skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

IL Advocates for Peace Raise Concerns with U.S. N-Weapons Policy

play audio
Play

Monday, January 25, 2021   

CHICAGO -- With a United Nations treaty banning nuclear weapons now in effect, Illinois advocates for peace are renewing conversations about U.S. disarmament policy, through a panel discussion with experts last week and a car caravan for peace over the weekend.

Not a single nation with nuclear weapons ratified the international agreement, although more than 50 non-nuclear states did.

Laura Grego, senior scientist in the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said non-governmental organizations and non-nuclear states have been frustrated with the lack of progress toward disarmament.

She argued many U.S. nuclear policies are artifacts of the Cold War, and could be changed to reduce the risk of accidental or unauthorized launches.

"The U.S. might not be ready to sign the ban treaty," Grego acknowledged. "It's really an effort to be creative about moving toward disarmament goals."

Grego pointed to a bill that would require a declaration of war by Congress before the president can order a nuclear-weapons launch, and added the U.S. should consider taking missiles off high-alert status and reserving their use exclusively for deterrence or response to a nuclear attack, in consultation with allies.

Tara Drozdenko, acting executive director of the Outrider Foundation, said there are many ways nuclear weapons and the military intersect with injustice.

She asserted weapons programs disproportionately impact marginalized communities, for example, uranium mining on the Navajo reservation has contaminated land and groundwater there, which has affected health outcomes.

"I think it's important for us to start reckoning with that, and re-articulating what it means to be secure," Drozdenko contended. "And also thinking about whose security we prioritize, and how we spend our money to make all Americans secure, not just some of us secure."

One of the first foreign-policy actions of the Biden administration is seeking to extend the New START treaty for five years, the last remaining nuclear-weapons treaty between the U.S. and Russia.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021