January 1, 2024

Discussion in Santa Fe tomorrow, Tuesday 1/2/24, 6 pm, St. John's United Methodist Church; other meetings this month; "Call for Sanity" and City of Santa Fe resolution status

(Previous letter, 12/19/23: City of Santa Fe resolution status; volunteer meeting in Santa Fe tomorrow evening 12/20/23 (call if interested); new ad in SF Reporter; thank you for your support and reach out to others if you can)

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Good morning, and happy New Year, friends --

First, we are going to meet tomorrow, January 2, at 6 pm in the Gathering Room at St. John's United Methodist Church (SJUMC) in Santa Fe (map), to discuss issues related to the runaway expansion of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). If you have questions about our last two centerfold ads in the Santa Fe Reporter (here and here), bring those questions.

Second, mark your calendars. We have a number of other events planned for this month, including but not limited to these:

• Jan. 4 (Thurs): National/local Zoom seminar on plutonium warhead core ("pit") production myths and realities (this is Part II of the 12/7/23 seminar). Newcomers to this list may not know that re-starting pit production is the largest warhead-related project in the U.S. since the Cold War, and is entirely unnecessary for many years to come for "nuclear deterrence" at the same level the U.S. "enjoys" now. Zoom coordinates will be sent to our main listserve (if you got this email from us you are on that list).
  

• Jan. 10 (Wed.) National/local Zoom seminar on pit production myths and realities (Part III and last for now; we will send Zoom coordinates closer to the date) OR ELSE a Santa Fe City Council meeting on the proposed resolution opposing pit production, if that resolution makes it through the Quality of Life committee. If this resolution is on the the agenda for the 10th we will need as many of you as we can muster to be there.

• Jan. 11 (Thurs.): Noon study session in Santa Fe re the proposed new Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) transmission line through the Caja del Rio, venue TBD; THEN 4 pm National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) meeting re that same transmission line at Santa Fe Community College. We need a lot of people at this meeting; references, further preparations, and other details to follow in subsequent emails. Meanwhile see Energy officials grant more time to comment on LANL power line plan, 12/28/23 Santa Fe New Mexican, with our published comment. There are also some very good public comments posted on the SFNM article, at their website.
  

• Jan. 16 (Tues) Meeting at 6 pm meeting in Santa Fe at SJUMC unless there is a venue change.

• Jan. 23 (Tues) Los Alamos meeting, TBD. Details to follow on this list and/or at the Jan. 16 meeting.
  

Third, our "registry of resistance," the "Call for Sanity, Not Nuclear Production" is growing. If you don't want New Mexico to host a new plutonium factory, or alternatively if you don't want a new arms race, for which LANL pit production is absolutely essential, please help it grow!

How can you help? It's very simple. Just ask any business, nonprofit organization, or religious organization you know, or frequent, to endorse this Call! As of this writing we have 138 businesses and "orgs" and 656 individuals on-board. We'd like to have at least a dozen more businesses, churches and orgs, and at least 44 more individual endorsers, by the time the City Quality of Life Committee meets this Wednesday evening.

It's super-simple. Here's what it says:

We call upon our elected officials to:

• Opposeplutonium warhead core (“pit”) production at LANL first and foremost, but also elsewhere.
• Opposethe design, testing, and production of new and “upgraded” nuclear weapons.
• Prioritizeremoval and disposal of legacy plutonium waste from LANL over production of additional nuclear waste from nuclear weapons.
• Choosehuman security, community resilience, and environmental protection over nuclear weapons production and our bloated military. We can no longer delay. We must use every opportunity, at every level of government, to prioritize human needs, invest in our communities, and build a more just and sustainable society.

This is really, really important because there are a lot of people who want LANL to be a pit factory, including most (all?) arms control groups and some "antinuclear" nonprofits. This political support, amplified by a colonial and "company-town" reticence to speak up against "The Power on The Hill," obscures the factual realities that would normally bring a swift end to this cockamamie plan. That is half the reason this dumb plan maintains momentum even as it struggles managerially, with 6 years delay already baked in. (The other half of its irrational support is the war frenzy in DC.) Our silence is taken as assent and indeed encouragement for a new nuclear arms race. LANL pit production will fail if there is significant opposition in New Mexico, or in DC. They need support in both places. 

Meanwhile northern New Mexico will never thrive, with LANL so greedy, toxic, and obese.

Fourth, the City of Santa Fe resolution against pit production has hit snags. We will be meeting with the Mayor and others tomorrow about it and can report further in the evening. Given the sensitivity of negotiations, that's all I can say now, except this: we will publicly oppose any LANL resolution that does not categorically oppose plutonium pit production at LANL. Weaselly, incoherent formulations we have seen before, like "no pit production until it is certified to be safe," are pathetic, as pit production will never be safe. They are basically green lights for pit production. Silence would be better.

Best wishes to all,

Greg