Hopeful days for environmental progress in California
San Francisco, CA June 24, 2016
Friday marked a big day for environmental progress and hope for our future as a species.
Gulliver (nuclear energy) finally began recognizing that the threads holding him down are breakable. The so-far gentle and polite giant has also begun to recognize that the petty aristocrats who have spent so many years wrapping him up in a tangled mess of individually weak bonds — like “the waste issue”, wild predictions about cancers or mutations caused by “radiation,” or the scary-sounding word “proliferation” — have not been acting with good intentions.
The visible event — the March for Environmental Hope — telling me that Gulliver is beginning to find the power of his voice and the strength of his head, arms and legs happened in San Francisco in a variety of venues.
Led by Michael Shellenberger, Kristin Zeitz, and Heather Matteson with celebrity appearances by Richard Rhodes, Robert Stone and Gwyneth Cravens, a happy group of rabble rousing pro-nuclear environmentalists sang songs, wore brightly colored tee shirts, carried signs, chanted slogans, locked arms and marched. They demonstrated at the headquarters of the Sierra Club, Greenpeace and the NRDC.
Not every marcher could be there at every venue, so the group variously expanded and shrank with estimated participant numbers in the range of 40 to 100. As might be imagined, people wearing shirts that said “Split, don’t emit” and carrying signs saying “Save Diablo Canyon,” “Replace Fossil, Not Nuclear,” and “Nuclear For Our Future” captured the attention of many on the streets and mass transit systems of San Francisco.
It is a bit rare — so far — for passionate, happy and environmentally concerned individuals and families to give up personal time to march around proclaiming their support for nuclear energy. It will become less rare in the future.
Some of the participants were so excited about the event’s historical significance that they mistakenly proclaimed that their march might be the first pronuclear demonstration march ever. That’s a bit of an exaggeration. There’s readily available documentation of pronuclear street/sidewalk demonstrations with tee shirts and signs in Vermont and San Luis Obispo, but the March for Environmental Hope was most likely the biggest, loudest, best organized and largest pronuclear environmental demonstration so far.
On Friday evening I spoke with David Walters, a pensioner with a long history of labor activism and environmental demonstrations, on Friday afternoon.
David was pumped up and overflowing with excitement about the event. He told me he “could not believe” how well organized it was. He called Kristin and Heather “treasures for our cause.”
He described how disappointed Michael Shellenberger was that he could not get himself arrested for interfering with people going into or out of the Sierra Club headquarters. There was no one coming and going who could complain and call the police; apparently the Club asked its people to take the day off, knowing that the march was coming.
David told me how much fun it was to sing new songs about the atom to tunes that were familiar from his past activities. David was so excited about telling me the stories of the day that I finally had to interrupt his effusive commentary to tell him I had to hang up because my dinner was ready.
I also received a written “boots on the ground” report to share with you.
Boots on the Ground March Report:
Yesterday we protested the Sierra Club, Greenpeace, and the NRDC. At Sierra Club, the guards insisted that they closed the office and no workers were there. A couple Berkeley Nuke Students decided to do a recon mission to check while we were outside chanting “Split Don’t Emit!” and “We’re on a mission, to Stop all Emissions!”. Our suspicions were confirmed-the Sierra Club workers were up on the 13th floor the whole time. We took a vote and decided to force our way in (in probably the most polite way possible — saying we just wanted to sing a song!). We packed two elevators, rode to the top, had one of our intrepid Berkeley agents get the locked door open, and poured into their main office and national headquarters. The conversation? “We’re all lifelong environmentalists. Many of us have given money to your organization. We appreciate much of the good you’ve done, but you’re wrong about one thing and it’s endangering future generations. Nuclear energy. Now we’re going to sing you a song.” The Battle Hymn of the Atom rang throughout their office and after we were done, we left at threats of being trespassed and arrested (we still had to get to Greenpeace and NRDC after all.)
