From: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com (abolition-usa-digest) To: abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: abolition-usa-digest V1 #289 Reply-To: abolition-usa-digest Sender: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk abolition-usa-digest Thursday, April 13 2000 Volume 01 : Number 289 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 12:32:49 +0100 From: Sally light Subject: (abolition-usa) Minutes of the 4/12/00 conference call of the US CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS Coordinating Committee Minutes of the April 3, 2000 conference call of the Coordinating Committee of the US CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS Those on the call: Dave, Odile, Anthony, Sally, Alan, Bev, Jackie, Pam, John and Carah. Facilitator: Odile Note taker: Sally 1. CAMPAIGN Booklet =96 distribution and follow-up. The new booklet was recently mailed by the Peace and Environmental Coalition for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons (in Michigan). Of the 1,000 printed, 600 were mailed. Several Coordinators also requested additional booklets: 100 to WILPF, 25 to Tri-Valley CAREs, 25 to AAV, 20 to Pax Christi USA, and 50 to Western States Legal Foundation. The remainder will be mailed to John at the Lawyers=92 Committee on Nuclear Policy in New York , for distribution at the NPT Review Conference. Alan & Odile will mail these off. Jackie has received 3 responses to the booklet mailing so far =96 2 congratulatory emails and one RSVP from an organization. Also, our own groups should remember to return the RSVP forms to her. 2. Job Description. Dave will re-post to us his analysis of the job description (based on Alan=92s original description and Sally=92s draft job announcement), and = he requested this be put on the agenda of our April 28th meeting in NY. Basically, he believes we need 1 campaign coordinator with additional staffers such as field organizers. 3. Report from ad hoc planning group for meeting/action at NPT. The ad hoc group consists of John, Dave, Jackie, Sally, Anthony and Pamela. April 28th is the date of our day-long meeting in NY during the NPT. It will be in Conference Room D at the UN. The schedule is as follows: 10am-12pm and 1-3pm -- Coordinating Committee meeting; 3-6pm -- General Membership meeting (i.e., for member organizations). Carah will include our General Membership meeting notice in a mailing next week to the New York area, and Jackie will write and post our meeting notice to the US Abolition listserve. The ad hoc planning group will set the meeting agenda, and then it can be reviewed by our entire Coordinating Committee over dinner at Alice=92s on April 27th. Dave will draft and send it to the others in the ad hoc group this week. There was general discussion about whether we should do an action at the NPT Review Conference. We agreed that we will participate in the Abolition 2000 demonstration planned for April 25 at 9am. Pam will also speak on behalf of the US CAMPAIGN at an 11am press conference that day. If the huge banner listing all US nuclear tests, with striking graphics, now in production in the Bay Area, Calif., is ready by the time of the NPT, we will use it, along with any other creative touches we come up with (e.g., sunflower hats), as well as our booklet, at the demonstration. 4 .Agenda items and process for dinner meeting and meeting at NPT April 27-28. This has been deferred until the subgroup meets, etc. (see #3 above). 5. Other groups=92 actions and activities at NPT. For a complete events listing, see the web site - www.igc.org/disarm. Some events are: April 25 =96 Abolition 2000 demonstration. April 27 =96 Abolition 2000 5-year report card (morning). Panel on Stockpile Stewardship (afternoon). April 28 =96 Abolition 2000 5-year Celebration Dance (evening) April 30 =96 Annual meeting of international Abolition 2000 May 4 - Panel on The Toxic Legacy of the Nuclear Age: Waste, Health, and Environmental Racism, 1-3 pm. 6. Participation in FOR=92s =93People=92s Campaign for Non-violence.=94 One date remains open =96 July 16 (=93Trinity=92s=94 anniversary). After discussion, we decided that we will request that day be reserved for our CAMPAIGN. A subgroup for this was formed: Pam, Dave and Jackie. Pam volunteered to be the organizer and to be the liaison with FOR. So far, there is no planned civil disobedience, but there will be workshops and vigils. As small numbers will be involved throughout all the events (targeting the White House, the Capitol and the Pentagon), the subgroup should be able to put together something in time, especially calling on those on the East Coast to be there. The subgroup will also encourage Ibrahim to attend our NY meeting on April 28. 7. Bottom-Up organizing. This is deferred until the NY meeting. Also, Andy Lichterman will be on our calls when this topic is on the agenda, as convener of the Bottom-Up Organizing Working Group. Michelle Xenos has informed Jackie that she will take our booklet to the Indigenous Environmental Network and will make a formal proposal that IEN join our CAMPAIGN, and, specifically, that they become conveners of the Indigenous People Organizing and Concerns working group. 8. Minutes. Minutes of today=92s meeting will be posted along with Dave=92s draft job description. 