Tri-Valley CAREs
Communities Against a Radioactive Environment
This professional mini-documentary celebrates Tri-Valley CAREs' 30 years of creating peace, justice, and a healthier environment.
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CLICK HERE to sign the petition.
Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment) calls all CA residents and environmentalists everywhere to sign our petition to prevent open-air toxic bomb tests.
1. Help us oppose a proposal by the Livermore nuclear weapons Lab to increase outdoor tests at its Site 300 from 100-pounds of high explosives daily to 1,000-pounds daily (10x).
2. Livermore Lab lists more than 120 hazardous poisons that will be in these huge outdoor blasts, including beryllium, vinyl chloride, phosphine, hydrogen cyanide, and dioxin to name just a few.
3. These tests are for nuclear weapons, according to Livermore Lab.
Site 300 is Livermore Lab’s high explosives testing range located in the hills a mere 7,000 feet from the City of Tracy. Site 300 is on the U.S. EPA Superfund list of most poisoned sites in the country. Open-air blasts there used radioactive materials, such as Uranium 238, without commencing the appropriate cleanup of the detonation area (firing-table). Therefore, the proposed larger detonations can re-suspend radioactive particles in the soils.
CLICK HERE to sign the petition today.
This petition will be delivered to:
- [email protected]
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
* The photograph in this email is an actual open-air bomb test at Site 300. If you look carefully, you can see buildings that are dwarfed by the size of the detonation. The toxic materials drift on the wind.
Click here to read Tri-Valley CAREs’ 14-page comment letter opposing these open-air blasts.
Wednesday, December 14, 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley
We want to offer our thanks to all the residents who came to the Tracy City Council meeting last night, and we offer special thanks to everyone who was able to stay until the Site 300 agenda item came up (close to midnight). It was inspiring to hear community members’ testimonies to their elected officials.
We extend our appreciation as well to Mayor Robert Rickman, Mayor ProTem, Veronica Vargas, and Council Members Nancy Young, Rhodesia Ransom and Juana Dement. Thank you all for listening so carefully - and alertly - to constituents near the end of a long meeting!
The City Council voted unanimously to submit comments describing the City of Tracy’s concerns and objections to the Proposed Action to expand open-air detonations at Site 300. The Council also voted unanimously in favor of requesting that the Dept. of Energy (DOE) extend the public comment period by 60-days and hold a public meeting in Tracy.
Similarly, our people-power petition drive is gaining steam. We have collected scores of petitions, which also serve as official public comments to oppose the Livermore Lab’s Proposed Action to conduct these home-shaking blasts that will fill the sky with hazardous poisons.
We invite you to use the Public Comment & Petition, available below. Please download and sign it. Add comments if you wish. Return it to Tri-Valley CAREs by email or postal mail – and we will submit it to the DOE.
You can also comment directly to [email protected] Very recently, the DOE has extended the public comment period slightly, from December 7, 2017 to December 22, 2017. Please add your voice to Tri-Valley CAREs, the City of Tracy and others and request a full 60-day extension of the public comment period (to February 5, 2018) and a public hearing on this proposal.
Haga clic aqui para ver la peticion en Espanol
Click here to read Tri-Valley CAREs’ presentation for the Tracy City Council
Click here to see the City of Tracy’s Comment Letter opposing bigger explosions at Site 300
Sunday, December 10, 2017
Posted by Valeria Salamanca
On Sunday, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) received the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway. ICAN is a partnership of more than 400 organizations in more than 100 countries, including Tri-Valley CAREs.
We gathered on Sunday at the Livermore Lab to “lift a glass” in joy, speak truth to power that nuclear weapons are illegal, and offer a participatory public reading of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, for which ICAN and its partner groups are receiving the 2017 Nobel Prize.
Click here to go to the ICAN website.
Thursday, November 30 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley & Scott Yundt
The Fall 2017 edition of Tri-Valley CAREs’ newsletter, Citizen’s Watch, is now ready for you to enjoy.
This edition is chock-full of news, analysis, announcements, and upcoming actions. Look inside, and you will find:
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Citizen’s Watch Newsletter Fall 2017
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Open-Air Toxic Explosions Planned Page 1
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Petition & Comment to Sign and Send Insert
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Youth Video Contest Winners Page 2
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More Nuclear “Print Bites” Page 2
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Letter from our Director & Photos Insert
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Circle Your Calendar Page 3
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Come to our Holiday Party! Page 3
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Celebrate the ICAN Nobel Prize Page 4
- renounce the option of using nuclear weapons first
- end the president's sole, unchecked authority to launch a nuclear attack
- take its nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert
- cancel plans to replace the arsenal with enhanced [i.e., upgraded] nuclear weapons; and
- actively pursue a verifiable agreement among nuclear armed states to eliminate their nuclear arsenals. (In this regard, Tri-Valley CAREs recommends that the US sign and ratify the aforementioned nuclear weapons “ban treaty.”)
- What are the risks of nuclear explosive tests to public health and the environment?
- How would the world respond if the U.S. resumes nuclear testing?
- Which U.S. nuclear weapons programs are accelerating a perilous new arms race?
- What are effective actions we can take to put the brakes on these nuclear dangers?
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Citizen’s Watch Newsletter Summer 2017
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Illegal Airborne Plutonium Shipment to Livermore. Page 4
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August 9 action at Livermore Lab 8 AM. Page 1 and Insert
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Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty is Adopted. Page 1
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Youth Video Contest Opens. Page 3
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We’re Strategic. Page 2
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DC Days and next Steps. Page 2
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Calendar and Alerts. Page 3
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The Nuclear Posture Review. Page 3
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Support Tri-Valley CAREs! Insert
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Citizen's Watch Newsletter Spring 2017
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Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty - A Report Back from the UN Page 1
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We Have Moved - Our new Office Address...Page 2
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Print Bites- All the News that Fits to Print Page 2
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New Report- Accountability Audit Page 3
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Alerts for You - Upcoming Events Page 3
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Budget Busting LEPs - Congress Should Cut Nukes Now!Page 4
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A Letter from our Executive Director -Insert
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
Posted by Valeria Salamanca, Youth Video Contest coordinator
We appreciate everyone who took the time to create a video for Tri-Valley CAREs 2017 Youth Video Contest! After careful review, our judges have selected the winners for this year.
Congratulations to our Grand Prize, 2nd Place and 3rd Place winners, whose videos are showcased, below. Thank you all for participating and we hope to see more amazing videos next year!
Everyone is invited to this year's Holiday Party and Youth Video Contest Awards Ceremony at the Livermore Library (Community Rooms A & B) on Thursday, December 7. The party is “drop-in” from 5 PM to 8 PM and will feature lots of great food and refreshments. The Awards Ceremony will take place at about 6 PM.
It is our goal to involve more youth in nuclear and environmental policy issues - and we are proud to see the depth and breadth of their visions for the future as evidenced by their videos. We hope that through the process of this contest, more people became aware of the dangers of nuclear weapons development and continue to inform others. We encourage young people to take part in future contests and to sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date with the progress of our mission.
Take a look below to view the top three videographers who will be receiving prizes.
PRESENTING OUR 2-MINUTE VIDEO WINNERS...
Grand Prize Winner – Livermore: Changes Have to be Made by Steven Hause
Second Place Winner - The Nuclear Effect by Nick Miriani
Third Place Winner – Livermore by Eli Gooch
Monsday, November 20, 2017
Posted by Valeria Salamanca
The Mt. Diablo Peace and Justice Center presented Tri-Valley CAREs and Executive Director, Marylia Kelley, the 2017 Local Heroes for Peace Award at its 9th Annual Awards Dinner Saturday, November 18th.
This duo-award (pictured right) not only honors the efforts on a local level, but also has U.S. Congressional Recognition. Tri-Valley CAREs was awarded for its contributions to nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament and for improving environmental cleanup at Livermore Lab. Additionally Marylia Kelley received an individual award for her leadership role over the past four decades.
With much joy, 15 Tri-Valley CAREs members and staff attended the event to acknowledge the achievements of local community members and their organizations with the Mt. Diablo community.
Wednesday, November 17, 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley
The Livermore Lab’s 11-square mile Site 300 high explosives testing range is about to become more dangerous, if the nuclear weapons designers get their way.
This month the government quietly released a shocking proposal to increase the amount of high explosives used in open-air tests at Site 300 from 100 pounds per day to 1,000 pounds per day, a 10-fold increase.
Similarly, the proposal increases the annual amount of high explosives used in open-air detonations from 1,000 pounds per year to 7,500 pounds per year, a more than 7-fold increase.
The detonations would occur on a flat, outdoor “firing table” measuring more than 7,000 square feet. The huge open-air tests employ no air pollution control technology.
Click here to read the whole story.
Click here for the PETITION to close the open-air firing tables at Site 300 in English.
Click here for the PETITION to close the open-air firing tables at Site 300 in Spanish.
Click here for our LETTER requesting a 60-day extension of the public comment period and a public hearing.
