No New Arms Race: Save New START Before it Expires on February 4th – Check Out the Advocacy Toolkit at Defuse Nuclear War.org

The last remaining arms control treaty between the United States and Russia will expire on Wednesday, February 4^th. Without this treaty, there will be nothing stopping a new, dangerous and wasteful nuclear arms race.  Now is the time to demand that both countries agree to save New START. 

Defuse Nuclear War, a coalition of more than 200 organizations and organizers dedicated to reducing the risk of nuclear war, has created a great toolkit for you to use.  It contains resources for one-on-one conversations, key messages, great graphics, social media posts, letters to the editor, and op-eds calling on the United States and Russia to preserve the limits established by a treaty.  https://defusenuclearwar.org/save-new-start/ and https://defusenuclearwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/New-START-toolkit.pdf

Now is the time for your advocacy to Save New START.  Five key messages that you can use are:

1. On February 4, 2026, New START – the last remaining arms control treaty between the United States and Russia – will expire. Without these limits, there will be nothing to impede a new arms race, which would further increase the risk that nuclear weapons will be used again.
2. The United States and Russian nuclear weapons are already more than capable of destroying civilization as we know it. Together, the countries hold around a 90 percent share of the world’s nuclear arsenals.
3. This is a small, easy step in the right direction. Both President Trump and leading Russian government officials have expressed willingness to extend this treaty’s limits.
4. We can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. An extension of New START would be an easy, mutually beneficial step at a moment when the United States and Russia see their interests as opposed across the board.
5. The path to peace is taking concrete steps toward making conflict less likely, not the endless pursuit of global military dominance.

If you feel more comfortable writing about the need to extend New START, Defuse Nuclear War has a sample letter to the editor for you to use with a focus on sharing local issues and concerns. Please adjust as needed for your community. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1O4BegYu7PotsHZxhlHVzhqXfk0NpGXk9C6Z91ehU23c/edit?tab=t.0

For example, did you know that the budget for Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in fiscal year 2026 is $6 billion? And of that amount $5 billion, or 84 percent of LANL’s budget, is dedicated to nuclear weapons?  And LANL is the only place where plutonium pits, or triggers, for nuclear weapons are fabricated? https://nukewatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/FY26-Lab-Table-spreadsheets-Chart-1.pdf

1. Friday, January 9^th from noon to 1 pm – Join the nuclear disarmament community at the intersection of East Alameda and Sandoval in Santa Fe for the weekly peaceful protest in support of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Join with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, New Mexico Peace Fest, Pax Christi and others. Bring your flags, signs and banners.

2. Sunday, January 11 at 11 pm – Bombshell: They Created the Bomb. Then Created Its Story will air on PBS – KNME-HD 5.1. It explores the bombings of Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. Bombshell sheds light on the efforts of a group of intrepid reporters to let the world know the truth.  watch preview here

3. Sunday, January 11^th at 1 pm – at Albuquerque Liberation Center, 225 San Pedro Dr. NE, Albuquerque – Public information and work session on PROJECT RANGER, a proposed missile production facility being constructed NOW less than three miles from a Rio Rancho neighborhood. For more information, https://commongroundrising.org/castelions-project-ranger-solid-rocket-motor-plant/

4. Sunday, January 11^th at 2 pm – at FUSION 708, 708 1^st Street NW, Albuquerque, El Palacio Winter Issue Reading and Q&A, with Laura Paskus, Myrriah Gómez, Rica Maestas and Santana Shorty. For more information, https://www.fusionnm.org/upcoming/2026/1/11/el-palacio-winter-issue-reading-and-q-and-a

5. Wednesday, January 14 from 5:30 pm to 7 pm – hybrid meeting at Cities of Gold, Tribal Room, 10 Cities of Gold Road, Pojoaque, NM – NMED and EM-LA Public Meeting about the Annual Planning Process for the 2016 [Cleanup] Consent Order between the New Mexico Environment Department and LANL, with Q&A. Connection info available at https://www.energy.gov/em-la/events/annual-planning-process-2016-compliance-order-consent

6. Thursday, January 22^nd – Fifth Anniversary of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons becoming international law – TPNW: Changing Nuclear History. Get your letters to the editor in NOW about how the TPNW has changed the world!  Ideas, actions, talking points, graphics, etc. at https://www.icanw.org/5years_tpnw and https://warheadstowindmills.org/5-year-banniversary/

 Join the nuclear disarmament community on the corners of East Alameda and Sandoval in Santa Fe from noon to 1 pm that day!  Bring signs, banners, etc.

7. Tuesday, January 27^th at 8 am MT – Doomsday Clock Announcement by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. https://thebulletin.org/2026/01/join-us-for-the-2026-doomsday-clock-announcement/

Tags: Defuse Nuclear War, Defuse Nuclear War Toolkit, LANL, LANL FY 2026 total budget is $6 billion; LANL FY 2026 budget for nuclear weapons is $5 billion, letters to the editor, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms Treaty, No New Arms Race, Russia, Save New START, United States