9. Finances. Jackie reported that it took approximately $1,900 to print and mail the booklet, leaving a general fund balance of approximately $600. 10. Next call. Will be on Weds., April 12 at 2pm EST and 11am PST. Carah will set up the call and confirm by email. Facilitator will be Sally, and Dave will be note taker. 11. Conference call evaluation. Jackie - very pleasant group to work with. Will see what=92s up with AFSC about participating on calls. Sally - I miss Ibrahim and Gilbert (or Michelle as his stand-in). Gilbert has been traveling a lot and sends his regrets about missing some calls. Anthony - I have also missed some calls due to working in the Caribbean. Sorry I=92ve been away. *************************************************************************= ************ Draft Job Description for National Coordinator US Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons Submitted by Dave Robinson Coordination/Management 1. Support ongoing work of the Campaign's Facilitators Group 2. Maintain database of US Campaign supporting groups 3. Maintain Campaign website 4. Maintain financial records and provide regular reports to Facilitators Group 5. Supervise Campaign staff and volunteers 6. Provide regular reports on Campaign status and activities to the Facilitators Group Outreach 1. Maintain relationships with Campaign organizations/groups 2. Work with college campus networks and groups 3. Develop new relationships with national and regional groups with an emphasis on those representing labor and people of color. Fundraising 1. Develop and submit grant proposals 2. Develop and maintain a direct mail donor program 3. Coordinate fundraising events nationally and regionally as appropriate Programmatic 1. Develop campaign outreach/educational materials 2. Represent the Campaign at national and regional meetings and events 3. Maintain a liaison with Abolition 2000 4. Coordinate the annual meeting of the US Campaign 5. Support the ongoing efforts of the Campaign Working Groups 6. Produce and distribute periodic mailings to Campaign members 7. Act as media contact for the Campaign and provide media releases on Campaign activities - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 18:05:56 -0800 From: Abolition 2000 Subject: (abolition-usa) New Enrollments...keep it coming Dear Friends and Activists, The NPT 2000 Review and Extension Conference is less than 2 weeks away! To date, there are 1817 organizations and municipalities who have endorsed the Abolition 2000 Statement. We can reach our goal of 2000 endorsers with your help. Please commit to enrolling a new organization this week! Also, you may consider passing a resolution on your college/university campus or in your municipality. Abolition 2000 has prepared some guidelines to assist you in passing a municipal resolution. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to receive a copy. Thank you for your continued support. I hope to hear from you soon! Below are the organizations which recently edorsed the Abolition 2000 Statement during the week of 3-10 April: Third Millennium Foundation, Auburn/Washington Zambia peace Confederation, Zambia/South Africa Gabon Environnement et Developpement sans Frontieres, Gabon/Africa Civil Solidarity in Anyang, Anyang City/Korea Christian Institute of Social Studies, Seoul/Korea Korea Sustainable Development Network, Seoul/Korea Korean Eco-Club, Seoul/Korea Sarangbang Group for Human Rights, Seoul/Korea Religous Society of Friends of Pittsburgh/Pennsylvania Green Cross International, Geneva/Switzerland Friends of the Earth Western Australia, Laverton/Western Australia People Against Uranium, Geraldton/Western Australia Socialist Party of New Jersey, Saddlebrook/New Jersey NGO Committee on Women and Religion, Bronx/New York Global Green USA, Santa Monica/California Young Power in Social Action, Chittagong/Bangladesh Don't Waste Michigan, Grand Rapids Michigan North Dakota Peace Coalition, Bismarck/North Dakota Call to Action, San Juan Capistrano/California International Christian Fellowship (Association for Child Care), Ghana/West Africa Networks Productions, Inc., Santa Fe/New Mexico Silkworm Peace Institute, Lafayette/California Memphis Women's Political Caucus, Memphis/Tennesee Food Not Bombs, Atlanta/Georgia In Peace and Solidarity, Carah Carah Lynn Ong Coordinator, Abolition 2000 1187 Coast Village Road PMB 121, Suite 1 Santa Barbara CA 93108 Phone (805) 965 3443 FAX(805) 568 0466 Email: A2000@silcom.com Website http://www.abolition2000.org Join the Abolition-Global Caucus listserv to receive regular updates about the Abolition movement. The caucus provides an international forum for conversation on nuclear-related issues. Important articles and information relating to nuclear issues are also circulated to keep interested individuals and activists informed about nuclear issues. To subscribe to the Abolition Global Caucus, please do one of the following: 1. Send a message to the list moderator at A2000@silcom.com 2. Visit the Abolition-caucus website at: Http://www.egroups.com/list/abolition-caucus/ and submit a membership form. 3. Visit the Abolition 2000 website and submit a membership form. 4. Send an e-mail to: abolition-caucus-subscribe@egroups.com (leave the subject line and body of the message blank). To post a message to the Abolition Global Caucus, send your message