Resolution 7 of 2019

SALT LAKE CITY CORPORATION

Resolution No. 7 of 2019

JOINT RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE UNITED NATIONS TREATY
ON THE PROHIBITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS

WHEREAS, nuclear weapons are an existential threat to all higher life on Earth, including us; and

WHEREAS, all residents of Salt Lake City have the right to live free of the threat of nuclear annihilation; and

WHEREAS, the nine nuclear-armed countries possess an arsenal of nearly 15,000 nuclear weapons, more than 9000 of which are operationally deployed; and

WHEREAS, detonation of even a single modern nuclear weapon on one of our cities would profoundly change the course of our history; and

WHEREAS, atmospheric physicists have said that detonation of even 100 Hiroshima sized nuclear bombs on cities far from us would send millions of tons of smoke into the stratosphere, blocking sunlight and creating a “nuclear winter” in the entire northern hemisphere, with the result that no harvests would be possible for up to ten years, causing famine and grave social disruption for billions of humans, including those in Salt Lake City; and

WHEREAS, launch authority in the United States is in the hands of a single person, and a first launch could quickly escalate into catastrophic all-out nuclear exchange; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Energy now spends $15 billion per year to secure the United States’ nuclear arsenal, clean up contaminated nuclear weapons manufacturing sites (including super-fund sites), and, crucially, monitor and sequester fissionable materials worldwide; and

WHEREAS, the planned expenditure of up to $1.7 trillion to enhance our nuclear arsenal will only exacerbate the problems listed above and fuel a global nuclear arms race, already well underway; and

WHEREAS, the production of new nuclear weapons will threaten health and the environment by creating dangerous radioactive waste as well as pressure to test new designs, risking a new generation of “downwinders” or people made ill by radiation released during explosive nuclear testing; and

WHEREAS, the threat of weapons of mass destruction use is contrary to the rules of international law and is in contravention of the Charter of the United Nations regarding threats against other countries, and in violation of numerous United Nations resolutions calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons; and

WHEREAS, in 2017, 122 United Nations member countries adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, prohibiting the possession, development, testing, use, and threat of use of nuclear weapons; and

WHEREAS, the United States Conference of Mayors, the cities of Baltimore and Los Angeles, and the State of California have all passed resolutions in support of the Treaty.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED,

that the Salt Lake City Council and Mayor of Salt Lake City, join these voices in calling on the United States to support the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and calls on present and future United States Administrations to show leadership and work with all nuclear armed countries to negotiate verified elimination of all nuclear weapon arsenals.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED,

that the Salt Lake City Council and Mayor of Salt Lake City call upon our federal leaders to spearhead a global effort to prevent nuclear war by renouncing the option of using nuclear weapons first, ending the President’s sole, unchecked authority to launch a nuclear attack and canceling the plan to replace its entire arsenal with enhanced weapons.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED,

that the Salt Lake City Council and Mayor of Salt Lake City will transmit copies of this resolution to the President of the United States, each United States Senator and Representative from Utah and to the Governor of Utah, asking them to support the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Passed by the City Council of Salt Lake City, Utah, this 2^nd day of April, 2019.