Help block destructive uranium mine on Australian traditional lands

In January 2017, the Barnett government in Western Australia approved the Yeelirrie uranium mine against advice from the Environmental Protection Authority and against the wishes of Aboriginal traditional owners. The decision, if the mine goes ahead, would cause the extinction of multiple species of subterranean fauna. Three strong Tjiwarl Aboriginal women are challenging this decision in the Supreme Court of Western Australia.  Allowing entire species to be lost forever would set a dangerous precedent for our environmental laws. It must be challenged. Please support the communities challenging this catastrophic project. Nuclear-Free Western Australia is appealing for support to fund their Supreme Court challenge. More

The Iran Agreement is working. Now the Senate must protect it.

The Iran nuclear deal is working and a majority of Americans support it (see diagram above.) In a nutshell, the landmark 2015 framework agreement, forged between Iran and the U.S., U.K., Russia, France, China, Germany and the European Union, effectively ensured that Iran will not make nuclear weapons. It is verifiable, and inspections confirm that Iran is not in violation. 

But President Trump wants to decertify this deal and now a dangerous piece of legislation from 

Republican Senators Tom Cotton and Bob Corker could dismantle the Iran deal and put us on a dangerous path towards war. (How dangerous is Tom Cotton? Read about him on The Intercept. 

It will take 60 Senate votes to dismantle the Iran deal. We have less than 60 days to stop this madness. Please call your senators today and ask them to stand up for peace and security and oppose the dreadful Cotton-Corker amendment. Let your senators know that:

-> Iran is in full compliance with the agreement. This has been verified by the IAEA.

-> If the U.S. unilaterally walks away from this deal it will isolate the U.S. internationally, as none of the other signatory countries agree with decertification.

-> The  deal’s “sunset” clauses 8-10 years out will sunset immediately and Iran will make nuclear weapons.

-> A new Iran deal is a fantasy. Instead, there will be a nuclearized Iran, a much bigger threat to Middle East stability than a non-nuclear Iran.

-> If the U.S. unilaterally changes the Iran deal, that will signal to North Korea that the U.S. cannot be trusted to keep its agreements and seriously undermines any effort to prevent a conflict on the Korean Peninsula.

-> Decertifying the Iran deal plays into Russia’s hands, strengthening their alliances inside Iran and creating the rift it seeks between Europe and the U.S.

Please act now. We must protect this important agreement. Click here to reach your senators by phone or here to send an email.

And use the hashtag #SaveTheIranDeal everywhere on social media. Our elected officials need to know there is a groundswell of opposition to undoing this agreement. Keep the #SaveTheIranDeal conversation going!

Two months in jail for loaning a tractor to anti-nuclear waste dump protesters

French farmer, Jean-Pierre Simon was today handed down a two-month jail sentence for loaning his tractor and other agricultural equipment to a group protesting the proposed high-level radioactive waste dump in Bure, France. Visibly stunned by the verdict, Simon could not yet say whether he would appeal, but said his first priority was to get his equipment returned. The draconian sentence -- and the fact that he was prosecuted at all -- was another example of the challenges of even tangentally supporting the anti-nuclear struggle in France where the sector is almost entirely government owned and controlled. More (in French) here.

A timeless reminder of why this planet is worth saving

In 2008, Swiss physician, Dr. Martin Vosseler, walked across the United States to bring attention to global warming and to solar energy. In this inteview, Dr. Vosseler eloquently reminds us why our planet is so precious and the moral imperative to preserve it. 

Dr. Martin Vosseler: Keeping our planet intact from kedarvideo on Vimeo. 

Official statement from ICAN after receiving Nobel Peace Prize

Statement on Nobel Peace Prize 2017

It is a great honour to have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2017 in recognition of our role in achieving the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. This historic agreement, adopted on 7 July with the backing of 122 nations, offers a powerful, much-needed alternative to a world in which threats of mass destruction are allowed to prevail and, indeed, are escalating.

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) is a coalition of non-governmental organizations in one hundred countries. By harnessing the power of the people, we have worked to bring an end to the most destructive weapon ever created – the only weapon that poses an existential threat to all humanity.

This prize is a tribute to the tireless efforts of many millions of campaigners and concerned citizens worldwide who, ever since the dawn of the atomic age, have loudly protested nuclear weapons, insisting that they can serve no legitimate purpose and must be forever banished from the face of our earth.

It is a tribute also to the survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – the hibakusha – and victims of nuclear test explosions around the world, whose searing testimonies and unstinting advocacy were instrumental in securing this landmark agreement.

The treaty categorically outlaws the worst weapons of mass destruction and establishes a clear pathway to their total elimination. It is a response to the ever-deepening concern of the international community that any use of nuclear weapons would inflict catastrophic, widespread and long-lasting harm on people and our living planet.

We are proud to have played a major role its creation, including through advocacy and participation in diplomatic conferences, and we will work assiduously in coming years to ensure its full implementation. Any nation that seeks a more peaceful world, free from the nuclear menace, will sign and ratify this crucial accord without delay.

The belief of some governments that nuclear weapons are a legitimate and essential source of security is not only misguided, but also dangerous, for it incites proliferation and undermines disarmament. All nations should reject these weapons completely – before they are ever used again.

This is a time of great global tension, when fiery rhetoric could all too easily lead us, inexorably, to unspeakable horror. The spectre of nuclear conflict looms large once more. If ever there were a moment for nations to declare their unequivocal opposition to nuclear weapons, that moment is now.

We applaud those nations that have already signed and ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and we urge all others to follow their lead. It offers a pathway forward at a time of alarming crisis. Disarmament is not a pipe dream, but an urgent humanitarian necessity.

We most humbly thank the Norwegian Nobel Committee. This award shines a needed light on the path the ban treaty provides towards a world free of nuclear weapons. Before it is too late, we must take that path.