to: abolition-caucus@egroups.com To subscribe to the Abolition-USA listerve, send a message (with no subject) to: abolition-usa-request@lists.xmission.com In the body of the message, write: "subscribe abolition-usa" (do not include quotation marks) To post a message to the Abolition-USA list, mail your message to: abolition-usa@lists.xmission.com - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 18:25:08 -0800 From: Abolition 2000 Subject: (abolition-usa) Call for Petitions Dear Friends and Activists, Have you been collecting signatures on the Abolition 2000 International Petition? Has your organization been collecting signatures on a similar nuclear weapons abolition petition? As you may know, Abolition 2000 will have a large presence at the upcoming NPT Review and Extension Conference, being held at the UN from 24 April to 19 May. On 25 April, Abolition 2000, in conjunction with Earthday 2000, is having a large demonstration at Dag Hammarsjold Plaza at 47th Street and First Avenue. Additionally, the Chairman of the 2000 NPT Conference has agreed to accept petitions from Abolition 2000. We need your help to determine how signatories there are on the Abolition 2000 International Petition. Also, if your organization has been circulating a similar nuclear weapons abolition petition, please let us know how many signatures have been collected so we can give your organization credit and include those numbers in our presentation. We must let the nuclear weapons states know that their irresponsibility and reluctance to rid the world of nuclear weapons is unacceptable and we will not stand for it. Please send your Abolition 2000 International Petitions to: Abolition 2000 PMB 121, 1187 Coast Village Road, Suite 1 Santa Barbara, California 93108 USA or, please send the number of signatories you may have collected on NON-Abolition 2000 International Petitions to: A2000@silcom.com If you have any questions, please feel free to telephone or email me. I look forward to hearing from you. In Peace and Solidarity, Carah Carah Lynn Ong Coordinator, Abolition 2000 1187 Coast Village Road PMB 121, Suite 1 Santa Barbara CA 93108 Phone (805) 965 3443 FAX(805) 568 0466 Email: A2000@silcom.com Website http://www.abolition2000.org Join the Abolition-Global Caucus listserv to receive regular updates about the Abolition movement. The caucus provides an international forum for conversation on nuclear-related issues. Important articles and information relating to nuclear issues are also circulated to keep interested individuals and activists informed about nuclear issues. To subscribe to the Abolition Global Caucus, please do one of the following: 1. Send a message to the list moderator at A2000@silcom.com 2. Visit the Abolition-caucus website at: Http://www.egroups.com/list/abolition-caucus/ and submit a membership form. 3. Visit the Abolition 2000 website and submit a membership form. 4. Send an e-mail to: abolition-caucus-subscribe@egroups.com (leave the subject line and body of the message blank). To post a message to the Abolition Global Caucus, send your message to: abolition-caucus@egroups.com To subscribe to the Abolition-USA listerve, send a message (with no subject) to: abolition-usa-request@lists.xmission.com In the body of the message, write: "subscribe abolition-usa" (do not include quotation marks) To post a message to the Abolition-USA list, mail your message to: abolition-usa@lists.xmission.com - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 18:26:15 -0800 From: Abolition 2000 Subject: (abolition-usa) PREVENTING AN ARMS RACE IN OUTER SPACE The United States Government explicitly states that it wants to "control" space to protect its economic interests and establish superiority over the world. These efforts could produce a nuclear arms race in outer space and/or a nuclear catastrophe. The Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space is challenging these plans. We invite you to attend a panel discussion on: PREVENTING AN ARMS RACE IN OUTER SPACE April 25, 2000 1:15- 2:45 PM United Nations Conference Room 4 45th and 1st Avenue (enter through visitors' entrance) (You will need a pass to attend this event. Please contact 212-223-7520 to obtain a pass before April 15th) Speakers: Karl Grossman, Convenor Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space Bruce Gagnon, Coordinator Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space Rashmi Mayur, Director International Institute for a Sustainable Future Facilitator: Alice Slater, Executive Director Global Resource Action Center for the Environment Sponsors: Abolition 2000 NY Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) Promoting Enduring Peace War and Peace Foundation __________ - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 17:32:49 +1000 From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) Thanks to All, re Heads of State letter John Hallam Friends of the Earth Sydney, 17 Lord Street, Newtown, NSW, Australia, 2042 Fax (61)(2)9517-3902 ph (61)(2)9517-3903 nonukes@foesyd.org.au http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd Dear Felicity Hill, Ellen Thomas, Merav Datan, Clare, George Farebrother, Rob Green, Kate Dewes, Clare Poyner, Dayrl Kimball, Alisa Nikoulina, Allan phillips, Ak Malten, Irene, Carah, and all, A very big thank you for all each one of you have done