NH #651: TPNW SPECIAL, Pt. 2: US Congressman, Int'l Gov't Reps Support Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty at UN

TPNW SPECIAL, Pt. 2: US Congressman, Int’l Gov’t Reps Support Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty at UN

(l-r) State Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, MA; US Congressional Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts; Bill Kidd, member of Scottish Parliament; Frank Cownie, Mayor of Des Moines, Iowa. After a press conference on the steps of the United Nations building.

Keystone Picture: One of the 30 posters selected to line the walls of the United Nations. Hey, on social media, kittens rank high. Maybe that’s the way to get attention…?

This Week’s Featured Interviews:

Politics and politicians figure prominently in the struggle to get governments to ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). Here are a few of those who showed up at the United Nations, November 27 – December 1, for the 2nd Meeting of Sttes Parties on the TPNW.

• Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the first and, to date, only member of the US congress to attend meetings on the TPNW.Rep. McGovern referenced other Congressional supporters of the TPNW. Here is a brief video featuring some of them calling for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons:

• Mayor Frank Cownie, Mayor of Des Moines, Iowa and member of Mayors for Peace.
• State Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, MA
• Bill Kidd, member of Scottish Parliament
• Heather McPherson, member of Canadian Parliament

Canadian MP Heather McPherson (l) with Nuclear Hotseat host Libbe HaLevy

• HIROSHIMA Mayor Kazumi Matsui, who spoke with us through an interpreter:

Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui (r) and his interpreter in front of display of information about the Hiroshima atomic bombing and the experiences of the Hibakusha (Atomic bomb blast survivors).

• The treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons has other supporters representing international as well as local interests. Jay Coughlin, the executive director of Nuclear Watch New Mexico – and no stranger to Nuclear Hotseat listeners – fills us in on another powerful supporter – John C. Wester, Archbishop of Santa Fe, New Mexico – one of the most nuclear-intensive sites in the world. Here is a LINK to Archbishop Wester’s full statement: https://archdiosf.org/documents/2023/11/231122_TPNW_Statement_ASF.pdf
• Filling us in on the range of problems we are facing from nukes – not just weapons but nuclear power, uranium mining and the entire nuclear fuel chain, was Jackie Cabasso of the Western States Legal Foundation.

Jackie Cabasso

• Setsuko Thurlow, a Hibakusha and leader with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) was scheduled to speak but illness prevented her from appearing. Here is the speech she would have delivered, “We Shall Not Be Moved.”: LINK

Nuclear Hotseat Hot Story with Linda Pentz Gunter:

Triple nuclear global capacity by 2050? Build 115 reactors a year until then? Fusion is the solution? Nuclear madness at the COP28 climate summit reaches new heights, or would that be depths?

Numnutz of the Week (for Outstanding Nuclear Boneheadedness):

How to boost acceptance of nuclear energy? Make the reactors prettier!!!!! (Oh, yeah, that’ll really help… <!>)