Click here for the ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT and Permit Application to conduct the blasts at Site 300.
November 17, 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley
We are living in a time of great nuclear peril – and great hope. On the one hand, President Trump continues to escalate global nuclear dangers, including by repeatedly engaging in juvenile, intemperate name-calling with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un and doing so without any serious reflection on what it means that the US stockpile contains nearly 7,000 nuclear weapons. On the other hand, 122 countries at the United Nations voted this year to adopt a “Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons,” which is presently undergoing its formal signature and ratification process on the way to becoming international law.
It is in this context that Tri-Valley CAREs has teamed up with Physicians for Social Responsibility, Union of Concerned Scientists and other national and local groups of all types and sizes in a new initiative to call on the US government to make nuclear disarmament the centerpiece of its national security policy.
The initiative is titled, “Back from the Brink: A Call to Prevent Nuclear War,” and it demands that the US:
The resolution is worded with the goal of achieving a broad consensus, and it is designed to be discussed and passed by myriad NGOs including peace, justice, environmental, civic, political and faith-based organizations, university groups, unions, town hall meetings, churches, synagogues or temples and their social concerns committees, and city councils, county supervisors, and/or state legislatures.
For more information about how your organization can participate, contact us at [email protected] or contact Martin Fleck of Physicians for Social Responsibility at [email protected].
Thursday, November 9, 2017
Posted by Brendan Phillips
The Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC), Bob Corker (R-Tenn), recently announced there would be a Hearing on Tuesday (11/14 at 10:00 AM ET) on “the executive’s authority to use nuclear weapons.”
The Hearing follows bi-partisan concerns raised about the president’s temperament in general and his bellicose rhetoric regarding North Korea in particular. Senator Corker announced the Hearing following Donald Trump’s speech at the national assembly in Seoul threating reprisal for North Korea’s continued nuclear development.
The Senator, who has become one of Donald Trump’s fiercest critics within the Republican Party, issued a statement on Wednesday saying, “A number of members both on and off our committee have raised questions about the authorities of the legislative and executive branches with respect to war making, the use of nuclear weapons, and conducting foreign policy overall. This continues a series of hearings to examine those issues and will be the first time since 1976 that this committee or our House counterparts have looked specifically at the authority and process for using U.S. nuclear weapons. This discussion is long overdue, and we look forward to examining this critical issue.”
The SFRC will hear testimony from three witnesses, including retired National Security Council and Department of Defense officials, such as Brian McKeon, the former acting secretary of policy at the Department of Defense under Obama; Peter Feaver, the former director for Defense Policy and Arms Control at the National Security Council during the George W. Bush administration; and, retired Air Force General Robert Kehler, a former head of the U.S. Strategic Command.
Addendum: Following the Hearing on November 14, Mother Jones published an informative summary.
Click here to read it.
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently released its cost estimate for upgrading the US nuclear weapons stockpile between 2017 and 2046. Did the CBO numbers match our non-governmental community’s trillion-dollar estimate? Not exactly.
According to CBO, the basic nuclear weapons “modernization” plan carried over from the Obama Administration will cost $1.2 trillion in 2017 dollars.
Adjusted for inflation, the cost to taxpayers over thirty years will be around $1.7 trillion.
Notably, the $1.7 trillion estimate does not capture likely Pentagon and Energy Dept. overruns that will drive the final cost higher still. Nor does the $1.7 trillion include any of the novel programs that multiple sources say are under consideration in the Trump Administration’s Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), due out early next year.
New projects being discussed for inclusion in the NPR include mini-nuke designs not currently in the stockpile, weapons types expressly prohibited by treaty, and underground nuclear yield tests in Nevada, which are being called “supercritical tests” by the weapons designers pushing for them.
The CBO report also looks at nine cost-saving options, including foregoing the Long-Range Stand Off warhead and cruise missile (save $30 billion), deploying fewer new subs (save $85 billion), and scrapping ICBMs (save $175 billion).
Here, the CBO analysis is very useful in refuting the narrative promoted by the Pentagon and weapons labs that every program on their wish lists is absolutely necessary. Clearly, there are choices to be made.
The CBO report stops short, however, of analyzing a “curatorship” option for the stockpile that would merely care for existing weapons until they are dismantled. Nor does it consider an option leading to nuclear disarmament before 2046. These options would enhance global security and save taxpayers billions more than anything the CBO considered.
Click here to view the full CBO report, “Approaches for Managing Costs of US Nuclear Forces 2017 to 2046.”
Friday, October 27, 2017
Posted by Brendan Phillips
A recent pair of bills constraining President Trump’s ability to engage in armed hostilities with North Korea have been introduced last week to the House and Senate in the form of H.R.4140 and S.2016, respectively.
The “No Unconstitutional Strike Against North Korea” act utilizes the Legislature’s constitutional power to appropriate funds as a means to ensure President Trump must seek Congressional approval before the use of armed forces, barring the exception of a first strike against the United States by North Korea, or their use to rescue or remove US personnel.
Under H.R.4140 and S.2016, none of the funds appropriated, or otherwise made available to the Department of Defense, or any other federal department or agency, can be used for the purposes of a military strike, or introduction of armed forces into hostilities with North Korea, unless a formal declaration of war has been issued, or authorization has been issued pursuant the requirements of the War Powers Resolution.
The President has, on numerous occasions, exacerbated tensions with North Korea, rather than pursue a peaceful diplomatic solution.
Military experts have said that a non-nuclear war with North Korea would cost hundreds of thousands of civilian lives within the first few days of fighting, and put the 28,500 American troops stationed in South Korea in grave danger.
If the “No Unconstitutional Strike Against North Korea” act passes, the risk of a catastrophic war occurring would be substantially reduced.
As of this date, Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris are not co-sponsors. Co-sponsors of the House bill H.R.4140 within the Bay Area are:
Rep. Barbara Lee
Rep. John Garamendi
Rep. Mark DeSaulnier
Rep. Ro Khanna
Rep. Zoe Lofgren
Rep. Jared Huffman
Rep. Anna Eshoo
To call your member of Congress and express your opinion, you can use the capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Posted by Eric Luna
Our petition to stop new nuclear weapons and thwart a resumption of nuclear yield testing in Nevada was delivered today to key members of Congress and to the White House.
Pictured is Tri-Valley CAREs’ Executive Director Marylia Kelley delivering copies of 10,400 signatures to Senator Dianne Feinstein, the Ranking Member on the Senate Energy & Water Appropriations committee through which the nuclear weapons budget must pass each year.
Marylia Kelley was also able to deliver all of your signatures to Rep. Adam Smith, Ranking Member on the House Armed Services Committee. In meetings later in the week, she will share the petitions with other Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress and the White House Budget Office and other Administration officials.
Thank you to all our members and friends who signed the petition. Your voices are making a difference in our work to constrain the nuclear weapons budget and proactively confront a push to resume nuclear explosive testing, which is being considered as part of the Trump Administration’s “Nuclear Posture Review.”
We thank our partner’s in this effort - Women’s Action for New Directions and Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. Together our three groups, and other partners around the country and the world, will continue to work for nuclear disarmament and against escalating nuclear dangers in the era of Trump.
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Posted by Valeria Salamanca
Sean Sullivan is the Trump Administration’s chosen Chairman of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). This is the independent board that oversees nuclear operations and provides safety recommendations for the U.S. nuclear weapons complex.
Recently it has come to light that Sean Sullivan has proposed to discontinue or largely reduce the group in a private letter to the White House, dated in June 20, 2017. The letter expresses Sullivan’s belief that the existence of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board only adds costs and not value. Here it should be noted that the annual appropriation for the entire DNFSB is only $31 million.
Click here to read the whole story.
Click here for the Center for Public Integrity’s investigative article
Click here for DNFSB Chair Sean Sullivan’s letter
Click here for Joyce Connery’s letter
Click here for Jessie Roberson’s letter
Click here for Daniel Santos’ letter
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley
Donald Trump came into the White House tweeting that the US must “expand” its nuclear capability, and he has made our country and the world less safe every day since.
Photo: The Baneberry underground nuclear test vented radiation in a cloud that was tracked across multiple states. 1970, Nevada Test Site.
In recent months Trump has repeatedly threatened North Korea with nuclear war, including from the dais at the United Nations. This month he refused to certify the Iran nuclear agreement, amid broad agreement that Iran continues to be in compliance with its terms.
Certainly, there is an urgent need for diplomacy and level headedness (not to mention the nuclear weapons ban treaty).
Clear thinking and communication cannot be left solely to “others.” The situation calls on all of us to redouble our commitment to basic democracy and to a true security that has its roots in peace and justice, not bombs and bombast.
And, you have stepped up. Thank you!
You have read our newsletters detailing how the Trump Administration is undertaking a “nuclear posture review.” This NPR threatens to increase nuclear risks with recommendations for new warheads, novel mini-nuke designs and “readiness” to restart nuclear testing, even though the US has not conducted such a test in a quarter century.