with the 'Heads of State' letter. It was launched on Monday in a senate committee room in Canberra by Senator Lyn Allison, Senator Bob Brown, and MP Carmen Lawrence. There was a respectable turnup of TV cameras and the thing was covered in the Age, (probably Australias most respectable paper with some pretensions to be progressive), and two west australian papers. Given that it was competing with a number of other issues this is not too bad. It was a pleasure to be able to name each of you in front of the media there as part of a global effort: Thanks to Felicity for releasing it in NY and for getting it to NY and geneva UN missions, as well as for putting much attention and valuable input into its drafting, To Carah Ong for sending it to a largish swag of foreign ministers To Rob for very careful and very patient input to what was at times a trying editing process, for releasing it to Christchurch media and for sending it to another largiish batch of foreign ministers, To Ellen thomas for sending the whole thing to the US Congress by fax To Ak Malten for getting it to the Dutch parliament by hand, for putting it on his website and for faxing it to european media, To George Farebrother for getting it to many UK Parliamentarians and getting them to sign it, To Clare Poyner of Abolition2000 UK for getting it to UK media, To Alisa Nikoulina for getting it to Moscow and regional Russian media, and for chasing many Russian signatures that has made the Russian section very healthy, To Merav Datan for her patient input in the early stages of the letter, To Dayrl Kimball for his patient and constructive input, To Alice Slater for her input and for not concluding that I had joined with the terrible 'arms control' community, To Allan Phillips for his input and for getting it (with PSR) to the Canadian parliament, To Kate Dewes for getting Irish and Japanese organisations to sign, To Clare Henderson for organising the Canberra press conference when we were seriously worried that maybe no- one at all might show up and when she had to take Denniss Halliday around Canberra, for sending copies of the letter to foreign ministers and the Canberra press corps and for her input to the letter, To Cathy Picone for her creative input to press releases, To anyone else I have missed out, My thanks for helping make all this happen. John Hallam - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 06:16:49 -0400 From: Ellen Thomas Subject: (abolition-usa) NucNews 00/04/13 - DC Hearings Today - --=====================_87119267==_.ALT Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable April 12, 2000 Daybook (etc.) http://www.washtimes.com/national/daybook-2000412214430.htm HOUSE COMMITTEES=20 11:00 a.m. - Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing focusing on a review of U.S. Enrichment Corporation privatization and its impact on the domestic uranium industry. 2322 Rayburn House Office Building=20 Resources hearing =97 11 a.m. =97 House Resources Committee holds a= hearing on "Compromising our National Security by Restricting Domestic Exploration and Development of our Oil and Gas Resources." Location: 1324 Rayburn House= Office Building. Contact: 202/225-2761. Noon =97 Select Intelligence Committee holds hearing on the legal= authority of the National Security Agency. George J. Tenet, director of Central Intelligence, testifies. Location: 2118 Rayburn House Office Building.= Contact: 202/225-4121. SENATE COMMITTEES=20 10 a.m. =97 Appropriations' defense subcommittee holds hearing on= fiscal 2001 Defense appropriations, focusing on missile defense programs. Location: 192 Dirksen Senate Office Building. Contact: 202/224-3471. GENERAL AGENDA=20 World Bank-International Monetaryfund news conference =97 8:30 a.m.= =97The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund hold a news conference. Highlights =97 8:30 a.m. =97 Michael Mussa, economic counselor and= director of the International Monetary Fund's Research Department. 11 a.m. =97 James Wolfensohn, World Bank president. Location: Room B-702, 700 19th St. NW. Contact: 202/473-1796,= 202/473-6313 or 202/473-2243. =20 ___________________________________________________ NucNews Archives: http://prop1.org/nucnews/briefslv.htm Today's Newspapers: http://prop1.org/nucnews/links.htm Submit Letter/Notice/Article: mailto:prop1@prop1.org (NucNews-Editor) About NucNews: http://prop1.org/nucnews/nucnews.htm E-Mail Archive: http://www.onelist.com/archive/NucNews Subscribe: mailto:prop1@prop1.org (NucNews-Subscribe) Here are excellent e-mail news resources (free, by subscription, for educational purposes, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107.): DOE Watch - doewatch@onelist.com | http://members.aol.com/doewatch=20 Downwinders - downwinders@onelist.com | http://downwinders@onelist.com=20 EnviroNews - environews@envirolink.org|http://www.envirolink.org/environews= =20 Planet Ark - mailto:anna@planetark.org|http://www.planetark.org/news/ Radbull (Radiation Bulletin for Activists) - mailto:rogerh@energy-net.org Distributed without payment for research and educational=20 purposes only, by subscription, and archived for the use of all, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107. - --=====================_87119267==_.ALT Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
April 12, 2000 Daybook (etc.)

