Urge U.S. and Canadian governments to prevent radioactive contamination of the Great Lakes!

Beyond Nuclear is honored to be working with the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA), and a coalition of 110 organizations, to protect the Great Lakes against the hazards of radioactive contamination. The Great Lakes Basin has dozens of nuclear "hot spots," from uranium mines and mills, to atomic reactors, radioactive waste storage, nuclear materials transportation, and even proposed radioactive waste dumps. Environmental groups have long urged both the Canadian and U.S. federal governments to take urgent action to prevent the radioactive contamination of the Great Lakes, 21% of the world's -- and 84% of North America's -- surface fresh water, and drinking water supply for 40 million people in eight states, two provinces, and a large number of Native American First Nations. This effort has now culminated with a report commissioned by CELA, and the filing of a citizen-initiated petition, under the authority of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement of 2012, officially nominating hazardous radioactive isotopes as Chemicals of Mutual Concern. Individuals and organizations can help this effort by sending letters of support (see a sample template here) to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Davis.cameron@Epa.gov) and Environment and Climate Change Canada (Michael.Goffin@canada.ca) co-chairs of the Great Lakes Executive Committee, as both the  Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative and  Great Lakes Fishery Commission have recently done.  More

Native American environmental defenders urgently ask for support amidst escalating "energy wars"

Indigenous resistance mounts against the so-called Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL)Longtime Native American allies of the anti-nuclear movement, Indigenous Environmental Network and Honor the Earth, have issued an urgent call for solidarity (including an appeal for human rights observers from the UN, NGOs, churches, etc.) in their struggle against yet another dirty, dangerous, and expensive energy industry -- the so-called Dakota Access Pipeline for pumping Bakken crude oil, targeted at the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's land on the Missouri River in North Dakota. Environmental groups have long stood in solidarity with traditional indigenous peoples to successfully block high-level radioactive waste dumps targeted at the Skull Valley Goshutes Indian Reservation in Utah, Western Shoshone Indian land at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, and many other Native lands across the U.S., as well as to resist uranium mining on Native lands (including in the Dakotas) and beyond. We must again now stand with our environmental justice allies in their time of escalating crisis -- as local, state, and even federal governmental and law enforcement agencies are unnecessarily increasing the tension, and safety risks, in an attempt to disperse a peaceful, growing encampment of many hundreds of Native Americans (including women, children, and elders), who have gathered to protect sacred land and water against an illegal, polluting, and dangerous crude oil pipeline. More

New Study Shows How Clinging to Nuclear Power Means Climate Failure

A sign held at an anti-nuclear demonstration in Germany. (Photo: Michaela/flickr/cc)An article by Andrea Germanos, subtitled "By suppressing better ways to meet climate goals, evidence suggests entrenched commitments to nuclear power may actually be counterproductive," has just been published at Common Dreams.

It reports:

The researchers found that "progress in both carbon emissions reduction and in adoption of renewables appears to be inversely related to the strength of continuing nuclear commitments." (emphasis added)

..."Looked at on its own, nuclear power is sometimes noisily propounded as an attractive response to climate change," said Andy Stirling, professor of science and technology policy at the University of Sussex, in a media statement. "Yet if alternative options are rigorously compared, questions are raised about cost-effectiveness, timeliness, safety, and security."

"Looking in detail at historic trends and current patterns in Europe, this paper substantiates further doubts," he continued. "By suppressing better ways to meet climate goals, evidence suggests entrenched commitments to nuclear power may actually be counterproductive," he said.

Protect the Great Lakes march & rally, GLEA, Port Huron, MI, Sat., 8/20, noon to 5pm!

DO sign the petition: https://www.gopetition.com/petitions/stopthegreatlakesnucleardump.html. And, if you or folks you know are near enough Port Huron, please attend this second annual event! Please spread the word!Join us, Saturday, August 20,
2016 in Port Huron, Michigan!

Protect the Great Lakes Walk & Rally!
Celebrating grassroots efforts to keep
our Great Lakes clean!

The Walk begins at 12 Noon at the Flag Plaza under the Blue
Water Bridge (Thomas Edison Parkway). The Walk will follow the
St. Clair River south to Prospect Place, turn west to Pine Grove Ave.,
then enter the park from Pine Grove Avenue.

We walk to raise awareness of the importance of protecting our water!

The Rally takes place from 1 to 5 PM at the Pine Grove Park in Port Huron, 1204 Pine Grove Avenue, Port Huron, MI 48060.

What can you do? If you are close enough, please attend this second annual event. If not, spread word to anyone you know who is. Also, you and yours can sign the Stop the Great Lakes Nuclear Dump petition!

More.

Coalition sues to stop unprecedented high-risk truck shipments of highly radioactive liquid wastes

International Atomic Energy Agency radioactivity hazard warning signAn environmental coalition, including Beyond Nuclear, has filed a lawsuit seeking to block up to 150 unprecedented truck shipments of highly radioactive liquid wastes, from Chalk River Nuclear Labs in Ontario, Canada through multiple states, to Savannah River Site nuclear weapons and radioactive waste complex in Aiken, South Carolina, U.S.A. Beyond Nuclear delivered a statement on a press conference call sponsored by NIRS (which has provided instructions for listening to the audio recording), which generated substantial media coverage. The press release, the lawsuit (Complaint), and associated exhibits, and additional background documents, are posted online, as is a map of one of multiple routes these "Mobile Chernobyls on steroids" could take. More