More than 10,000 of you have signed Tri-Valley CAREs’ petition calling on the White House budget office and the Congress to prevent any funding for new nuclear weapons or resumption of US nuclear explosive testing in Nevada.
We seek to apply the brakes on these programs now!
Tomorrow morning (Wednesday) I will take 10,400 signed petitions to Washington, DC where I will meet with members of Congress and the budget office to discuss these issues in person – and to hand deliver your signature!
I also want to thank our allies at Women’s Action for New Directions and Nuclear Age Peace Foundation for circulating the petition. Together we are making a positive difference.
Moreover, with your continued support and participation, we will “keep on” the path to a world free of nuclear weapons and war.
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley
In these topsy-turvy times, let us not forget to celebrate all of our amazing victories.
On July 7th at the United Nations in New York, the overwhelming majority of countries in the world (122!) adopted the “Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons,” outlawing nuclear weapons development, testing, possession, use, threat of use, transfer and/or providing assistance in any prohibited activity. And, Tri-Valley CAREs participated as a non-governmental organization and longstanding partner in the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).
Next, the “ban treaty,” as it’s called, opened for signatures at the UN on September 20th - and 53 countries have formally signed on. Three of them have also completed their ratification procedures. The ban treaty will fully enter into force 90 days after the 50th country ratifies. It is within our grasp and possibly by the end of next year, which is speedy for international treaties.
Click here to read the whole story.
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley
We are pleased to announce that the Mt. Diablo Peace & Justice Center has chosen Tri-Valley CAREs as its 2017 Peace Hero for our group’s contributions to global nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament – and for improving environmental cleanup at Livermore Lab.
Additionally, Tri-Valley CAREs’ Executive Director, Marylia Kelley is receiving an individual award for her leadership role through the years since the organization’s founding in 1983.
This award marks the Mt. Diablo Peace & Justice Center’s 9th year of honoring local heroes. The center will present the awards at a gala event on Saturday, November 18, 6 pm – 9 pm at its new location in Lafayette.
There will be a full-course gourmet dinner, live music, silent auction, speakers, and a raffle – and you are invited to the winners’ table!
Call or email our Staff Attorney, Scott Yundt, if you would like to join the Tri-Valley CAREs’ table: [email protected] or (925) 443-7148. Scott will send you all of the details.
Or, you may choose to purchase tickets through the Mt. Diablo Peace & Justice Center.
Thursday, October 19, 2017
Posted by Scott Yundt
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a cornerstone of Tri-Valley CAREs’ work as the “watchdog” of a federal nuclear weapons facility. Over our decades of using FOIA, we have learned how to best craft requests to obtain the documents and information we are seeking, and when the federal agencies still do not respond or withhold information, we have successfully used litigation many times.
This is true of other watchdog groups that are part of the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA), a network of three dozen organizations from around the country made up of concerned citizens living in the shadow of the US nuclear weapons complex.
In preparation for the 2017 ANA fall meeting recently, held in Idaho near the Idaho National Laboratory, Tri-Valley CAREs’ staff Attorney, Scott Yundt, prepared a guide titled, “Using the Freedom of Information Act at U.S. Department of Energy Nuclear Weapons Sites.”
Click here to read the whole story.
Friday, October 6, 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley
Tri-Valley CAREs is celebrating today! Huge congratulations go out to ICAN, its steering committee and its more than 400 member organizations around the globe, including ours!
In the wee hours of this morning (11 AM local time in Oslo, Norway), the Nobel Committee announced that it had chosen the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for 2017. “The organization is receiving the award for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons,” noted the esteemed committee.
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, informally known as the “ban treaty,” was adopted at the United Nations in New York by an overwhelming majority of the world’s nations on July 7, 2017, with 122 in favor, 1 against and 1 abstention. Tri-Valley CAREs participated as a non-governmental organization in the treaty negotiations as part of the ICAN network.
The treaty opened for signatures last month, with 53 states parties lining up to sign in short order. It will enter into force after 50 parties ratify, each country according to its own internal process.
The nine countries with nuclear weapons declined to participate in the treaty negotiations, with the U.S. being the most outspoken in its opposition to the treaty. Further, the U.S. has put enormous pressure on other countries to forgo signing it. And, still, the treaty moves forward to its full implementation at a robust pace.
Today, both ICAN and the ban treaty it champions so effectively received a powerful, fresh “shot in the arm” from the Nobel Committee.
The committee statement continued, “It is now 71 years since the UN General Assembly, in its very first resolution, advocated the importance of nuclear disarmament and a nuclear weapon-free world. With this year’s award, the Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to pay tribute to ICAN for giving new momentum to the efforts to achieve this goal.” To which we add a hearty, “Whoot. Whoot.”
To read the Nobel Committee statement announcing its award of the Peace Prize to ICAN, click here.
To read the New York Times article about the Peace Prize, with photos, click here.
Thursday, October 5, 2017
Posted by Brendan Phillips
Despite their importance, environmental issues have often taken a back seat to other political topics, particularly when those environmental issues have a local impact.
Few people in our community are aware, for instance, that routine operations at the Livermore Lab’s nuclear facilities have resulted in several hundred documented cases of toxic and radioactive releases into the surrounding air, soil, ground water, and surface water, increasing the risk to those exposed. Or, that more than 2000 Livermore Lab employees have applied for compensation due to toxic exposure. Further, few know that Livermore Lab received an airborne shipment of plutonium in containers that were illegal, posing an additional threat to the community in the event of an accident.
As a life-long resident of the Bay Area, I find these developments disturbing, and can only assume the Lab is allowed to continue nuclear weapons research and testing in such a highly populated area because of the aforementioned dearth of general knowledge about this topic. I believe it’s important for local communities to take a proactive approach in defending their health, safety, and environmental interests, which can only happen if awareness is spread about these issues. With that thought in mind, I’d like to bring attention to Tri-Valley CAREs’ youth video contest.
Youth between the ages of 10 and 30 can submit a 2-minute video explaining the effect that nuclear weapons development has on their community. There is a chance to win five hundred dollars. I myself plan to submit an entry into the contest.
Background information can be found at: www.trivalleycares.org/contest2017.html, or see the flyer posted below.
Saturday, September 30, 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley
Dear Tri-Valley CAREs supporter: Your signature is needed now to stop funds for new nuclear weapons!
Photo: The Baneberry underground nuclear test vented radiation in a cloud that was tracked across multiple states. 1970, Nevada Test Site.
Even as President Trump’s bellicose rhetoric pushes the world to the brink of a potential nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula, his hand picked team of unregenerate neocons is deep in the bowels of the Pentagon preparing a “nuclear posture review” that will propel us at breakneck speed into a spiraling new arms race.
According to Politico and other sources with whom we have spoken, Trump’s posture review is leaning toward new nukes, novel mini-nuke designs, and the increased likelihood of US nuclear explosive testing in Nevada.
We must act together to change dangerous policies that threaten all life on Earth. That is why we have launched a time-critical petition to halt new warhead funding.
We are pleased to announce that, along with colleagues in Women’s Action for New Directions and the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, we have collected an initial 8,500 signatures on our petition.
Can we make it 10,000? More? A lot more? We aim to show there is significant opposition to Trump’s reckless acceleration of a new nuclear arms race.
May we add your signature today? Click here.
And, if you have the means to amplify the petition by sharing and asking your friends to sign, we encourage that!
We have decided to gather signatures until October 24, 2017, which is a special day set aside to celebrate the Charter of the United Nations.
Then, I will travel to Washington, DC to hand-deliver all of the signatures, including yours, to the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Congressional Armed Services and Appropriations Committees.
Please help me by signing and sharing the petition today.
YES. I’ll sign the petition to stop a new arms race and prevent funding for new nuclear weapons! Click here.
Thank you for signing and sharing - and for all you do to promote peace, justice and a healthy environment,
Marylia Kelley,
Executive Director
P.S. It’s not too late to be the one who put us over the top! Please help us reach 10,000 – or more – signatures on our petition! Click here.
Friday, September 29, 2017
Posted by Eric Luna
Tri-Valley CAREs’ community meeting on the Superfund cleanup of the toxic and radioactive contaminants at the Livermore Lab’s “Site 300” high explosives testing range was held on Sept. 28 at the Tracy, CA City Hall.
The forum attracted a capacity crowd. The expert presentations – and the Q & A that followed - focused on environmental decisions that residents can influence to improve the Superfund cleanup. The overarching goal is to protect community health and the environment in the Central Valley for current and future generations.
The forum included a sign-on letter to regulatory authorities outlining criteria for “community acceptance”. Tri-Valley CAREs also debuted a petition calling for cessation of all open-air blasts involving high explosives and toxic materials at Site 300’s remaining outdoor firing tables. Both are below in English and Spanish. Please sign and return them to Tri-Valley CAREs if you agree!
Click here to read the whole story, see a video of the gathering, and for some important links.