HOUSE COMMITTEES

   11:00 a.m. - Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing focusing on a review of U.S. Enrichment Corporation privatization and its impact on the domestic uranium industry. 2322 Rayburn House Office Building

     Resources hearing =97 11 a.m. =97 House Resources Committee holds a hearing on "Compromising our National Security by Restricting  Domestic Exploration and Development of our Oil and Gas Resources." Location: 1324 Rayburn House Office Building. Contact: 202/225-2761.

    Noon =97 Select Intelligence Committee holds hearing on the legal authority of the National Security Agency. George J. Tenet, director of Central Intelligence, testifies. Location: 2118 Rayburn House Office Building. Contact: 202/225-4121.

SENATE COMMITTEES

     10 a.m. =97 Appropriations' defense subcommittee holds hearing on fiscal 2001 Defense appropriations, focusing on missile defense programs. Location: 192 Dirksen Senate Office Building. Contact: 202/224-3471.

GENERAL AGENDA

     World Bank-International Monetaryfund news conference =97 8:30 a.m. =97The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund hold a news conference.
     Highlights =97 8:30 a.m. =97 Michael Mussa, economic counselor and director of the International Monetary Fund's Research Department.
     11 a.m. =97 James Wolfensohn, World Bank president.
     Location: Room B-702, 700 19th St. NW. Contact: 202/473-1796, 202/473-6313 or 202/473-2243.
         

     ___________________________________________________

NucNews Archives: http://prop1.org/nucnews/briefslv.htm
Today's Newspapers: http://prop1.org/nucnews/links.htm
Submit Letter/Notice/Article: mailto:prop1@prop1.org= (NucNews-Editor)
About NucNews: http://prop1.org/nucnews/nucnews.htm
E-Mail Archive: http://www.onelist.com/archive/NucNews
Subscribe:  mailto:prop1@prop1.org (NucNews-Subscribe)

Here are excellent e-mail news resources (free, by subscription, for= educational purposes, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107.):

DOE Watch - doewatch@onelist.com |= http://members.aol.com/doewatch
Downwinders - downwinders@onelist.com |= http://downwinders@onelist.com
EnviroNews - environews@envirolink.org|http://www.envirolink.org/environews
Planet Ark - mailto:anna@planetark.org|http://www.planetark.org/news/
Radbull (Radiation Bulletin for Activists) - mailto:rogerh@energy-net.org

      Distributed without payment for= research and educational
   purposes only, by subscription, and archived for the use of= all,
             in= accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107.


