This week’s Earth Minute, a collaboration between Global Justice Ecology Project and the Sojourner Truth show on KPFK Los Angeles Pacifica radio, commemorates the 66th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima and ties them to the current nuclear crisis going on at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan.
To listen, go to: http://archive.kpfk.org/parchive/mp3/kpfk_110809_070010sojourner.MP3 and scroll to minute 33:40.
Also on the program is nuclear power expert Arne Gunderson about the ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan at minute 19:30.
This week’s Earth Minute transcript:
On this day, sixty-six years ago, the Japanese city of Nagasaki was devastated by an atomic bomb, dropped by the United States. Three days earlier, Hiroshima was similarly bombed. Today these cities lead the nuclear disarmament movement.
And since the ongoing disaster at Fukushima, the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are also calling for a ban on nuclear energy.
To the Japan-based World Peace Appeal group, the Fukushima meltdown is the fourth nuclear disaster suffered by the Japanese people, after Hiroshima, Nagasaki and the atomic tests on the Bikini Islands. They explain:
“The human tragedy of the past disasters that included fatalities, cancer and other radiation induced diseases, illustrates the hidden and lingering problems of nuclear power. We must sustain the awareness raised by Fukushima and speak out about the dangers we face if we continue to pursue nuclear energy.”
“We must never again repeat the mistake of forgetting.”
For the Earth Minute and the Sojourner Truth show, this is Anne Petermann from Global Justice Ecology Project.
