October 11, 2021

Friday, Nov. 5 at the State Capitol: noon demonstration, workshops & dialogues; help wanted!

Permalink for this letter. Please forward as desired. Prior letters to this New-Mexico-oriented list.
Previously: (08/31/21) Protest and press conference at "Q Station" in Nob Hill tomorrow, Wednesday September 1, 11:00 am. If you don't want a military takeover of NM please come.
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Dear friends --

We hope you will join us on on Friday, November 5, at noon on the east side of the State Capitol in Santa Fe for a demonstration and workshops to follow against the huge nuclear weapons build-up underway at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), and for dramatically different national and state priorities that help build resilient communities while cutting back on fossil fuel extraction.

During the noon hour we will be joined by speakers from cooperating organizations and invited elected officials, if the latter come.

In the afternoon we will have in-depth workshops on LANL's new mission and its impacts, and the climate crisis and "energy transition," assisted by cooperating organizations, both hopefully including public discussions with elected officials or their representatives. It is also possible that we will be in the Capitol building for part of the time. We will let you know as details develop. 

We will conclude with a press conference at 5:30 pm, or a little earlier if we are inside.

This event closely follows the important "New Mexico Climate Summit," to be held at the Roundhouse on October 25-26, where "actionable ideas" to address the climate crisis are to be discussed (detailed description and registration portal here). In our view, some of this event's core assumptions are wrong, such as continued support for high levels of oil and gas extraction, which is all the more reason to participate.

Our themes on November 5 will include these:

• The urgency of our converging crises:whole-of-government, whole-of-society responses are needed. 
• We need our political leaders to a) lead and b) do what is necessary, not just expedient. We need to succeed, not just try. Why are we doing so little on virtually every major issue? Where is the leadership?
• We need a great deal more transparency and democratic accountability.
• Dramatically different priorities are needed instead of militarism and empire. Why are "we" starting a new Cold War? Why are we spending nearly $1 trillion/year on "defense," dwarfing every other component of discretionary spending?
• Building more nuclear weapons is the antithesis of security. We need to build strong, resilient communities (human, and ecological), mitigate climate collapse, and avoid further social and environmental catastrophes.
• Plutonium warhead production is a dead end for New Mexico, the wrong mission for LANL, and the wrong decade in which to do it, even if new pits were some kind of necessary evil -- which they are not.
  
• Nuclear disarmament is inevitable. Disarm now, avoid the rush after the first "button" is pushed.
• Let's not be frightened, but work together and support each other where we can. We can find freedom, joy and fulfillment in constructive, nonviolent courage.

There will be some excellent music.

We'd like to have as many groups and people participating as possible. Groups can table and participate in workshop planning. Some will speak at noon.

If you haven't done so, we want YOU (and your organization, business or church) to sign the Call for Sanity, Not Nuclear Production. This little act of witness and solidarity is very important.

We need your help! The Los Alamos Study Group is a small organization, with prior commitments to work with federal and state officials on some of these issues over the coming weeks. We are stretched thin.

So if you can help in any way, especially in getting the word out to your friends and contacts, or in recruiting a participating organization, please let us know! A few people have come forward to help and it is largely because of them -- the voices that have said "yes" instead of "maybe" or said nothing at all -- that we are proceeding with this event.

Also, if you are planning to attend, please do let us know! An event such as this entails a great deal of preparation, with significant opportunity costs in other work we do to prevent a new arms race and provide expert energy policy advice.

Commitment is contagious!

Greg, Trish, and the rest of the Study Group gang