2017 ACTION REPORT
An Update on our Postcard Issues
November 2016: DE-ALERTING AND NO FIRST USE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS
With President Obama no longer constrained by the 2016 elections, we made a last try to get him to take our nuclear weapons off hair trigger alert, and to declare a policy that the US would not be the first to use nuclear weapons. Sadly, despite his promising rhetoric in Prague seven years earlier, he declined to do so.
December 2016: OIL LEASES, TAR SANDS, DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE
- We urged Pres. Obama to halt all new leases for fossil fuel on federal lands and waters. Partial success: on Dec. 20, he directed that 98% of Arctic waters and most of the Atlantic coast be permanently off-limits to drilling.
- We also urged him not to issue new permits to move Alberta tar sands oil to the US. He agreed. But President Trump issued a new permit on October 13, 2017.
- We asked Pres. Obama not to permit the Dakota Access pipeline and he did not, but President Trump did. The oil is currently flowing, although it is under court review.
January 2017: MISSILE DEFENSE IN EASTERN EUROPE
We wrote to President-elect Trump that a great way to build positive relations with Russia would be to cancel the Phase III missile interceptor systems planned for Poland and Romania. The US claimed they were against Iranian nuclear missiles—there are none (!)—but Russia fears our missiles would nullify its nuclear deterrent. Sadly, in October, the US signed agreements to sell anti-missile systems worth $8 billion to Poland and $4 billion to Romania.
February 2017: PRESIDENTIAL FIRST STRIKE AUTHORITY
Sen. Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Lieu (D-CA) introduced identical bills to take away the President’s current authority to launch a nuclear first strike at his sole discretion. These bills would remove that authority, but would not affect the authority to instantly respond to a nuclear strike on us or our allies. In the Senate, the number of sponsors increased from 1 in Feb. to 10 in Sept., and in the House from 13 to 52. On Nov. 14, 2017, a hearing was held in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on this issue.
March 2017: LEAVE THE UN?
Senate Bill S.107 would cease all US payments to the UN until it retracts Security Council Res. 2334, which labels Israeli settlements in the West Bank as illegal. House Bill H.R.193 goes further, immediately terminating US membership in the UN and halting all payments to it. We urged our Senators and Reps. to strongly oppose these bills because they would severely cripple the work of the UN and lower US standing in the world. Both bills have been referred to committee, and have little chance of passage.
April 2017: DRASTIC BUDGET CUTS FOR EPA
We wrote to oppose the severe budget cuts for the Environmental Protection Agency. President Trump’s budget called for $5.7 billion for the EPA, 25% below last year’s $8.2 billion. The House eventually passed an EPA budget of $7.5 billion. The final amount is yet to be voted on.
May 2017: STOP THE LONG RANGE STAND OFF MISSILE (LRSO)
The LRSO is an airborne guided missile, meaning the plane can “stand off” at some distance, out of range of air defenses, and yet make a precise hit. May sound good until you realize that as other states acquire this technology, the response time to nuclear attack is ever shorter, making the nuclear balance ever more unstable. The House voted for all that the President’s budget allocated for the LRSO: $451 million. The final amount is yet to be determined.
June 2017: INCREASE CONGRESSIONAL POWER OVER REGULATIONS
We urged our Senators to oppose S.21, S.34, and S.951, three complex bills that would slow down and undermine the Congressional regulatory process. The bills demand more detailed studies allowing cross-examination by affected industries, etc., and would reduce the influence of technical and scientific input in favor of political influence. All 3 bills have been ordered out of committee favorably, although only S.21 has strong co-sponsorship.
July 2017: FREEZE—FREEZE TALKS WITH NORTH KOREA
The US has stated its willingness to negotiate with North Korea (NK), but only on condition that it agrees to dismantle its nuclear weapons program, and shows good faith action. This has been the US stance for years, and NK has used this time to build its arsenal. We wrote to Sec. of State Rex Tillerson urging him to start negotiation for a Freeze—Freeze where NK would freeze all nuclear and missile testing, and the US and SK would freeze their “attack” and “decapitate” exercises. The NK ambassador to India has said that NK would be interested in such talks. We can only hope that the “back channel” talks referred to by Sec. Tillerson bear fruit.
August 2017: DRY CASK STORAGE ACT
Spent nuclear fuel rods need to be kept in pools of water to be cooled off for about 5 years, when it is best to remove them into safer dry cask storage. The rods will continue to be highly radioactive for thousands of years. The spent fuel pools are vulnerable to fire from several causes which an article in the AAAS magazine Science reported could result in damages reaching up to $2 trillion at each site! We urged senators to co-sponsor S.1265 that calls for placing spent fuel rods into dry cask storage within 7 years. The bill was sent to committee, but there is very little support for it.
September 2017: ONCE MORE—PRESIDENTIAL FIRST STRIKE AUTHORITY
We wrote to our Senators on this issue in February. Meanwhile, the North Korean issue has heated up, with nuclear tests and an ICBM test, and the messages of dire devastation between Pres. Trump and Pres. Kim Jong-un. Even these more threatening circumstances have not produced much support to take away the President’s authority, on his own initiative, to start a nuclear war. On Nov. 14, 2017, a hearing was held in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on this issue.
October 2017: SUPPORT THE IRAN DEAL
The “Iran Deal” has proved to be very effective. Before the Deal, there was concern expressed, especially by Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu, that the uranium enrichment activities by Iran could result in a very short path to an Iranian nuclear bomb. There was talk of pre-emptive military action. Since the Deal, military threats have stopped, although there is some discontent in the US Congress. Pres. Trump has refused to certify that Iran is in compliance with the Deal, although his national security staff have said that Iran is in compliance.
November 2017: SENATORS’ BRIEFINGS ON NUCLEAR WEAPONS
We contacted our Senators asking them to set up a meeting and briefing with Dr. Ira Helfand, current Co-President of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), to learn more about the current state of nuclear weapons and the devastating consequences from their use. Senator Elizabeth Warren was the first to respond and she met with and was briefed by Dr. Helfand on November 9th.
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