Thursday, September 28, 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley
7 to 8:30 PM at Tracy City Hall, Room 203, at 333 Civic Center Plaza
Tri-Valley CAREs invites all Tracy residents and neighbors to a panel presentation regarding Site 300, the nuclear weapons development and testing site managed by Livermore Lab. The panel will include the federal EPA manager for the Site 300 Superfund cleanup, an environmental scientist and Tri-Valley CAREs representatives. Q & A will commence afterwards. Spanish translation assistance will be available. Petitions in English and Spanish to protect residents from the Site 300 pollution will be available to sign.
At the forum, Tri-Valley CAREs will be releasing a new report: State of the Superfund Cleanup.
Click here for your advance copy.
Friday, September 22, 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley
In response to President Trump’s threat “to totally destroy North Korea,” at the United Nations General Assembly, Tri-Valley CAREs’ executive director Marylia Kelley joined nearly 300 global women leaders and major organizations from 45 countries, including South Korea, Japan, Guam and the United States, to release an urgent appeal for diplomacy.
The women leaders’ letter calls on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to immediately appoint a Special Envoy to de-escalate the threat of war now facing the Korean Peninsula.
Signers include former elected officials, Nobel Peace Laureates, leading academics, prominent activists, such as Angela Davis and Ai-jen Poo, bestselling authors, such as Gloria Steinem, Alice Walker and Naomi Klein, award-winning filmmakers such as Abigail Disney, and prominent philanthropists, among others. Women Cross the DMZ organized the letter.
Read the letter and see the signatories here.
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley
ON DAY ONE, 50 states parties, including the Vatican, line up at the United Nations in New York to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons that was negotiated this past July. The Treaty will enter into force (become fully operational) as soon as 50 of its signatories ratify it via their own procedures. The nuclear weapons ban treaty is on the move - and quickly. Read, below, about some of the nations that signed on Day One. And, there will be more!
Read more in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists here.
Read more in the Washington Post here.
50 countries line up to sign UN treaty outlawing nuclear weapons
Thursday, September 14, 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley
One of the scariest aspects of the Trump Administration is that the dead-and-buried notion of designing “more usable” U.S. nuclear weapons is being resurrected from its grave. This could trigger the true-life “Zombie Apocalypse” with catastrophic consequences beyond imagining.
The plans are being formulated in the nuclear weapons labs at Livermore and Los Alamos and funneled into the deepest recesses of the Pentagon, where Trump’s Nuclear Posture Review is being formulated in secret by unregenerate cold warriors.
Will the Trump posture review recommend new nuclear weapons - including extremely low yield designs explicitly intended to be used first in a conventional conflict? Is a U.S. breakout to restart nuclear explosive tests in Nevada in the offing?
Tri-Valley CAREs has been tracking the neocons making these recommendations to the president. They include the Pentagon’s Defense Science Board (see our blog of February 20, 2017 for example), the Heritage Foundation and others. Our concern has been that these groups have new traction in the Trump era for their extremely dangerous-and-previously-discarded nuclear fantasies.
Make no mistake - these nuclear concepts are being resurrected.
Roundly rejected after the George W. Bush 2001 posture review sought to increase nuclear test readiness while lowering the threshold for nuclear use in war, these bad ideas are once again being considered at the highest levels of government.
A new article in POLITICO, “Trump review leans toward proposing mini-nuke” makes these same points, based on interviews the reporter conducted with officials involved in the current administration’s Nuclear Posture Review.
Nuclear explosive testing in the desert near Las Vegas and nuclear war itself are fast becoming more likely.
Read the POLITICO article here…
Your signature will be hand-delivered to the White House Office of Management and Budget and to the U.S. Congress by Tri-Valley CAREs’ executive director, Marylia Kelley, and other nuclear disarmament leaders.
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
Posted by Valeria Salamanca
Tri-Valley CAREs invites all Tracy residents and neighbors to a panel presentation regarding Site 300, the nuclear weapons development testing site managed by Livermore Lab. The panel will include the EPA manager for the Site 300 cleanup, an environmental scientist and Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment) representatives. Q & A will commence afterwards. Petitions in English and Spanish to protect Tracy residents from the Site 300 pollution will be available to sign.
Espanol: Tri-Valley CAREs (comunidades contra la contaminación radioactiva) invita a todos los residentes y vecinos de Tracy a una presentación de panel sobre el sitio 300, el sitio en donde el laboratorio de Livermore administra pruebas para el desarrollo de armas nucleares. El panel incluirá al gerente de la EPA para la limpieza del Sitio 300, un científico ambiental, y representantes de Tri-Valley CAREs. Una sesión de preguntas y respuestas comenzarán después. Las peticiones en inglés y español para proteger a los residentes de Tracy de la contaminación del Sitio 300 estarán disponibles para firmar. Haga clic aqui…
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley
The United States and North Korea should step back from the brink of conflagration, and, instead, adopt a diplomatic approach to prevent war, according to an urgent appeal sent yesterday to the two governments and the United Nations Security Council. Members and affiliates of the Abolition 2000 global network to eliminate nuclear weapons, of which Tri-Valley CAREs is a co-founding member, drafted the appeal.
Endorsing the appeal are 110 organizations and more than 200 additional civil society leaders from 44 countries. The appeal highlights the increasing risk of war – and the potential use of nuclear weapons by miscalculation, accident, or deliberate intent – and calls for “immediate commencement of negotiations to prevent a military conflict from erupting.” It further urges the UN Security Council to “prioritize a diplomatic solution to the conflict.”
The appeal’s signatories included parliamentarians, mayors/city representatives, scientists, academics, business leaders, medical professionals, veterans, educators/teachers, Nobel Peace Prize laureates, Right Livelihood Award laureates (the “alternative Nobel Peace Prize”), religious leaders, artists, nuclear victims, lawyers, women’s organizations, youth, former UN officials & diplomats, and other leaders from civil society.
Click here to read the appeal and view
the signatories.
Click here to read the full article
You are invited to participate in a lively 60-minute webinar to rev your activism and effectively constrain new nuclear dangers in the era of Trump…
New Nukes, Mini-Nukes & U.S. Nuclear Testing
Tuesday, August 29, 2017
4 pm – 5 pm Eastern,
(NOTE: That’s 1 pm Pacific Time.)
Watch the webinar here
Tuesday, August 29, 2017
4 pm – 5 pm Eastern,
(NOTE: That’s 1 pm Pacific Time.)
Watch the webinar here
Tuesday, August 24, 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley
Resurgent nuclear threats are gaining intensity in the Trump Administration. You are no doubt aware of the president’s intemperate remarks that have inflamed relations between the United States and North Korea. Less publicly visible – but none-the-less menacing – is the gathering momentum in the era of Trump to pour accelerant on an international arms race with new nukes, mini-nukes and a return to U.S. nuclear testing in Nevada.
The good news is that we can nip this threat in the bud. Neocons, nuclear lab managers and others are pressing Trump to hit the accelerator on new warheads and the underground explosions needed to test them. Decisions will be made soon. Still, we have a rare opportunity right now to get out in front of the president and the neocons - to be proactive rather than reactive. We can put the brakes on these programs before they happen.
The webinar also honors the United Nations-designated “International Day Against Nuclear Tests.” The UN General Assembly voted unanimously in 2009 to adopt August 29 as a special day to increase awareness globally “about the effects of nuclear weapon test explosions” and to take action for their permanent cessation. The date commemorates the closing of the Soviet test site at Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan on August 29, 1991.
This one-hour webinar on August 29 will address:
Expect short presentations of about 10 minutes each, slides you can download, action materials you can share, and time for Q & A.
Your expert presenters are:
MARYLIA KELLEY is Executive Director of the Livermore-based Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment). She brings 34 years of research, writing, and facilitating public participation in decisions regarding the Livermore Lab, U.S. nuclear weapons complex, nuclear weapons, waste and cleanup. Kelley has testified before the House Armed Services Committee of the U.S. Congress, the California Legislature and the National Academy of Sciences, among other deliberative bodies. In 2002, Kelley was inducted into the Alameda County Women’s Hall of Fame. She has lived in Livermore since 1976.
To view Marylia Kelley’s presentation, click here
SHERVIN TAHERAN is Program and Policy Associate with the Arms Control Association(ACA) and the Project for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). She is responsible for ACA membership development, outreach and coordinating ACA's events, and the Bipartisan Nuclear Policy Dialogue Project with congressional staff and members. She is also a member of the CTBT Organization Youth Group. Shervin has worked for both Republican and Democratic members of Congress, was a research assistant for the Woodrow Wilson Center, and interned with the National Iranian American Council prior to joining the Arms Control Association.
To view Shervin Taherin’s presentation, click here
KATHY CRANDALL ROBINSON is Interim Director of the Washington Office of Women’s Action for New Directions. She is also a senior fellow at Women In International Security (WIIS). Kathy has over two decades of experience working with policymakers and grassroots advocates on peace and security issues, particularly including advocacy for a permanent end to nuclear explosive testing. Read some of Kathy’s opinion pieces related to testing on her Huffington Post Column, and in The Hill
SUSAN GORDON is the coordinator of the Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environmenta coalition based in the Grants Mining District of New Mexico. MASE works toward the cleanup of contamination from past uranium mining and preventing new uranium mines. MASE works to secure health studies and compensation for communities and former uranium miners. Previously, she was the director of the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability for 17 years working to address issues of nuclear weapons production and waste cleanup. She is a grassroots organizer that knows how to work at the community level, regional level and nationally. She lives in Santa Fe, NM.
