US should stop spending billions of dollars on nuclear weapons

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Ilze Petersons is a retired program coordinator for the Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine. Douglas Allen is a retired education committee coordinator for the center. They live in Orono.

Living with many immediate dangers, most are reluctant to think about terrifying nuclear war. Last year, the film “Oppenheimer” brought attention to the nuclear bomb development but did little to address the impact of Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings , which killed about 214,000 Japanese people. Left unaddressed were extreme dangers of the growing number of nuclear weapons and ongoing drain of tax dollars for “modernizing” weapons that must never be used.

As we approach Aug. 6, the anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, what might help us to consider solutions to the growing twin threats of climate change and nuclear war that could end life on this planet? While climate change is hard to ignore, as we witness increasing devastating heat, storms, floods, droughts, fires and warming oceans, nuclear danger remains difficult to comprehend or even imagine. Recently two Maine events brought attention to the urgency and possibility for change.

In June, the U.S. mint issued a commemorative $1 coin to honor Dr. Bernard Lown , a refugee who grew up in Lewiston and graduated from the University of Maine, citing his invention of the direct current defibrillator preventing cardiac death and saving countless lives. He was also honored for founding International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW). Lown and Dr. Yevgeniy Chazov of the Soviet Union were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985 on behalf of IPPNW.

In his remarkable book, ” Prescription for Survival ,” Lown describes special role of physicians in forming global IPPNW. They researched and described the impact of a nuclear attack on a city like Boston and the impossibility of health providers dealing with the overwhelming devastation. As trusted sources, they brought home dangers so difficult to comprehend or imagine, nurtured relationships with colleagues around the world and helped mobilize the global nuclear freeze movement. Mainers joined the 1 million who gathered in New York City in 1982 to call for an end to the nuclear arms race.

Lown, who died in 2021 at 99, was among the founders of Physicians for Social Responsibility, which continues to address growing nuclear dangers increased by current conflicts and nine nuclear-armed states.

Another inspiring event highlighted current dangers and possibilities for action when peace organizations coordinated a Bangor visit by Timmon Wallis , executive director of Nuclear Ban U.S. Wallis, an early graduate of College of the Atlantic, is author of ”Disarming the Nuclear Argument: The Truth About Nuclear Weapons,” which played a part in the successful United Nations negotiations for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (signed in 2017 by 122 nations, though not the U.S.). Wallis was active with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 for promoting the treaty. His latest book , ”Warheads to Windmills,” comprehensively documents growing dangers of nuclear weapons proliferation and climate crisis. He demonstrates how billions of dollars spent on nuclear weapons could instead be spent to create jobs addressing the climate crisis we face.

We can be grateful for the dedication, expertise and sacrifice of these two heroic activists who have not only gained international recognition, but have also created organizations that enable us to amplify our part, no matter how small, by joining global movements for abolishing nuclear weapons and working to channel the billions we now spend to address climate change, poverty and health care.

We need not wait for our elected leaders to act on their own. Rather, we can act together to call for them to stop spending billions of dollars on nuclear weapons that should never be used. The inspiring examples of Lown and Wallis remind us that we the people can take charge of our futures and the survival of life on this planet, addressing the threats of nuclear weapons and climate destruction, to ensure politicians, billionaires and others with dangerous power do the right thing. As Wallis reminds us : “There is so much love and beauty in this world. It’s worth saving. And collectively, we still have the power to save it.”