Draft resolution to be considered by the Bangor City Council WHEREAS, global nuclear arsenals have over 14,000 weapons with most being far more destructive than those used in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945; WHEREAS, the detonation of even a small number of these weapons anywhere in the world could have catastrophic human, environmental, and economic consequences that could affect all people, including those in Bangor, ME; WHEREAS, a large‐scale nuclear war could kill many millions and perhaps billions of people and cause vast environmental damage, producing conditions wherein many more would die from starvation or disease;

WHEREAS, the United States maintains nuclear missiles on launch on warning Deleted: hair trigger alert, greatly increasing the risk of an accidental or unauthorized launch; WHEREAS, the United States, Britain, China, France and Russia are obligated under the Nuclear Non‐Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to take concrete steps toward eliminating their nuclear arsenals;

WHEREAS, Bangor taxpayers will pay approximately $ 132per capita in 2021 , Deleted: an average paying a collective $4.3 million in federal taxes towards the cost of producing, Deleted: deploying and maintaining nuclear weapons, diverting crucial resources needed Deleted: for a “nuclear weapons war tax” to assure the health and well‐being of United States citizens, and; Deleted: Deleted: Bangor WHEREAS, on January 22, 2021, the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) entered into force making it illegal for signatory countries under international law to develop, test, produce, manufacture, or otherwise acquire, possess of stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Bangor, Maine, City Council calls on the United States government to lead a global effort to prevent nuclear war by: Providing leadership in negotiations among nuclear powers to mutually: 1) Assure that no one person can launch nuclear weapons.

2) Reducing the risk of inadvertent use of nuclear weapons by requiring additional safeguards that must be verified prior to launch, mitigating potential launch‐on‐warning status mistakes, and banning the use of as an automated, sole means of launching nuclear weapons.

3) Cancel any replacement of arsenals with enhanced nuclear weapons, until a total agreement on banning arsenal replacement can be negotiated and implemented.

4) Renounce the first‐use of nuclear weapons.

5) Develop verifiable agreements among nuclear‐armed states to eliminate nuclear arsenals.

6) To prevent the spread of nuclear capabilities to any currently non‐nuclear nations and the growth of any nation’s nuclear weapons capacity.

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be sent to the President and each member of Maine’s Congressional Delegation.

12/13/21Contact: Geoff Gratwick; 947‐0637; [email protected] Deleted:

1/15/21 Good afternoon Councilors - I have incorporated all of Councilor Sprague’s suggestions into the attached Resolution - except I have kept the original ‘canceling’ and not substituted his 'significantly limit' in Section #3. If we do not include 'canceling' the Resolution will no longer be part of the larger nation-wide effort. I have sent this version to the City Solicitor so that members of the Council will be able to read it before the Wednesday Gov-Ops meeting.

Several thoughts: 1.) Is this Resolution appropriate Council business? a. All politics are local.... b. The job of the Council is to protect the health and well-being of the citizens of Bangor. i. BIA will likely be a ground zero in a nuclear war. (NSA projection 1981 - along with Loring, Brunswick, Portland, Wiscasset, the Navy’s VLF submarine communications towers in Cutler, Point Lareau); (a recent FEMA projection of ground zeros included only Bangor, Portland and Seabrook) ii. There will be no Bangor, no health care. c. The Council acts locally but it can have a national impact when it acts with others. d. It is important for mayors and local governments to speak up. The mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have firsthand experience with the impact of nuclear weapons on their cities. e. The Council endorsed Resolutions with similar intent in 1982 and 1999 as well as endorsed several Hiroshima Day Resolutions. There is an established tradition of Bangor City Council action. f. The Biden administration is paying attention to local opinion, in the instance cited here related to COVID but his openness is applicable to nuclear weapons as well. (Why Biden Looks To Mayors To Help Make The Case For More COVID‐19 Aid – Tamara Keith) 2.) Should the U.S. unilaterally disarm? a. No! The point of the Resolution is to encourage the Biden administration, in the strongest terms possible, to be a leader in the effort to control nuclear weapons. 3.) International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War received the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize “for spreading authoritative information and by creating awareness of the catastrophic consequences of nuclear war.” PSR is the U.S. affiliate. The intent of this Resolution follows this pattern. a. Prof Bernard Lown’s talk (he was born in Old Town) to the Nobel Committee is worth reading. He quoted Jonathan Schell: “We ask not for our personal survival: we ask only that we be survived. We ask for assurance that when we die as individuals, as we know we must, mankind will live on”. b. Public opinion in the 1980s led in part to the START treaty which decreased the number of nuclear warheads from 44k to current 14k. c. Maine had a larger delegation in attendance at the Oslo ceremony than any other state. 4.) Thoughts about defense policy... a. Deterrence would seem to be satisfied by even one part of our defense triad, i.e. the Navy’s 14 Trident submarines. 12 are on patrol at any one time and in total they have 1,152 deliverable warheads, each with 5-20x the yield of the Hiroshima bomb. (fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/RL33640) i. From the medical point of view the use of even one of these warheads would be a human catastrophe. The use of more than one would have effects beyond .....? b. U.S. nuclear weapons are maintained and upgraded on an ongoing basis. Over the next ten years the Pentagon plans to spend more than a trillion dollars rebuilding the entire U.S. nuclear arsenal and investigating enhanced weapons (e.g. neutron bombs et al). This is a step towards an unwinnable arms race and makes the use of nuclear weapons more rather than less likely. (https://www.ucsusa.org/nuclear-weapons/us-weapons) c. Over the last year the Trump administration increased the nuclear weapons budget from $35b to $44.5b. This is equivalent to ¾ of Maine’s total economic output. (Factsheets & Analysis on Pentagon Budget, Nuclear Weapons Spending, Nukes of Hazard blog, Pentagon Budget, Security Spending) d. See “The Doomsday Machine” by Daniel Ellsberg (2019) and “2034 – A History of the Next World War” by Elliot Ackerman and Admiral Staviridis (Wired 2/21, to be published 3/21). These Pentagon insiders discuss the potential for human error in alarming detail. e. There have been over 40 serious false alarms about pending missile attacks. On January 6 the insurrectionists came frighteningly close to VP Pence’s nuclear football. f. The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists’ advanced the Doomsday Clock to 100 seconds before midnight in 2020; this is its most ominous position since the clock was first set in 1947.

The world is fragile and prevention is always better than cure. The Resolve advocates for a different path forward than that advanced by well financed sub-group within the military-industrial complex. The barriers we face are political. It goes without saying that the road ahead will be difficult and there will be rigorous negations. Bangor has done its part in the past and can continue to do so by joining its voice with others. Thanks for your consideration. Geoff

“Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble." – John Lewis