Wednesday, August 23, 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley
Tri-Valley CAREs invites all Tracy residents and neighbors to come learn about Site 300's Toxic and Radioactive Cleanup. Bring family and friends! This community hazard is too important to ignore!
*SPANISH TRANSLATIONS AVAILABLE*
Pizza, salads and refreshments will be provided.
Visit the rest of our website to learn more about the radioactive activity bordering Tracy.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tri-Valley CAREs invita a todos los residentes y vecinos de Tracy a aprender sobre la limpieza tóxica y radioactiva del sitio 300. Traiga a familiares y amigos! Este peligro para la comunidad es demasiado importante como para ignorarlo.
*TRADUCCIONES EN ESPANOL ESTAN DISPONIBLES*
Habrá pizza, ensaladas y refrescos
Visitar el resto de nuestro sitio web para obtener más información sobre la actividad radiactiva que bordea Tracy.
Thursday, August 10, 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley
Nuclear Abolition for Global Survival - The Movie
Advocacy in Action - A Rally, March & non-Violent Action - on Nagasaki Day, August 9, 2017. This link offers excerpts from the Rally, the March, the Japanese Bon Dance ceremony and die-in in the gates of Livermore Lab, and the peaceful risk arrest action that followed.
In a world rife with nuclear threats, on a day commemorating the anniversary of 1945 US atomic bombing of Japan, TriVallelyCARES Director Marylia Kelley, Hiroshima Survivor Takashi Tanemori, Anthropologist Barbara Rose Johnson, Cancer doctor Jan Kirsch, Asia historian Christine Hong and celebrated Pentagon whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, together with musicians Pat Humphries & Sandy O. Of ‘Emma’s Revolution' and Daniel Zwickel inspire a spirited rally, march and dramatic peaceful protest action at the gates of Livermore Lab, California’s national atomic bomb shop.
The rally speeches (6 speakers):
The UN Nuclear Weapons Ban vs.CA’s Nuclear Bomb Factory - Marylia Kelley
Marylia Kelley, Director of TriValleyCARES.org, speaks at the August 9, 2017 rally and march outside Livermore Lab, CA's nuclear bomb design center, commemorating the Atomic bombings of Japan.
How a Hiroshima Survivor Learned to Forgive - Takashi Tanemori
Hiroshima Survivor Takashi Tanemori speaks at the August 9, 2017 rally and march outside Livermore Lab, CA's nuclear bomb design center, commemorating the Atomic bombing of Japan.
The Nuclear Legacy of the Marshall Islands - Barbara Rose Johnson
Anthropologist Barbara Rose Johnson speaks at the August 9, 2017 rally and march outside Livermore Lab, CA's nuclear bomb design center, commemorating the Atomic bombing of Japan.
A Cancer Doctor’s View of Nuclear War - Jan Kirsch M.D.
Oncologist and Public Health doctor Jan Kirsch speaks at the August 9, 2017 rally and march outside Livermore Lab, CA's nuclear bomb design center, commemorating the Atomic bombing of Japan.
The Suppressed History of North Korea - Christine Hong
Asian-American historian Christine Hong speaks at the August 9, 2017 rally and march outside Livermore Lab, CA's nuclear bomb design center, commemorating the Atomic bombing of Japan.
A Former Pentagon Warplanner Against Nuclear War - Dan Ellsberg
Daniel Ellsberg whistleblower, former Pentagon war planner, disarmament advocate speaks at the August 9, 2017 rally and march outside Livermore Lab, CA';'s nuclear bomb design center, commemorating the Atomic bombing of Japan.
Our thanks to Jim Heddle and Mary Beth Brangan of Ecological Options Network for these videos.
More information and links below in the "August 9th Action Report".
Wednesday, August 9, 2017
(Updated)
Posted by Eric Luna
The August 9 "March for Nuclear Abolition & Global Survival" was at once moving, solemn, joyous, powerful and timely - with the opportunity to address the US atom bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the context of Trump's threat to unleash "fire and fury" on North Korea. One element of our August 9 program was the delivery to Livermore Lab of the "Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons" adopted July 7 at the United Nations by a vote of 122-1-1. Since the Lab director declined to accept it in person, the pages were strung across the West Gate, where peace advocates would soon risk arrest. There were about 250 people at the rally and 48 were peaceably arrested. Pictured is Karen Topakian.
Click here for the News article from SF Chronicle.
Click here to check out the NBC Bay Area TV spot, including interview with Shirley and others!
Click here to read the article by The Nation.
Marylia Kelley addresses the crowd with information about the Lab's current plans to develop a new long
range nuclear weapon to give this government every tool available. Are these the tools we need to build the
world we want? - Karen Topakian
Press play to listen to UpFront's interview with Tri-Valley CAREs' executive director Marylia Kelley.
Takashi Tanemori-San, Hiroshima Survivor - calling out with great passion for peace, kindness and forgiveness
in the world ... (rather than the perilous absurdity of "fire and fury") outside the US Nuclear Weapons Laboratory,
Livermore, California. Annual Commemoration of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan - August
6th & 9th, 1945. - Claire Greensfelder
Press play to listen to the story by KPFA: The Pacifica Evening News, Weekdays.
Read Breitbart's full story...
Read People's World's full story...
UCSC Professor Christine Hong discusses US policy and North Korea. Photo by Len & Nancy
Click here for
the text of Christine Hong's remarks..
Emma's Revolution rocks the crowd. Photo by Len & Nancy
Monday, July 24 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley & Scott Yundt
The Summer 2017 edition of Tri-Valley CAREs’ newsletter, Citizen’s Watch, is now ready for you to enjoy.
This edition is chock-full of news, analysis, announcements, and upcoming actions. Look inside, and you will find:
Thursday, July 20, 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley
“March for Nuclear Abolition & Global Survival” is the theme for this year’s 8 AM August 9 (Nagasaki Day) rally, march and nonviolent direct action the gates of the Livermore Lab, where those who choose will peaceably risk arrest to say “Never Again!” to the use of nuclear weapons and to demand their irreversible and unequivocal elimination.
Daniel Ellsberg is confirmed as a keynote speaker. Ellsberg is the military analyst and whistleblower who released the Pentagon Papers to the news media in 1971, an act that helped end the Vietnam War. He will discuss the book he is writing on U.S. nuclear weapons policy as well rising nuclear dangers in the era of Trump and the importance of speaking truth to power - and blowing the whistle on government wrongdoing!
We are also pleased to announce that Emma’s Revolution will perform. Emma’s Revolution is the award-winning, singer-songwriting duo of Pat Humphries & Sandy O. The duo’s latest CD, “Revolution Now,” has been hailed as “Beauty, power and ferocity all mixed together with love and hope.” In the spirit of Emma Goldman’s famous attribution, “If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution,” Pat & Sandy will bring their uprising of truth and hope to Livermore Lab.
Marylia Kelley will speak about the nuclear weapons programs taking place today at the Livermore Lab. She will also share insights into the negotiations at the United Nations leading to the overwhelming adoption of the “Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons” on July 7, 2017. Kelley and other NGOs participated in the UN forum.
The rally will feature additional musicians and speakers; we are in the process of confirming an address by a Hibakusha - survivor - of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima, which took place three days before the second atomic bomb was detonated over Nagasaki, Japan.
There will be ample free parking at the rally site on Patterson Pass Road near the corner of Vasco Road and just outside the Livermore Lab fence line. Vanpools will be available from the Dublin-Pleasanton BART (call 925-443-7148 to reserve your seat).
A Peace Camp will precede the August 9 rally for those who would like to enjoy time together at lake Del Valle Regional Park. RSVP is also necessary for Peace Camp at 925-443-7148.
See the 2-page flyer below for additional information.
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley
Shortly after taking office, President Trump announced he would undertake a new Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), undoing the one conducted by Obama in 2010. Trump’s NPR authorization memo used words like “modern, robust, flexible, resilient…” to signal its more aggressive tilt toward new wholly new weapons programs and policies. Trump Administration officials speculated openly that the NPR might eschew even the mere mention of U.S. disarmament obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Further, it is being conducted in deepest secrecy in the bowels of the Pentagon.
On July 19, led by Dianne Feinstein and Ed Markey, 22 U.S. Senators sent a letter to the Trump Administration demanding an “inclusive, transparent review process” for the NPR that includes “broad interagency input” and a “publicly-available document.” Further, the signers called for the NPR to explicitly maintain all U.S. obligations under Senate-ratified treaties including a “commitment to the eventual elimination of nuclear weapons.”
Senator Feinstein notes that the Trump NPR should “reject calls for new nuclear weapons.” Senator Markey added, “U.S. nuclear policy should focus on reducing the role of nuclear weapons.”
