On Wednesday November 13th, Portland, OR became the latest city to pass a Back from the Brink resolution, alongside other important peace issues. Portland is the 39th city to pass a Back from the Brink resolution, and the first in Oregon, although the state legislature passed a similar resolution earlier this year.
The resolution effort was led by Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility, with support from a variety of organizations and individuals, including Veterans for Peace, members of the Marshallese community, American Friends Service Committee, Coalition of Communities of Color, Sierra Club, Soka Gakkai USA, hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors), Union of Concerned Scientists, and many more.
The resolution cited numerous examples of Portland’s opposition to nuclear weapons, including its Mayors for Peace designation, and a list of hardworking Oregonians who have been involved in the disarmament movement.
The Portland resolution also was careful to point out the environmental and social justice connections to nuclear weapons, noting that the nuclear weapons industry “disproportionately affects women, children, communities of color, and indigenous peoples.” Additionally, it recognized the large Marshallese community in Portland, and called out the 67 nuclear weapons tests that turned those islands into a “nuclear sacrifice zone.”
Noting the opportunity cost of the $142 million spent by the city on nuclear weapons in 2019, the resolution states that “nuclear weapons production consumes material, academic, technological, scientific and financial resources which are desperately needed to pursue climate justice.”
To read the text of the resolution, which was passed unanimously, click here.