We marched to the train station, chanting the whole way. Chanted on the subway to Greenpeace. Pulitzer Prize winning Author Richard Rhodes met us there, along with Oscar Nominated Robert Stone, Michael Shellenberger, and Author Gwyneth Cravens. Our March had swelled from 40 to 80, with several passersby joining the cause and chanting as loud as anyone. We locked arms in front of the entire building in a show of civil disobedience. Sang again and continued our March to the NRDC. New chants emerged of “NRDC: No Respect for Diablo Canyon” “NRDC:No receiving dirty cash!”. Here Kristin and Heather of the Mothers for Nuclear, Michael Shellenberger, and Jim Becker (former Diablo Plant Manager) spoke. Our final Battle Hymn of the Atom rang throughout the halls and our protest completed with several people blocking the doors in symbolic civil disobedience.
This was the first fight in a war of ideas that must be fought and won for the future of our species. –EGM (Eric G. Meyer)
Bill Gloege, a leader of Californians for Green Nuclear Power, was also there and provided a report. I’ve got a pending request to him for permission to share that report with you; I received a copy from someone else and don’t want to assume it’s okay to share it more widely.
Here are some additional photos of the event.
The march is continuing during the weekend and will climax with a visit to the California Lands Commission meeting in Sacramento on Tuesday, June 28. The marchers want to make sure that the Lands Commission hears their strong support for a full 49 year renewal of the state-owned tidelands under the cooling water infrastructure that connects Diablo Canyon to the world’s largest and most capable heat sink — the Pacific Ocean.
I provided the lyrics for that well know Battle Hymn melody:
The cosmic forces reigned upon us ever since the bang
All the elements held promise. How the Alchemists have sang.
The God called Thor was destined more than thunder to his name.
The power of Thorium.
Nuclear Power Lasts Forever
Lasting Through all kinds of weather
Nuclear Power Lasts Forever
The Nuclear Quest Rolls On
What was in Curie’s pocket? What was Einstein’s M-C squared?
With Rutherford’s experiments the groundwork was prepared.
But greed and lust for power near annihilation spared.
The Nuclear Quest rolled on.
Nuclear Power Lasts Forever
Lasting Through all kinds of weather
Nuclear Power Lasts Forever
The Nuclear Quest Rolls On
The ice caps are all melting, as the water levels rise
The ocean’s getting sicker. Hear the bird and mammal cries.
The Green’s and Anti Nukes have had a field day with their lies
But the truth is marching on.
Nuclear Power Lasts Forever
Lasting Through all kinds of weather
Nuclear Power Lasts Forever
The Nuclear Quest Rolls On
@Rick Maltese
Is it time for another recording from you? What is the song’s title?
I’d like to say the “Nuclear Quest is Over” but it’s the “Nuclear Quest Rolls On”
Here is the closest I have come to a recording. It’s my crowdfunding video.
https://youtu.be/nVszy6Dvrok
“Nuclear” doesn’t scan in the refrain. I’d use “fission”.
Thanks EP. It’s a parody after all to a public domain melody not the next hit song. “Nuclear” is pretty close and it is unapologetic which we need more of.
“Atoms” work too, and “atomic” if you can fit 3 syllables.
If you have to strain the scansion, you make it hard to sing. These things take some tuning [pun intended].
“The ice caps are all melting, as the water levels rise
The ocean’s getting sicker. Hear the bird and mammal cries.
The Green’s and Anti Nukes have had a field day with their lies
But the truth is marching on.”
I like this better,
The ice caps are all melting, as the water levels rise
The ocean’s getting sicker. Hear the bird and mammal cries.
The air is getting thicker from the residue of fire
But nuclear could solve it all.
I’m more about message than rhyme.
Thanks Martin. How about
The ice caps are all melting as the water levels rise
The ocean’s getting sicker. Hear the bird and mammal cries.
The air is getting thicker. Coal plants dirty up the skies
Our savior is Nuclear.
I like that better, but how about
The ice caps are all melting as the water levels rise
The ocean’s getting sicker. Hear the bird and mammal cries.
The air is getting thicker. Coal plants dirty up the skies
The earth needs Nuclear.
the ice, the ocean, the air, the earth
Together we have reached a verse that reads, that rhymes, that sings!