The Senate letter follows on a similar communication by 42 members of the U.S. House of Representatives in June. These congressional actions are a good first step in moving the NPR out of the shadows and into the public debate. However, much more needs to be done.
Are your elected officials on the letters?
To check your Senators, click here.
To check your Representative, click here.
Use the Capitol Switchboard at 202.224.3121 to connect with your Senators and Representative. Thank them if they are on the letter. Tell their office you want them to continue to act for nuclear disarmament. If your elected officials are not on the letters, tell them that you are a disappointed constituent - and that you want them to constrain nuclear weapons and preserve ratified U.S. treaty obligations in the NPR.
Friday, July 17, 2017
Posted by Joseph Rodgers
From 1945 to 1992, the United States conducted 1,032 nuclear weapons tests in the atmosphere, under the ocean and below ground. These tests took their toll on the environment and communities downwind from test sites, with certain radioactive materials, such as Strontium-90, still measurable in our bodies.
In the quarter century since the last explosive nuclear test, cold war realities like “duck and cover” have faded from the public consciousness. To today’s young professionals, they seem quaint icons of a bygone era. However, while there is no technical requirement for a U.S. nuclear test, this 20th century pursuit is getting new consideration in the current administration. We would be well advised to examine the geopolitical context and the risks that would accompany any U.S. return to testing.
According to the treaty’s “entry into force” provision, it will become fully operational 90 days after achieving its threshold requirement for 50 states to sign and complete its ratification.
This past May, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) embarked on another review cycle to assess its status and implementation. During these negotiations in Vienna, the vast majority of states expressed strong support for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
Click here to read the full article.
Saturday, July 15, 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley
Tri-Valley CAREs board members, staff, interns and representatives from our membership met on Saturday to review our commitments from last year’s strategic planning retreat and plan our program priorities for the coming year.
The group looked carefully at strategic opportunities and potential threats anticipated in the coming year, balanced against Tri-Valley CAREs’ current strengths and weaknesses, and then voted on which program areas should rise to the top.
Click here for a copy of the Program Priorities chosen for the coming 12 months.
Click here to read “Looking Back,” an accounting of the group’s progress and accomplishments since last year’s strategic planning retreat.
Participants also engaged in a series of organizational development exercises. The photo, below, shows some of the planning group holding up the results of the “6 Word Story” assignment to describe why they value Tri-Valley CAREs.
Friday, July 7, 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley
Today is a day to celebrate. The “Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons” was overwhelmingly adopted at the United Nations in New York, with 122 states parties in favor, one opposed and one abstention.
The ban treaty, as it is popularly called, will now open for signatures by states at the UN on September 20, 2017.
According to the treaty’s “entry into force” provision, it will become fully operational 90 days after achieving its threshold requirement for 50 states to sign and complete its ratification.
While each country has its own rules governing ratification procedures, the ban treaty is designed so that it may enter into force in straightforward and timely manner.
Click here to read the full article.
July 6, 2017
Posted by: Marylia Kelley
At the United Nations today, negotiations are wrapping up on the “legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination,” also known as the ban treaty. The treaty text has been sent out for translation into the six official UN languages, and tomorrow, on Friday, July 7, the states that have participated in the negotiations will be asked to vote on its adoption.
The negotiations have not been without struggle. What stands out, however, is the incredible motivation and true good faith effort demonstrated by 140 states parties and the President of the negotiations, Ambassador Elayne Whyte Gomez of Costa Rica. This ambassador and these countries have forged a far-reaching and historic agreement to outlaw all nuclear weapons globally in less than 30 days!
Click here to read the full article.
Saturday, July 1, 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley
This column, written by Kathy Crandall Robinson, lays out many of the dangers posed by a U.S. resumption of explosive nuclear weapons tests.
Published in “The Hill,” which is an influential DC-based paper read by members of Congress, hill staff and others, Crandall Robinson’s column is part of a proactive initiative by Tri-Valley CAREs to alert decision-makers and the public to the escalating nuclear danger in the age of Trump.
Our campaign aims to educate, organize, and prevail in preventing a U.S. return to the bad old “duck-and-cover” days of explosive nuclear testing. Special thanks to the Ploughshares Fund for key support that helped Tri-Valley CAREs launch this project.
Click here to read the column.
Friday, June 30, 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley
Tri-Valley CAREs is pleased to report that three young professionals have joined our team. As the group’s Executive Director, it is my distinct pleasure to introduce them to you.
Click here to read the comment document.
Click here for a PowerPoint presentation on Site 300 in Spanish
Click here for the presentation in English
Click here for an overview factsheet on Superfund and Livermore Lab in Spanish
Click here for the factsheet in English
Click here for two photos of open-air blasts at Site 300 with notation in Spanish
Click here for notation in English
Friday, June 30, 2017
Posted by Eric Luna
The California Environmental Justice Coalition (CEJC) will gather in Sacramento from Saturday, August 12 through Monday, August 14, 2017.
Tri-Valley CAREs is a co-founding member of this influential alliance that consists of more than 60 grassroots Environmental Justice organizations representing rural, suburban, urban and indigenous communities all across the state.
This will be CEJC’s third statewide conference. Tri-Valley CAREs will be represented in Sacramento by its executive director, Marylia Kelley.
If you would like to be part of the Tri-Valley CAREs team at the statewide conference and will be participating with our organization in the coming months on Environmental Justice initiatives to protect our Tri-Valley and Tracy-area land, air, water and community health from contamination by nuclear weapons activities, email [email protected] or call our office at 925-443-7148.
Tuesday, June 27, 2017
Posted by Makayla Whitney, Legal Intern
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Main Site was named to the Superfund/CERCLA national priorities list in 1987 due to severe soil and groundwater contamination, including off-site plumes in the groundwater aquifer.
A five-year review guideline created by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) sets forth the standards used when a site conducts a five-year review under the Superfund law.
Tri-Valley CAREs’ analysis of the draft 5-Year Review found apparent deficiencies in (a) the site inspection checklist, (b) conducting required interviews pursuant to evaluating the effectiveness of the cleanup remedy, and (c) the protectiveness of the remedy. The latter item is due to the Lab’s failure to incorporate the most recent – and stricter - standard for remediating hexavalent chromium in groundwater.
Additionally, Tri-Valley CAREs determined that the draft document lacked a reader-friendly executive summary/introduction and lacked any Spanish language translation (including of the executive summary/introduction).
The group’s comments recommend that these deficiencies be rectified before the document becomes final. Tri-Valley CAREs submitted its comments to the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration, U.S. EPA, California State Department of Toxic Substances Control, the California Regional Water Quality Control Board and the Livermore Lab.
Click here to read Tri-Valley CAREs comments.
Monday, June 5, 2017
Posted by Ellen Thomas & Marylia Kelley
During the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability "DC Days" this year, Tri-Valley CAREs was honored to present a special award to the International Campaign for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) for its work to move the nuclear weapons "ban treaty" negotiations forward. ICAN's executive director, Beatrice Fihn, was in DC from Vienna to accept the award. The reception was held in one of the US Senate Hearing Rooms, which we were able to book with the help of Senator Ed Markey. Ellen Thomas shot the video. Check it out!
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Posted by Scott Yundt
The National Nuclear Security Administration released its Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Request to Congress today asking for a large increase in spending on Nuclear Weapons. At Lawrence Livermore National Lab (LLNL) the spending request for nuclear weapons activities goes from and already astronomical $1.069 billion to $1.23 billion! The spending request for Science, Fossil Fuel Energy Research, Environmental Cleanup, and Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability all significantly decrease. It appears that under this administration LLNL will grow, rather than shrink, its nuclear weapons focus. We have our work cut out for us...
Wednesday, May 22 2017
Posted by Scott Yundt
The Spring 2017 edition of Tri-Valley CAREs' newsletter, Citizen's Watch, is now ready for you to enjoy. Inside you will find:
Sunday, May 21, 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley
If you are a Tracy area resident interested in joining Tri-Valley CAREs' "Tracy Advisory Committee on the Cleanup of Toxic & Radioactive Contaminants at Livermore Lab's Site 300," please contact Executive Director, Marylia Kelley, at [email protected] or 925.443.7148. Here is more information...
Sunday, May 21, 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley
Saturday, June 17, 2017
Noon – 4 PM, Women’s March to Ban the Bomb, NYC Gather at Bryant Park, march to Dag Hammarskjold Plaza (near UN Headquarters) for a rally.
The march supports UN negotiations that will resume June 15 and run until July 7 on a “legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons leading towards their total elimination,” known informally as the “ban treaty.” We can do this!
If you cannot come to New York City, there will be sister marches in San Francisco (see below), other US cities, Australia, Germany, The Netherlands, and Switzerland.
Organized by numerous organizations, and co-sponsored by Tri-Valley CAREs, please see www.womenbanthebomb.org for more information.