- --=====================_87119267==_.ALT-- - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 09:50:11 -0500 From: "Boyle, Francis" Subject: (abolition-usa) FW: CONFIRMED!Environmental Racism!: Humanity v MOX/Parallex "DOE could have completely avoided the Chicago Metropolitan Area if they had wanted to by shipping it up I57, to I80, to I94, then up to Michigan. Instead, they maliciously and deliberately shipped weapons grade plutonium on I55 into Chicago, then routed it around the Chicago interstates out into Michigan. Of course these interstates went through Chicago neighborhoods where people of color and the poor live. So much for Clinton's Executive Order and "Environmental Equity"." - --------------------------------------------------------------- before i went up to Kalamazoo i had discussed some of the issues involved with my friend and colleague, Fred Harris, who teaches environmental law here. When I got back, I sent Fred a copy of this post, and we talked about it a bit. Fred then discussed this in one of his classes as an example environmental racism, and criticized Richardson for routing weapons grade plutonium through Latino and Black neighborhoods in Chicago. Immediately after class, a well intentioned white student from a central Illinois farming town south of here on I57(where i have visited) whose inhabitants are predominantly white came up to Fred and said basically the following: " You are right. DOE was going to ship this stuff right near our town. but when we found out about it, our city politicians went over to Springfield (The State Capitol) and enlisted the support of State Legislators over there. They in turn pressured DOE in Washington to re-route and divert the shipment away from our town." Notice of course that due to the pressure exerted by sparsely populated white farming communities and their politicians, DOE diverted a shipment of 5 ounces of weapons grade plutonium directly into the southside of the Chicago Metro Area (including Gary and Hammond Indiana ) where there might be a million Latinos and Blacks living. In federal district court in Kalamazoo last Friday, we produced a scientist who testified that in the event of an accident 5 ounces of weapons grade plutonium could kill one million people. The DOE and USG never disputed that estimate, just opined that such an accident would never happen. We responded with Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, etc. In any event, notice the profound environmental racism here. Richardson and his DOE deliberately and needlessly exposed about a million People of Color in the Chicago Metro Area to a catastrophe, rather than expose low density white farmers in Central Illinois to the same risk. There are also some interesting pedagogical issues here. I discussed this case in my human rights course and pointed out that environmental racism is also an issue of human rights law. I asked the students if they knew anything about environmental racism. Those who had studied environmental law with Fred Harris knew about Environmental Racism. Those who had studied environmental law with our white professor knew nothing about it. according to Fred, generally speaking the upper middle class white professors who usually teach environmental law do not believe in environmental racism. so i proceeded to give my human rights class a lecture on environmental racism and what it has done to Blacks, Latinos and worst of all, Native Americans, whose reservations have become dumping grounds for large-amounts of radioactive wastes from all over the country. Part of the problem here is that the environmental lawyers travel in their own circles; the human rights lawyers travel in their own circles; and there are any a handful of lawyers with the guts to take on anti-nuclear weapons cases.This case is interesting because the coalition of Plaintiffs includes human rights organizations, environmental organizations, anti-nuclear weapons organizations, and Native American nations in Canada upon whose lands these dangerous activities will take place.I concluded the lecture by pointing out that the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination could be useful in representing People of Color who have been the victim of environmental racism. As for Richardson, this Latino Nuclear Emperor wears no clothes. fab. Francis A. Boyle Law Building 504 E. Pennsylvania Avenue Champaign, Ill. 61820 217-333-7954 (voice) 217-244-1478 (fax) fboyle@law.uiuc.edu - -----Original Message----- From: Boyle, Francis [mailto:FBOYLE@LAW.UIUC.EDU] Sent: Tuesday, April 11, 2000 10:42 AM To: 'AALS Section on Minority Grps. mailing list'; 'race_and_crime@src.uchicago.edu'; 'legaled@mail.law.fsu.edu' Subject: Environmental Racism!: Humanity v MOX/Parallex this is 3 for me today, so nothing more to say. but an interesting element here. The Clinton administration had adopted that Executive Order mandating an "Environmental Equity" review of all federal programs. In other words, an assessment for Environmental Racism--a result of your scholarship. But in this case, the DOE had never gotten around to adopting any Regulations on the subject. but they say they performed it anyway and did not find any adverse differential effects on people of color and the poor from this shipment of weapons grade plutonium from the United States to Canada. well i had a look at the DOE Map for the shipment. They deliberately routed this shipment of weapons grade plutonium on Interstate 55 into the Chicago Metropolitan area, then around and out to Michigan. As we native Chicagoans know, I55 goes through neighborhoods lived in by the poor and people of color, and then the same for the Chicago Interstates taking the weapons grade plutonium out to Michigan. It was a totally bogus environmental racism review by the DOE. DOE could have completely avoided the Chicago Metropolitan Area if they had wanted to by shipping it up I57, to I80, to I94, then up to Michigan. Instead, they maliciously and deliberately shipped weapons grade plutonium on I55 into Chicago, then routed it around the Chicago interstates out into Michigan. Of course these interstates went through