South Portland City Hall Kelley Bouchard photo/Press Herald
The South Portland City Council unanimously voted to adopt the resolve “Back from the Brink: Bringing Communities Together to Abolish Nuclear Weapons” during its June 20 meeting. The resolve calls on the United States Government to “lead a global effort to prevent the use of nuclear weapons.”
The resolution was proposed by councilor Natalie West after Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Union of Concerned Scientists asked the city to pass the resolve. The resolution has also been passed by Portland, Bangor, and Hallowell. It has been endorsed by health professional organizations and faith, peace, environmental, and social justice groups across the state and nation. The U.S. Conference of Mayors adopted a similar resolution during its 95th annual meeting on June 5.
The resolution calls on the U.S. Government “to lead a global effort to prevent nuclear war by actively pursuing a verifiable agreement among nuclear-armed states to eliminate their nuclear arsenals; renouncing the option of first-use of nuclear weapons; ending the sole, unchecked authority of any president to launch a nuclear attack; taking U.S. nuclear weapons off of their hair-trigger launch status; and canceling plans to replace its entire arsenal with enhanced weapons.”
“A single nuclear weapon can destroy a city and kill most of its people,” said Dr. Lani Graham, who came to represent the Maine Medical Association in support of the resolution. “Several nuclear explosions over modern cities would kill millions of people. Casualties from a major nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia would reach hundreds of millions. These casualties would be almost entirely civilian. There can be no medical response to even the limited use of nuclear weapons. Medical personnel could not work in devastated radioactively contaminated areas. Nuclear weapons produce ionizing radiation which kills or sickens those exposed, contamination of the environment, and has long term health consequences including cancer and genetic damage.
“Our country must show leadership in moving away from what represents an apocalyptic threat to humanity and planet earth. And to show such leadership our national representatives depend on states, communities, and average citizens to express concerns and speak up about the dangers posed about these weapons, as well as suggesting strategies that we can move in a better direction. We hope that you will show such leadership now and join other Maine cities, organizations, and people in endorsing this resolve.”
A number of members of the public spoke in support of the resolution in the meeting, including former councilor Sue Henderson.
“For decades the nuclear powers of the world, and specifically the United States and Russia, have been building a nuclear arsenal that is a clear and present danger to the survival of all species on this planet,” said Don Kimball, a local resident and member of Veterans for Peace. “Indeed, the United Nations recognized this imminent threat from this nuclear madness and declared in January of 2022 that nuclear weapons were illegal. That’s right, illegal. Unfortunately, the ‘nine nations of nukes,’ as we call them, all refused to sign this treaty. For those of us veterans that know how close the world has come to a nuclear war, I feel I still have a duty to protect and defend this nation, only this time from the threat of nuclear wars and weapons.”
Kimball shared two stories from his time in the U.S. Air Force in 1977 through 1981 when nuclear action was almost authorized after human error and a computer malfunction respectively.
“How close do we want to come?” Kimball asked. “And if we are going to change things, it’s obvious that the Pentagon, the federal government, are not going to do this. It’s going to take the people from the ground up.”
According to the resolution, global nuclear arsenals have over 12,500 weapons, most of which are more destructive than those used in Japan, 1945. The Department of Defense and Department of Energy spent over $53 billion on nuclear weapons in 2022, the resolution says, and that South Portland taxpayers collectively contributed almost $5 million in federal taxes to that end.
The council unanimously approved the resolve.
The resolution follows the recent dedication of Samantha Smith Way in South Portland, named after the young Maine peace activist. Additionally, on June 27, the Veterans for Peace sailing vessel Golden Rule visited the city, where the sailors discussed this boat’s mission of sailing for a nuclear free world and a peaceful sustainable future.
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