Saturday, June 17, 2017
Noon, Women’s March to Ban the Bomb, sister march in San Francisco Gather at UN Plaza-Civic Center, near the Civic Center BART station
This sister march to Ban the Bomb supports the negotiations at UN Headquarters in New York to achieve a “legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons leading towards their total elimination,” known informally as the “ban treaty.”
The San Francisco Sister March to Ban the Bomb is being organized by the Bay Area branches of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. For march information, contact [email protected]. To meet up with the Tri-Valley CAREs’ contingent in the march, contact [email protected] for more info.
Saturday, May 13, 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley
Livermore Lab watchdog group will join colleagues from nuclear weapons sites across the country and press lawmakers to prioritize toxic cleanup and public health while saving billions by terminating ill-conceived new nuclear weapons programs
Click here for an advance full-color copy of the report.
“Accountability Audit,” a 20-page plan for reducing risks and saving billions of dollars across the nuclear weapons complex, was written by Tri-Valley CAREs’ executive director Marylia Kelley and other experts on the US nuclear weapons complex. Get a copy here, accountability-audit.pdf
Friday, May 12, 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley
Thursday, May 4, 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley
An article by Dan Ross (FairWarning), on Open Burning-Open Detonation of explosive wastes at Livermore Lab Site 300 and other locations across the country, quoted Tri-Valley CAREs. Check it out.
To read the article click here.....
Thursday, April 13, 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley
NBC News is reporting that multiple senior U.S. intelligence officials say that if North Korea attempts to conduct a nuclear weapons explosive test, the U.S. is prepared to strike preemptively with conventional weapons.
Tragically, this could result in a new war on the Korean Peninsula that may ultimately involve nuclear weapons.
Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un are both making threats that make a first strike by either side more likely.
For example, this morning on Twitter, President Trump wrote,
"I have great confidence that China will properly deal with North Korea. If they are unable to do so, the U.S., with its allies, will! U.S.A."
Earlier this week, a spokesman for Kim Jong-un said,
“If the US dares opt for a military action, crying out for ‘pre-emptive attack’…the DPRK is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the U.S.”
We do not believe that there has been a situation this fraught with danger since the Cuban Missile Crisis. In that instance, we were saved by the good judgment of President Kennedy and Soviet Premier Khrushchev, who together worked out a plan for de-escalation.
This situation with North Korea is not being handled well, and it is the U.S. that must take the first step toward de-escalating the crisis.
Our colleagues at the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation have set up a link for YOU to write President Trump and your congressional representatives. PLEASE take this time-critical action for peace and sanity.
Please take a moment to write to President Trump and your elected representatives in Congress, telling them not to conduct a military strike against North Korea and to withdraw the aircraft carrier group (or “armada,” as President Trump calls it) from posing a threat to North Korea.
Negotiations with North Korea and China are the best way to achieve a sustainable solution. Threats, whether in the form of tweets or nuclear-capable aircraft carrier groups, only increase the dangers to us all.
Wednesday, April 12, 2017
Posted by Marylia Kelley
This month we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s groundbreaking speech “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence”. In it, Dr. King confronted the inter-connections and deep roots of racism, militarism and materialism in the U.S.
Fifty years later Dr. King’s analysis, including holding the U.S. government accountable as a purveyor of violence, and his public call to action are as relevant as they were then.
Come and take part in a public reading of this historic speech this year on the very day taxpayers are called on to pay for past and present U.S. wars.
DATE: Tuesday, April 18, 2017 (Tax Day).
TIME: Participatory readings at Noon, 2 pm and 4 pm.
PLACE: U.S. Federal Building, 585 14th Street, Oakland, CA
MORE INFO: (510) 839-5877 or (925) 443-7148
For details and a list of sponsoring groups, including Tri-Valley CAREs, Click here.....
Wednesday, April 12, 2017
Posted by Marylia
Kelley
The Rossmoor Friends of Mt. Diablo Peace & Justice Center is pleased to offer a timely, thought-‐provoking presentation by Tri-Valley CAREs’ Executive Director, Marylia Kelley, who is freshly returned from the United Nations where negotiations began on March 27, with 130 countries participating, on an international treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons, leading to their total elimination.
This event will be Friday, May 5 at 1 PM. The public is welcome. For details about the presentation and the venue, Click here.....
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Posted
by
Marylia
Kelley
The opening moment of the opening day of negotiations on a “legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons leading towards their total elimination” at the United Nations in New York was, at once, literal and deeply metaphorical.
Inside, countries from around the globe convened formal deliberations on an international nuclear weapons ban treaty in the stately UN General Assembly Hall. Outside, US Ambassador Nikki Haley held a press conference to criticize the proceedings and reiterate a US boycott. A small cadre of nuclear-armed allies and client states could be seen behind Haley. No questions were allowed, and the energy seemed flat. Meanwhile, the air inside the Hall crackled with excitement and new possibility. There was no mistaking where the action was taking place.
The opening session ran from March 27 to 31. More than 130 nations - and about as many non-governmental organizations including ours - shared ideas about what should be covered in the treaty’s preambular language, core prohibitions, and institutional arrangements.
Click here to read whole aritcle and see more videos.
Thursday, March 23, 2017
Posted
by
Marylia
Kelley
Tri-Valley CAREs will send its Executive Director, Marylia Kelley, to the United Nations in New York to support negotiations to achieve a nuclear weapon “ban treaty.” A successful conclusion will serve to advance the global elimination of nuclear weapons envisaged by the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
On March 27 to March 31, the UN will convene negotiations on “a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination,” popularly called the ban treaty. A second round of negotiations has been scheduled later in the year, from June 15 to July 7. The ban treaty would place nuclear weapons on the same legal footing as other weapons of mass destruction, which have long been outlawed.
Click here to read more...
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Posted
by
Scott
Yundt
Thursday, March 16, 2017
Posted
by
Marylia
Kelley
President Trump today released an outline of his Fiscal Year 2018 budget request. The document contained only “top line” numbers and lacked detailed information that Congress will need before it can make any appropriation decisions for nuclear weapons and cleanup, or, frankly, for any other part of the federal government.
The necessary budget detail may not be released for weeks - or longer. The Trump team did not specify a date; sometime in May is the best guess. Presidential budgets are due the first Monday in February.
Trump’s team dubbed this its “skinny budget.” The document is a scant 64-pages, and the Dept. of Energy (DOE) rates two. Still, the “top line” numbers on those 2 pages are illuminating.
The DOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is slated to receive a $1.4 billion increase over its present funding, an 11.3% increase. This represents the largest percentage increase anywhere in the government - and would give NNSA a total of $14.3 billion for the 2018 fiscal year.
To read the whole blog, Click here .
For the “skinny budget’s” 2-pages on DOE funding, Click here .
Thursday, March 16, 2017
Posted
by
Scott
Yundt
Yesterday, March 15, 2017, a three judge panel (Judges McKeown, Bybee, and Mollway) at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco heard oral argument in the case filed by the Republic of the Marshall Islands against the United States for its failure to make “good faith” efforts to negotiate nuclear disarmament as required by Article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
The case was on appeal from the lower court after a federal district judge dismissed it on procedural grounds. Yet, rather than focus on those specific procedural grounds, the 9th Circuit panel spent the bulk of the hearing time focused on very specific questions including: 1) what it might order the executive branch to do to satisfy Article VI; and, 2) whether Article VI is “self-executing” and whether it has a domestic effect. Laurie Ashton, chief counsel for the Marshall Islands, did a careful and thorough job responding to the Court’s inquiries while also managing to make many important point on the merits of the case.
At the end of the hearing, Judge M. Margaret McKeown thanked the Amici (which includes Tri-Valley CAREs) for their excellent amicus briefs. Now we await a written decision, which could take several months or more...
Click here to read Tri-Valley CAREs' Amicus Curiae brief in support of the Marshall Islands.
Thursday, March 9, 2017
Posted
by
Scott
Yundt
On Wednesday, March 15, 2017 at 9:00 AM, the appeal of the Republic of the Marshall Islands’ “Nuclear Zero” lawsuit will be heard in the Ninth District Court of Appeals. The case, initially filed on April 24, 2014, alleges that the United States failed to uphold its legal obligation under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and customary International law to begin negotiations “in good faith” for an end to the nuclear arms race “at an early date” and for nuclear disarmament.
The suit contends that the United States has clearly violated its legal obligations to pursue nuclear disarmament by spending large sums of money to enhance its nuclear arsenal. The U.S. already plans to spend an estimated $1 trillion on nuclear weapons over the next three decades and President Trump has said he wants to build up the U.S. nuclear arsenal even further to ensure it is at the “top of the pack,” saying the United States has “fallen behind in its nuclear weapons capacity.”
Scott Yundt, Staff Attorney of the Livermore-based disarmament group Tri-Valley CAREs (which closely monitors the large nuclear weapons program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) filed an Amicus Curiae brief in support of the Marshall Islands. “As people directly affected by radioactive fallout from US nuclear weapons testing, the Marshallese are a particularly powerful voice calling for enforcement of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In this time of escalating international tension, the US Courts, and really all of us, should be listening and taking our international obligations under the Treaty seriously.”