Chicago neighborhoods where people of color and the poor live. So much for Clinton's Executive Order and "Environmental Equity". About as bogus as Clinton himself and his Secretary of Energy Richardson. Richardson is supposed to be a Latino. Does Richardson know that his DOE was shipping weapons grade plutonium through a Latino neighborhood in Chicago? Does Richardson even care? I doubt it. fab "Kalamazoo federal judge won't stop plutonium shipment" Saturday, April 8, 2000 By LISA SINGHANIA ASSOCIATED PRESS A federal judge Friday rejected an anti-nuclear coalition's motion to block an American-funded shipment of Russian plutonium to Canada, saying he lacked the jurisdiction to act on its newest legal argument. The group of Canadian and American activists had argued that the Parallex Project violated an arms control agreement signed by the U.S government, but Chief Judge Richard Enslen said the issue was irrelevant. "The judicial courts have nothing to do with this," Enslen said, after pointing out that treaties are between governments, not private citizens and governments. "We're disappointed, but I'm not sure what we'll do next," said Terry Lodge, a lawyer for the coalition. The government said it was pleased with the decision and the project would go forward. This was the anti-nuclear coalition's second attempt to block a shipment associated with the joint American-Russian $20 million experiment to determine whether commercial nuclear reactors in Canada can use material from decommissioned Russian nuclear weapons as fuel. For the project to go forward, both the United States and Russia have to send plutonium to Canada. The United States sent its plutonium - about 4 ounces in all - to Canada via Michigan and several other states in January after winning a court fight with the same group. The U.S. government says the project is key to reducing the spread of nuclear weapons. But the anti-nuclear activists believe it will do the opposite, while creating potential for nuclear accidents during transport. In December, the activists had asked Enslen to block the shipment on the grounds the Department of Energy had violated the law by doing an insufficient environmental study of the project. The judge said that although the plaintiffs' contentions that the government violated the law appeared to have merit, the DOE's assertions that an injunction would hurt nuclear disarmament talks were more important. On Friday, the group went back to court to try to block the transport of the Russian plutonium - about 1.5 pounds total - which is expected to be shipped early this summer. Several Canadian groups also joined the complaint, in addition to the original plaintiffs: six individuals and Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination. In addition to arguing the project violated arms control agreements signed by the U.S. government, the group's lawyers reiterated an argument made in the December hearings - the contention Parallex should be blocked until more environmental study has been done. Although the Russian plutonium shipment is not expected to cross U.S. territory, the plaintiffs argued it still falls under U.S. law since the DOE is picking up the entire tab and the Canadian test site is near the U.S. border. Enslen said Friday he remains convinced the Department likely violated the law by conducting a limited environmental study, but that violation would not be enough to stop the project given its importance to national security. The anti-nuclear activists aren't sure what they'll do next. The case could still go to trial, but that likely would not happen before the shipments were completed. A lawsuit in Canada is also possible. Some of the Indian tribes in Ontario, the province where the experiment will take place, say the Canadian government did not consult with them sufficiently before approving the shipments. There were demonstrations against the U.S. shipment last year. "There is more unity on this issue in Canada," says Grand Chief Larry Sault of the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians. "We will fight this." __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com Section on Minority Grps. mailing list' ' Subject: RE: Humanity v MOX/Parallex Sensitivity: Private Dear Friends: I regret to report that i struck out in federal district court in Kalamazoo last Friday. I had spent over two weeks working full time to prepare my testimony on this extremely technical, complicated and detailed matter involving gross violations by the US Department of Energy of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act of 1978, the Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Act of 1994, 1998 Amendments, and a good deal of the Atomic Energy Act, the World Court Advisory Opinion on Nuclear Weapons, international environmental law, etc. I presented over a 2 hour oral argument to the Judge. When everything was over, he took out an Opinion that he had already prepared, read it, and denied our motion. In other words,his mind was made up before we went in there. At this point in time we are investigating the feasibility of filing similar litigation in Canada. We will be trying to get my oral argument on-line so that people can use it to oppose MOX in any one of the 182 or so State Parties to the NPT whose governments decide to go for MOX. Francis. Francis A. Boyle Law Building 504 E. Pennsylvania Avenue Champaign, Ill. 61820 217-333-7954 (voice) 217-244-1478 (fax) fboyle@law.uiuc.edu Nuclear Information & Resource Service 1424 16th St. NW Suite 404 Washington, DC 20036 Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League P.O. Box 88 Glendale Springs, NC 28629 Physicians for Social Responsibility Atlanta Chapter 421 Clifton Road Atlanta, GA 30307 March 22, 2000 For Immediate Release Contact: Mary Olson, NIRS Southeast 706-722-8968 Janet Zeller, BREDL 336-982-2691 Kevin Kamps, NIRS National Office 202-328-0002 Ed Arnold, PSR/Atlanta 404-378-9078 Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, Physicians for Social Responsibility and Nuclear Information and Resource Service Join Legal Challenge to U.S. Nuclear Proliferation-Prone Plutonium Plan Citing grave concerns about the potential spread of plutonium for bombmaking throughout the world, three organizations, two national and one regional have joined the plaintiffs who have sued to stop a U.S.