I’d like to hear some recorded versions of the song being sung. Get together with friends and colleagues and have some fun.
That’s the best yet Martin.
Remember the war for Diablo
That’s the kind where each of us belongs
Though they may have one all the battles
We had all the good songs!
(let’s not be like that.)
@E-P
Though they may have one all the battles
I think you meant “won”
You are correct, of course. (Having my mind consumed with math I studied 3/4 of a lifetime ago is not good for my rate of typos.)
I found a melody to match “Those were the days”
Remember that this war is for Diablo
That’s the kind where each of us belongs
Though they may have won most of the battles
We can say we had all the good songs!
These are the Days my friends.
We think that they might end.
Let’s hope and pray the human race survives.
Diablo’s closing down because of Gov’nor Brpwn
These are the days oh yes these are the days.
I was referring to the bridge in Tom Lehrer’s “Folk Song Army”.
It would have made a great news story if the Sierra Club (employees) “ran away” because they knew about our march. But unfortunately, it wasn’t true. There were people working in their office, although it may have been a smaller than usual number. We ended up going up to their 13th floor office (security didn’t stop us). We sung the nuclear “Battle Hymn” song (loudly) at the reception desk. We started to wander into the cubicle area and an angry woman informed us that we were legally trespassing, so we packed it in and left.
We couldn’t even get into the Greenpeace or NRDC offices; the buildings themselves were closed off. Their offices were interesting (esp. Greenpeace). They are in these non-descript, locked buildings, with no signs or anything advertising their presence. (Almost like they’re secret organizations.)
A few of us sat down and blocked the front (revolving) door to the building that NRDC was in. Security didn’t force us out or call the police. The truth is that there was a back door that people could get in and out of if they really needed to. But we still could make a statement.
It would have been interesting if Greenpeace had complained about trespassing.
This whole thing kinda saddens me. Its an epic issue, energy, global warming…nuclear energy…plants closing…etc.
A handful of people protest, because its all they can do. The beast they battle is just too strong, too large. The media ignores the protest, largely ignores the issue. Meanwhile,the clock ticks towards the inevitable closing of Diablo. And central cal burns, in an ominous demonstration of things to come.
And no one reads the rhymes, or hears the songs.
And two pathetic examples of humanity, both completely devoid of integrity, promise to place us back on the right path. Walls, jackboots targeting certain ethnic groups, torture, drones..special interests trumping science….lies and treasons. Purposely divided, bickering like schoolgirls, we obediently bend over and recite our lines.
And a few people get loud over something that John Q couldn’t care less about, knows nothing about, and wouldn’t do anything about even if he did.
It would be very interesting if these long time protesting organizations issued a statement on the march. The times have changed. Those who used to protest are now the establishment. It is very interesting that they were protested by grassroots organizations. I would think they would at least pause and ponder their positions.
Maybe change does come from the bottom. It does not trickle down.
Good article.
I am really proud to be pro-nuclear today! Thank you thank you thank you to the March organizers and marchers who, FOR ONCE, beautifullybeautifully executed a page out of the (clearly effective) anti playbook, but FOR nuclear power. Plus, we have protest songs!
Bravo!
You’d better get rid of the lyrics, “have sang”. That’s ungrammatical.
So how about a Popeye type song?
Diablo the Canyon man
The fire is in his hand
Performing his mission
With nuclear fission
Diablo the Canyon man
Redoing a startup
Will perk all our hearts up
The secret is in the can
Shiver me timbers
Control rods all limber
Now put them in, Canyon Man.
I’m not sure what the tune should be for the second verse, but the first one gave me one hell of a guffaw! Wouldn’t that be something to get on the evening TV news?
I just keep looking at those pictures.
Never thought I would see people marching FOR nuclear power.
Have been arguing for nuclear power for years but to see people marching in support is fantastic to see.
You would’ve done far better trying to sit-in and knocking down the doors of the local media to demand that they listen to you past a joke than the feel-good futility of going after Greenpeace. I hope the next plant in jeopardy takes this as a clue.