuclear weapons are intimately connected, and for life to survive we must rid the world of both. For more information on our 2013 campaign to abolish nuclear weapons (and the whole nuclear chain) click here.
March 10 and 11 Cecile Pineda, author of Devil's Tango: How I learned the Fukushima Step-by-Step begins her Great Lakes Tour organized by WILPF. members and friends in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota. See the schedule here. The Great Lakes, source of drinking water for millions, are now under threat from nuclear power plants, weapons production sites and new gigantic nuclear waste dumps. For a Beyond Nuclear story on one threat, click here.
Cecile Pineda suggests we read this Japanese article on how the U.S. multi-national corporate community is using the earthquake disaster and Fukushima to further harness Japan to US neo-liberal—neo-conservative policies including those promoting nuclear power. Kay Cumbow, who is actively resisting Canadian nuclear waste dumps on Lake Huron, shares information on plans to send Canadian trucks with highly toxic liquid nuclear waste through the USA to Tennessee.
March 11–12 Register for the Helen Caldicott symposium on The Medical and Ecological Consequences of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident, or watch it livestream. The seminar is co-sponsored by the Helen Caldicott Foundation and our friends in Physicians for Social Responsibility. (We're pleased that Helen Caldicott, along with everything else she does, is now a member of WILPF.)
ACT NOW!
Use this anniversary to contact your senators on the need for concrete steps to end the dangers of nuclear power and to hasten the abolition of nuclear weapons.
March 11 and all month long we are also encouraging special Branch and member events in response to Fukushima and the dangers of nuclear power.
March 9: Los Angeles WILPF will welcome a whistleblower with regard to the troubled San Onofre Power Plant at their annual International Women's Day luncheon. LA County WILPFer Sheila Hartfield participated in California government hearings as part of state investigation of the non-functioning plant.WILPFers work for permanent closure.
March 11: WILPF is endorsing the New England Peace Pagoda walk, which on March 11 will be at Indian Point Nuclear reactor. To see the flier, click here. WILPF also helped bring Charmaine White Face of the Oglala Sioux Nation to share their struggle to close down open pit uranium mines in the Black Hills.
March 11: Toledo Ohio WILPF Branch will host Cecile Pineda on her Great Lakes tour.
Western Massachusetts WILPFers are participating in two coalition events. March 2 Chiho Kaneka will share from her recent visit to Fukushima. On March 24th Helen, Caldicott speaks about the health and environmental consequences of Fukushima in the U.S.
Register for Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) D.C. Days and speak truth to power of Congress and the Administration. ANA is the network of “nuke watch dogs” to which WILPF belongs. From April 14 to 17 we will visit Congress and Administration (including the Pentagon) on nuclear power, nuclear waste, and abolition of nuclear weapons. Click here for information on ANA and registration. Register before March 15 and save $50.00.
Costs, Risks and Myths of Nuclear Power was released by WILPF Reaching Critical Will in response to the Fukushima disaster. Available free for download or $8.00 for soft cover edition. Click here for information and download.
Nuke News: If you want to keep up daily with what's going on in the WILPF-sponsored Proposition One Campaign on nuclear abolition, conversion to clean energy, and cleanup of the radioactive mess, and if you would like to share with the world what's going on in your community in these regards, or contribute articles, then become a member of NucNews at Yahoo groups. You can ask Ellen Thomas to subscribe you if you can't figure out how to subscribe at the site.
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom is sponsoring this Great Lakes Tour with many local co-sponsors. National Endorsers are: Beyond Nuclear, Nuclear Information and Resource Service, The Sierra Club Nuclear Free Campaign, Nukewatch, and Nuclear Energy Information Service.
The NGO consultation day reminded me of the need to speak up, and challenge the idea that women should be seen not heard. The panels provided me with resources on how I can stand against gender based violence through interrupting violence and sharing innovative ideas on social media. Also, I was reminded of the importance of collaboration among all stakeholders in preventing and eliminating violence against girls and women. In my efforts to eliminate gender based violence, I need to involve everyone in fight.
I left the consultation day with lingering questions. I wondered why organizations addressing violence against women and girls sometimes act in silos even though there has been a great push for collaboration among these organizations. Also, I realized that majority of the violence prevention programs discussed were implemented outside the United States. So, I wondered where the US based NGOs working on violence interventions were, and what were their efforts in reaching to global partners.