Walk for a Nuke-free Future April 23rd, 2011

While millions Worldwide oppose nuclear power generation and the inevitable weapons of mass destruction that nuclear power makes possible, our government continues to tell us that the radioactivity that we are getting from Japan is "minute". Seriously. When your milk becomes "hot" from ionizing radiation, it should be a warning that the entire food chain is contaminated. The US atomic Energy Commission deployed radiation detectors across the Western Coast of the United States last week. They stationed 22 units in Washington, Oregon and California. Within hours of getting data from them, several interesting things happened. First, the online telemetry,intended to quell fears that we are under a giant plume of radioactive isotopes, was taken down, which violates open records laws considering that any data amassed by the government through the use of tax dollars can not be withheld from citizens, unless it is a matter of national security. Second, twelve of the twenty-two radioactivity detection units were removed because they showed "abnormally high" readings. Lord and Lady know that in a crisis like this, that would more likely tell us that they are working, not that they are not! Finally, the very news that this entire boondoggle represents, for those of us who feel that we live in a free society, was wholly ignored by the major media outlets. Rather than create public "hysteria", our leaders must figure that the fallout from public awareness of this crucial issue would be more devastating than a few extra chest x-rays, for all of us. Please forgive my passion, but I have seen this approach taken many times before. The motivation is always the same and the outcome is the same as well.
As far back as the seventies, (and even before)citizens have opposed nuclear insanity. When I got involved we worked in Denver. Around the Bi-centennial, much of our opposition to following the corporate line on nukes was hidden beneath a thick slathering of cultural jingoism and "patriotic" drivel. The whole "America, Love it or Leave it!" crowd drowned out most accurate information about the dangers of nuclear energy production and environmental insanity that was being perpetrated by industry on the masses. My first protest marches against nukes were against The Bomb. Because of my inquisitiveness, it didn't take long to learn that our government had lied to us from the start about both the bomb and the precursor to nuclear weapons production, nuclear energy production. The marches that we attended in the early seventies morphed into teach-ins by the mid seventies.
While our neighbors were decking out every single thing in Red, White and Blue, our family made posters and charts listing things like the half life of many of the by-products of both nuclear fusion and uranium enrichment. At the time the closest nuclear facility to us was the Rocky Flats facility north of Denver. The facts were known and everything we said could happen, did. I have written of the feelings that this brings up in me before but it is worth mentioning again. rather than feeling elated or exonerated, being proven right in this instance feels more like a knife-swallower's trick gone horribly wrong. At one time, the Rocky Flats "facility" had the notoriety of being the largest Superfund site ever remediated by the USEPA. (Environmental Protection Agency)
This post is an invitation to come to Wisconsin, join in with others who are ready to end the madness and express your outrage over continued use of this unimaginably dangerous "source" of electricity. We will be walking, seven miles, between two reactor sites, one at Two Creeks (which is several miles North of Manitowoc, Wisconsin) and Kewaunee. Some of the most beautiful beaches on the Western Shore of Lake Michigan lie within the hot zone of these facilities. The public trust has been violated by putting such dangerous electric generating stations on the shores of this feshwater sea. In addition to the active reactor cores, these facilities harbor between them, over 100 tons of high level radioactive waste, which requires "safe" storage for tens of thousands of years. Remember, just 10,000 years ago, this area was covered by a one mile thick ice sheet. We may not have the threat of earthquake, but...
Previous protests that we have had at these facilities were wonderful chances to share food and fun, good information about the threat posed by nukes, a chance to experience a carnival atmosphere with other caring and compassionate people, and a time for friends and families, united to save Mother Earth, to re-unite and savor the knowledge that we speak with many voices but say the same thing, as one, STOP THE MADNESS! Japan may be the lead brick that breaks the camel's back so to speak. The radioactive nail in the coffin of this destructive and dangerous, although well-funded "technology". The Obama administration has roots in Illinois, one of the states with the worst environmental records. It takes people power to demand that our government make good decisions and we have been sheelple for too long. Stand together and work together and the task of creating a new paradigm will be much easier. We have the resources, the creativity and the intellect to replace nuclear generation with benign technologies. all that is needed is the expression of public will to proceed.
This event is scheduled from Noon-four o'clock, but I'm sure that we will be there earlier and later. In honor of the 35 million people who perished as a result of Chernobyl, and the many millions more who will be sacrificed as a result of the recent events in Japan,come out, stand shoulder to shoulder with others who want a sustainable planet for the next seven generations, not the threat of near certain annihilation that the specter of nuclear contamination holds for our people, our planet, our homes and our families.