immediate release: June 7, 2022
contact: Marylia Kelley, Executive Director, 925.255.3589 (c)
In the face of widespread concern about the threat of nuclear weapons, Tri-Valley CAREs’ members will join with organizations and leaders across the country to release a Statement on the Existential Threat of Nuclear Weapons and on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s West Gate on Vasco Road at 9 AM on Tuesday, June 7, 2022.
The statement (full text below) calls on the US and all nuclear-armed states to take immediate steps to engage the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. It also calls on the media to include the Treaty in all coverage of nuclear weapons issues.
Today’s release in Livermore, CA is being replicated across the country in more than a hundred communities.
Quote from local person(s) (choose from the quotes below or create your own; the first quote ties into the headline, but you can modify them):
“We believe the only path to true safety and security for ourselves and the rest of the world is to get rid of nuclear weapons altogether, and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is the tool to accomplish that,” noted Tri-Valley CAREs’ staff attorney, Scott Yundt.
“We are speaking today in concert with thousands of voices being raised across the country to demand that our government engage the TPNW rather than ignore it,” said Raiza Marciscano-Bettis, the group’s bilingual community organizer.
“One way the U.S. could engage with the treaty is to send an observer to the First Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW, which will take place in Vienna, Austria this month from June 21 -23. Other countries that have yet to ratify have already announced they will send observers,” Marylia Kelley, Tri-Valley CAREs’ executive director stated. “Further, when I participated in the Humanitarian Consequences of Nuclear Weapons conference, a precursor event to the TPNW that was also held in Vienna, the U.S. was in attendance. It should go to the First Meeting of States Parties now,” Kelley added.
The Statement has been signed by organizations representing hundreds of thousands of people in the US as well as by hundreds of individuals, including numerous community and faith leaders. A full list of signatories can be found at nuclearbantreaty.org
for more info: Marylia Kelley at 925.255.3589 (c), Scott Yundt at 415.990.2070 (c), Raiza Marciscano-Bettis 925.980.4975 (c)
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STATEMENT ON THE EXISTENTIAL THREAT OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS
AND ON THE TREATY ON THE PROHIBITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS
The power to initiate a global apocalypse lies in the hands of the leaders of nine nations. As 122 nations of the world indicated when they adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in July, 2017, this is unacceptable.
As concerns about the threat of nuclear weapons re-enter the public consciousness, it is important to know that humankind is not without an answer to the nuclear threat. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which entered into force on January 22, 2021, provides a clear pathway to the elimination of the nuclear threat.
We call on all nuclear armed states to take immediate steps to:
- engage the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons,
- attend the First Meeting of States Parties, and
- sign, ratify and implement the Treaty.
We also call on the US media to recognize the existence of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and to include the Treaty in discussions, articles, and editorials regarding the nuclear threat and methods available to address it.
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Marylia Kelley
Executive Director, Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment)
Main office: 4049 First St., Suite 243, Livermore, CA 94551 (all calls and mail are answered; office is not staffed during pandemic)
Satellite office at WorkVine209: 1005 E. Pescadero Ave Suite 167, Tracy (office hours vary; not open during pandemic)
