POEMS FOR PEACE

Find out how young people can make their voices heard

In Maine we are looking for youth ages 5-18 to send in poems about peace

Poems for Peace

Ever since the Bush administration began to impose their strategy of “Pre-emptive War” on the rest of the world, PSR has been working on an alternative approach to enhanced security, nationally, globally, and right here in Maine. PSR’s overall alternative approach evolved into the SMART Security campaign. Under the umbrella of this overall approach, PSR/Maine and Peace Action Maine has engaged in effective public education and advocacy work on a variety of security issues.

PSR REPORT

Long Term Costs of Iraq War Overwhelming

Estimates Show Veteran Care Costs to Outpace Actual Costs of Combat

 A report to be released by Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) with Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) showed that the mental and social trauma from the Iraq war will be with the U.S. for decades and that actual fiscal cost may exceed those for combat activities.  Dr. Evan Kanter, a member of the Board of Directors for PSR, compiled the report that details more than $650 billion in long term costs as well as mental disabilities anddisruptions to families of returning veterans.

Click here to read the full report

URGENT NUCLEAR ISSUES IN 2008

Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW)

The New Hydrogen Bomb (RRW) can be stopped!

The Department of   Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration has recently announced their selection of a design for the first new American H Bomb since the end of the Cold War. The program, known as the "Reliable Replacement Warhead," or RRW, would be enormously expensive, potentially dangerous to the health of workers and communities involved in its production, and gravely damaging to U.S. efforts towards stopping the spread of nuclear weapons.  How can we tell other nations not to build nuclear weapons while we not only maintain our own huge stockpile but plan to build a new generation of nukes. RRW really stands for "Risky, Redundant, and Wasteful."

Perhaps the most dangerous element of the RRW program is that it is clearly contrary to the spirit of the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the signers of which, including the U.S., pledged to work for the global elimination of nuclear weapons.  If the most powerful nation in the world cannot live by these rules then why should other nations.

California Senator Dianne Feinstein, a leader in efforts to prevent the use or spread of nuclear weapons, responded strongly, Saying: “there is a long history of this Administration seeking to reopen the nuclear door, and I am 100 percent opposed to this.”

Other Congressional and nuclear non-proliferation leaders have voiced strong opposition to the RRW; please tell your members of Congress to do everything they can to eliminate funding for this dangerous program.

We need your help!  Call or write Congressman Allen and Michaud and Senator Snowe and Collins tell them you oppose RRW.  For more information visit our website at www.psrmaine.org

RRW currently funding was reduced but not eliminated.

Eliminating Nuclear Weapons
PSR/Maine, in coalition with Peace Action Maine will be working to eliminate further funding of these ill-advised new nuclear weapons. To have your name added to our e-activist list, to be alerted at those times when letter to Senators Collins and Snowe will be crucial to stopping funding for the Reliable Replacement Warhead, please contact Melissa Boyd at 772-6714.

Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP)

GNEP would involve the “reprocessing” of the used (or “spent”) fuel from nuclear power reactors to separate plutonium—a practice discontinued by the US three decades ago on non-proliferation grounds because plutonium is a material that can be used in nuclear weapons. The Bush Administration claims that this reprocessing program would help solve the nuclear waste problem, and show that in fact reprocessing would not reduce the need for storage and disposal of radioactive waste. Instead, reprocessing would make it easier for terrorists to acquire nuclear weapons materials, and for nations to develop nuclear weapons programs. 

Promoting Real Homeland Security

In the 2005 legislative session, a bill was passed establishing the Maine Homeland Security Task Force. Made up of eleven members, including PSR/Maine member Dr. Paul Liebow of Bangor, this Task Force has been meeting throughout 2005 and 2006 to identify and respond to Maine's Real Security needs.

As part of these hearings, PSR/Maine has been providing expert testimony from the members listed below, to make the case that our federal spending priorities are out of line with urgent state needs such as increased training of emergency personnel, better integrated communications systems, and a strong public health infrastructure.

We are advocating inclusion in the final report of language that calls upon our federal government to make a shift in funding priorities to answer these real needs in Maine and across the nation.

Preventing Nuclear Terrorism

In the 2004 Presidential campaign, both President Bush and Senator Kerry identified nuclear terrorism as the greatest threat to national security. Yet over four year have passed since the September 11th attacks and this administration has done woefully little to reduce the nuclear threat.

National PSR is developing a campaign to address this issue head-on, exposing the weakness of the Bush administration approach to the threat, and advocating for safer, more effective alternatives. In coming months, PSR/Maine will adapt materials being produced by national PSR, to integrate this information into our media, public education, and Real Homeland Security work.

Maine SMART Security Campaign   

PSR/Maine continues to work with leaders within the religious and medical communities to promote the SMART Security approach, focusing on how best to reduce the threat of weapons of mass destruction, and the need for real security measures that will avoid the potential catastrophe of a nuclear terrorism event. 

We are still offering our SMART Security presentation to civic organizations, congregations, and medical professionals across the state. To schedule a SMART Security presentation, contact

Melissa Boyd at 207-772-6714.

Resources

 PSR/Maine SMART Security PowerPoint presentation

Speakers Bureau
• Oregon

PSR video

•Locally produced video on Nuclear Abolition

Coalition Partners

• Maine Council of Churches

• Peace Action Maine

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