-Russian-Canadian plan to use nuclear weapons plutonium as fuel in nuclear power reactors. The internationally-known Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS), with nearly 6000 members, including more than 1000 U.S. grassroots groups nationwide, the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, Inc. (BREDL), headquartered in North Carolina with 30 chapters in five southern states, and the internationally known Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), the U.S. affiliate of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, recipient of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize for educating about the dangers of nuclear weapons, are the latest public interest advocates to formally enter a federal lawsuit in Kalamazoo, Michigan which was brought by an array of Canadian and U.S. First Nations tribes and other nuclear power and weapons critics. The lawsuit seeks to halt a test shipment of mixed oxide plutonium fuel, or MOX, from being transported to a test nuclear reactor in Chalk River, Ontario from the Russian Federation, as part of a bigger scheme to use MOX as reactor fuel in light water reactors in the Southeastern United States, Canada and Russia. Billed as a peaceful means of reusing nuclear weapons, the plan would legitimize the commercialization and exportation of plutonium and may allow many nations and even independent groups to develop nuclear bomb capability. The Chalk River test, named "Parallex," was first challenged in court last December when plaintiffs sued the U.S. Department of Energy to halt shipment of the U.S. MOX fuel from being trucked across Michigan to Canada until there was a formal, public decision making process over the environmental and nuclear weapons proliferation impacts of the program. Judge Richard Alan Enslen ruled that while the Energy Department had acted in bad faith to hasten the test of MOX, courts could not stop the Executive Branch from conducting foreign policy. The plaintiffs are asking the judge to reconsider that decision, and NIRS, PSR and BREDL are adding their weight to that request. "The Department of Energy has already begun to disregard the law and trample our rights," said Janet Zeller, BREDL's Executive Director. "People from across the country must join together to block this reckless and secretive program and insure that the DOE obeys national and international law." BREDL is campaigning against the planned use of MOX fuel in six Southeastern U.S. reactors: Duke Power's Catawba 1&2 near Rock Hill, South Carolina; McGuire 1&2, near Charlotte, North Carolina; and Virginia Power's North Anna 1&2 reactors near Charlottesville, Virginia. Physicians for Social Responsibility has actively opposed the MOX plan since its inception, primarily on the grounds that it promotes nuclear proliferation, rather than delivering the goal of making the plutonium from dismantled nuclear weapons unavailable for further destructive purposes. The Atlanta chapter of the national organization has led professionals in the region in their action to oppose the commercialization of plutonium. "Citizens everywhere want nuclear weapons abolished," said Ed Arnold, Executive Director of PSR/Atlanta. "We don't accomplish that by recirculating nuclear weapons material. And we don't abolish nuclear weapons by shipping bomb-grade plutonium all over the planet. This MOX program encourages nuclear proliferation and we must stop it." NIRS, which launched a "NIX MOX" campaign in 1998, recently opened a Southeastern office to assist BREDL and other grassroots groups opposing MOX fuel usage and the spending of hundreds of millions in public funds to subsidize MOX fabrication, utility acceptance and reprocessing. "Nuclear power is the most expensive form of energy and under utility deregulation is going to be subject to tough competition. The MOX program provides direct tax dollars to underwrite more dirty, dangerous nuclear waste production," said Kevin Kamps, nuclear specialist with NIRS. "This is an unfair subsidy that will disadvantage safer and cheaper power sources that have less hazardous byproducts. This is another reason that we are committed to stopping the MOX mistake." "The people in the Southeast have gotten the picture loud and clear from the first shipment of MOX fuel to Canada that the US DOE will lie, cover their actions, take a cloak of secrecy and act above not only the law of the land, but also international treaty in order to accomplish their goals" affirmed Mary Olson, Director of NIRS Southeast Office. She continued, "This is the old National Security mythology applied to a so-called commercial enterprise, but in the end it is taxpayer dollars that are funding this program, so we are proud to support citizens in taking action to stop this charade." The first MOX shipment to Canada included transport within Canada by helicopter, despite DOE's acknowledgement that the MOX casks were not certified for air transport and the agency's assurances that no air travel would be involved "The use of MOX creates more bomb possibilities around the world, not fewer," said Terry Lodge, an attorney for the plaintiffs. "Instead of rolling plutonium up in two-ton glass logs and disposing of it under heavy guard, our government instead wants to show the world how to fuel low-security civilian nuclear plants with it. There will be lots of scary new members to the 'Nuclear Club' if we do this." Trial activity will resume on April 7 on the issues of whether the Russian shipment must be stopped because of claimed violations of federal environmental law and violation of the international Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. - -NIRS/BREDL/PSR- Francis A. Boyle Law Building 504 E. Pennsylvania Avenue Champaign, Ill. 61820 217-333-7954 (voice) 217-244-1478 (fax) fboyle@law.uiuc.edu - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. 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