U.S. Spent $84,094 Per Minute on Nuclear Weapons Last Year

If you were in charge of allocating U.S. taxpayer money, would you invest $84,094 per minute for nuclear weapons?  What would your priorities be?  The human needs of the 140 million people in the U.S. who are poor and one emergency away from economic ruin?  Education?  Health care?  Transportation infrastructure?  Taking holistic care of water, air and soil?  The possibilities are endless.

In a new report, Squandered:  2021 Global Nuclear Weapons Spending, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) reveals that last year the U.S. spent over $44 billion on its nuclear arsenal.  Forty-four billion is over half of the total spending of the other eight nuclear armed countries combined.  The nine countries spent over $82 billion in 2021, which is $6.5 billion more than they spent in 2020.  https://www.icanw.org/spending_report

The nine nuclear-armed countries are:  China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the U.S.  https://www.icanw.org/nuclear_arsenals

In New Mexico, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the nuclear weapons agency, has proposed a budget of $9.4 billion in fiscal year 2023, beginning on October 1^st.  In fiscal year 2022, DOE spent about $8 billion on nuclear weapons in New Mexico.  6-3-22 ABQ Journal-Nuclear weapons spending to get boost in NM

Nuclear weapons are at the fore at the First Meeting of the States Parties for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Vienna, Austria beginning on Tuesday, June 21^st through Thursday, June 23^rd.  https://www.icanw.org/

Article I of the Treaty prohibits the development, testing, production, manufacture, acquisition, and possession or stockpiling nuclear weapons.  It also prohibits threatening to use them.  https://www.un.org/disarmament/wmd/nuclear/tpnw/

To learn more about the Treaty and to register for virtual Nuclear Ban Week Vienna events, beginning on Saturday, June 18^th, go to https://vienna.icanw.org/

Coincidentally, on Saturday, June 18^th in Washington, DC, the Mass Poor People’s & Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls will take place.  The march will address the spending priorities of the U.S.  They march “because any nation that ignores nearly half of its citizens is in a moral, economic and political crisis. There were 140 million people who were poor or one emergency away from economic ruin before the pandemic.”  To learn more, go to https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/june18/#why-we-march

In New Mexico, despite all the federal funding for nuclear weapons, we rank 50^th in child well-being and 50^th in education.  It is time for an equitable economic transition.  6-12-22 SFNM-My View Ahtza Chavez and Melanie Aranda

1. Today, Thursday, June 16^th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm – in person and virtual community meeting hosted by DOE’s Environmental Management at Los Alamos (EM-LA).

In-person:  Fuller Lodge, 2132 Central Ave. Los Alamos, NM

Virtual:  For login information, visit www.n3b-la.com/outreach 

2. Friday, June 17^th from noon to 1 pm – Join the Raging Grannies in song and comradery at the weekly peaceful protest on the corners of Alameda and Guadalupe in downtown Santa Fe. The Raging Grannies are from a generation when protest songs were the heart of every protest. They are reviving that tradition by bringing songs, enthusiasm, and their grandmotherly wisdom to marches and rallies. Though Raging Grannies have been active in many cities including Albuquerque for decades, we now have a newly formed Santa Fe gaggle of Grannies. Come and sing along!

3. Saturday, June 18, 2022 in Washington, DC – Mass Poor People’s and Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls – Promoting the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as a critical part of the wider movement for peace and justice in this country and beyond.  https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/june18/

4. Saturday, June 18^th through Thursday, June 23^rd is Nuclear Ban Week Vienna. For more information about all of the live and FREE virtual events taking place, visit:  last week’s CCNS News Update at http://nuclearactive.org/take-action-support-the-treaty-on-the-prohibition-of-nuclear-weapons-and-encourage-the-media-to-cover-it/ and the International Campaign for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons at https://vienna.icanw.org/ Get your registrations in now as there are cut off dates!

5. Friday, June 24^th from 1:30 to 4 pm – Celebrate Dorie Bunting’s 100^th birthday at Albuquerque Peace & Justice Peace Hall, 202 Harvard Drive SE. (505) 268-9557.  No gifts, please, but donations to the P&J Center are accepted.

Tags: 1MSP, Article I, Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, DOE, First Meeting of States Parties, ICAN, ICAN Austria, Mass Poor People’s & Low-Wage Workers' Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls, new mexico, nine nuclear armed countries, Nuclear Ban Week Vienna, spending priorities, Squandered: 2021 Global Nuclear Weapons Spending, TPNW, Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, U.S. Department of Energy, UN, United Nations