Click here to read the rest of our Press Release...
Monday, February 20, 2017
Posted
by
Marylia
Kelley
In January, Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and Representative Ted Lieu (D-CA-33) introduced bills to prevent a US President from launching a first use or strike with nuclear weapons without a congressional declaration of war. As it presently stands, President Trump could launch a nuclear weapon on his own at any time - and there is no check or balance anywhere in the system on that power.
The title of the legislation is the “Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2017.” Senate bill is S. 200 and the House bill is H.R. 669. Co-sponsors are being sought for both.
As of this writing, S. 200 has no co-sponsors, while H.R. 669 has 19 co-sponsors, including 4 from California - John Garamendi (D-CA-31); Barbara Lee (D-CA—13); Karen Bass (D-CA-37); and, Mike Thompson (D-CA-5).
The bills have been referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, respectively.
Tri-Valley CAREs is asking you to make calls today supporting both the Senate bill (S. 200) and the House bill (H.R. 669).
Click here for more...
Monday, February 20, 2017
Posted
by
Marylia
Kelley
Nuclear “modernization” costs will total $400 billion from 2017 to 2026, according to a new estimate by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. That figure is 15% higher than the $348 billion previously calculated by CBO for the years 2015 to 2024.
According to the report, the coming decade is key to nuclear modernization plans as both the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration and the Pentagon are supposed to “mature” their design efforts and begin production.
The CBO notes that much of the $52 billion increase stems from the fact that the estimate reaches 2024 and thus incorporates a bit more of the high-ticket production costs. Indeed, the rate of increase for nuclear “modernization” is slated to rise continuously over the coming decades.
Click here for more...
Monday, February 20, 2017
Posted
by
Marylia
Kelley
The Pentagon’s Defense Science Board (DSB) on Thursday held a classified briefing for senior officials on its recommendations for the new Administration. Earlier this month, the news outlet Roll Call reported that the board’s unpublished report, titled “Seven Defense Priorities for the New Administration” urges Trump to create new nuclear weapons including extremely low-yield weapons, called mini-nukes, to provide a “tailored option for limited use.”
While the current nuclear stockpile already incorporates a number of variable-yield designs, also called “dial-a-yield,” the DSB proposal envisions “more discriminate” options for launching a “limited nuclear war” with novel, small scale nukes and new ways to deliver them, including on drones.
California Senator Dianne Feinstein responded to the DSB report immediately saying, “There’s no such thing as ‘limited nuclear war’ and for the Pentagon’s advisory board to even suggest such a thing is deeply troubling.”
Click here for more...
Monday, February 13, 2017
Posted
by
Scott
Yundt
As you may remember, we filed a Petition for Review the California Department of Toxic Substances Control’s (DTSC) decision to issue a Hazardous Waste Permit to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Main Site back in April 2016. Click here to see our Petition for Review. It was based on our comment during the public comment period and on other comments made.
We learned in December that the DTSC granted our Petition on several grounds. (As far as we can tell our petition is the only public stake holder Petition for Review to be granted in at least a year!) The areas which were granted review include: (1) that the permit application is inadequate because it does not provide information required by regulation, lacks detail and does not provide implementing procedures or descriptions; (2) that DTSC has not followed its policy concerning authorizing delayed closure for hazardous waste management units and has not demonstrated certain units were closed in accordance with approved plans; and (3) that changes to the permit in reposes to comments were not appropriately evaluated or provided public review.
Next is a formal appeal process with written argument, which Tri-Valley CAREs recently submitted
(click here). The DTSC permitting decision may submit briefs
responding to Tri-Valley CAREs brief by April 3, 2017.
Following that, an administrative decision will be released
that could require LLNL and DTSC to take steps that we
hope will greatly improve the quality of the permit in
the interest of protecting public health.
Friday, February 10, 2017
Posted
by
Marylia
Kelley
Jonathan Landay, who has covered nuclear weapons topics for well over a decade, and David Rohde published an exclusive in Reuters that, in his first Presidential phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump denounced the Obama-era New START Treaty limiting a class of long-range nuclear weapons equally in both countries.
The article states that when Putin broached the possibility of extending the 2010 New START Treaty, Trump paused to ask his aides what that was. Trump then rebuffed Putin’s inquiry, saying the treaty was one of several bad deals negotiated by the Obama Administration and that it favored Russia. Trump pivoted to talk about his own popularity, multiple sources told Landay and Rohde.
Click here for more...
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) have introduced legislation to prevent a US President from launching nuclear war at will. As it now stands, President Donald Trump could initiate a nuclear first strike at any time, against any place, for any reason and with no checks or balances on that power.
On January 24, Senator Ed Markey introduced the “Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2017” in the US Senate (S. 200) and Congressman Ted Lieu introduced the same legislation in the US House of Representatives (H.R. 669).
These two bills, if passed, would prohibit President Trump, or any future US President, from launching a nuclear first strike without a declaration of war by Congress.
Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
Note: In California, your Senators are Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris. In the 15th District, which includes Livermore, your Rep. is Eric Swalwell. In the 10th District, which includes Tracy, your Rep. is Jeff Denham.
Calling is fast and effective. However, you can also go on-line to send electronic messages to your Senators and Representative.
Here is a sample script for your Senate phone call:
“Hello my name is xxxxx. I am a constituent (you may want to give your zip code here). I am asking Senator yyyyy to co-sponsor the “Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2017.” The bill is number S. 200, and it was introduced by Senator Ed Markey. Its purpose is to prevent a US President from launching a nuclear first strike without a declaration of war by Congress. This is a basic issue of Constitutional checks and balances on Executive powers, and I recommend that Senator yyyyy co-sponsor it. I would also like to be kept informed of my Senator’s action on the bill.”
When calling your Rep., simply change the language above to reflect that it was introduced by Rep. Ted Lieu of CA, and that the number for the bill is H.R. 669.
And, don’t forget to thank the hardworking staff person to whom you speak.
Click here for more...
The world is now two and one-half minutes from midnight according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which today moved the hands on its iconic Doomsday Clock thirty seconds closer to the nuclear hour that marks the end of humanity.
The change today brings us closer to midnight than at any time since 1953 – the year the US and Soviet Union first tested thermonuclear weapons within six months of each other.
Click here for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists' official statement.
Click here for more...
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Posted
by
Scott
Yundt
First, we want to extend our congratulations to the government of the Marshall Islands and its former Foreign Minister Tony de Brum on winning “Arms Control Person(s) of the Year.” This annual award, announced yesterday by the Arms Control Association, reflects the courageous litigation brought by de Brum and the Marshall Islands against the nuclear-armed nations for their failure to disarm as required by the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and customary international law.
The Marshall Islands' litigation in the International Court of Justice was stymied on procedural grounds and will not move forward. However, the case against the U.S. will be heard on March 15, 2017 in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
Click here for more...
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Posted
by
Marylia
Kelley
Veteran journalist Keith Rogers has recently written an important, in-depth article on Trump’s nuclear tweets - and on the very real possibility that nuclear explosive testing will resume in Nevada.
The article ran in the Las Vegas Review-Journal on January 21. Tri-Valley CAREs is quoted at length, as is Daniel Ellsberg.
Fasten your seat belts, readers. And, do check out this timely article and its fabulous photographs of the test site.
Click here for the article.
Click here for more...
Join the Tri-Valley CAREs team! Together, we will stand up (and march) for our collective human rights, constitutional protections, nuclear disarmament, the environment and all of our hard-won social and political gains.
The Oakland Women’s March begins at 10 am. We will meet on the platform at the Dublin-Pleasanton BART Station at 9:15 am and take the train together. Or, meet us at the rally site at Madison Park near the Lake Merritt BART Station.
Some of us will also go to the San Francisco Women’s March, which begins at 3 pm. We will meet at 3:30 pm on the steps of the library near the SF Civic Center BART Station. You can meet us there, or come with us from the Oakland march.
We will have lots of signs and banners, including the one pictured here. Can you help carry a banner? Let us know. Want more info? Email [email protected] or check our Tri-Valley CAREs Facebook Page.
The Women’s March in Washington, DC is expected to draw about 200,000 participants. “Sister” marches have sprung up all across the country and all around the Bay Area. Upwards of half a million women and men - or more - are likely to participate overall.
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Posted
by
Marylia
Kelley
As this past year was coming to a close, the United Nations General Assembly voted to convene negotiations in 2017 on a “legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading toward their total elimination,” also known as the Ban Treaty. With 113 votes for, 35 against, and 13 abstentions, the measure (Resolution L.41) passed overwhelmingly.
The negotiations will take place at UN Headquarters in New York from March 27 to March 31, and then resume from June 15 to July 7. Hundreds of governmental delegations, U.S. and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other representatives of civil society will participate. A one-day organizational session before the negotiations open is being planned by ICAN, the international campaign to abolish nuclear weapons.
Click here for more...