A Second Chance to Vote for Change

Can nuclear disarmament become a priority issue in Washington?

Absolutely.

And we can do it in less than 10 days.

Everyone understands the issue is important, but many people have believed it is impossible to make progress.

That's changing. Here's how we can do it.

The social networking website Change.org, together with MySpace, is holding a contest to choose the ten best ideas for change in America.

The first round saw more than 250,000 votes cast. About 90 ideas made it into the final round.

This idea is one of the finalists: "US Leadership to Abolish Nuclear Weapons Globally."

By the end of December, it had risen above some 7,400 other proposals to make the final round.

And here is a key fact -- especially for those of us who would like to eliminate nuclear weapons before they eliminate us:

There is only one idea pertaining to nuclear weapons in the final round. That means all those who support a nuclear weapons-free world have an opportunity to unite around the proposal.

People from throughout America and around the world will be voting in the final round until the deadline at 5:00 p.m. EST on January 15th.

The top ten ideas selected will be promoted to the Obama administration and to the public, beginning with an event at the National Press Club on January 16th.

Here is the link.

"US Leadership to Abolish Nuclear Weapons Globally" calls for President Obama to make a public commitment to a world free of nuclear weapons, to launch bilateral negotiations with Russia and to start international negotiations for a phased and verifiable treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons by the year 2020. (See full text below.)

"We've never had a better chance to raise the profile of nuclear weapons abolition and make real progress toward achieving it," said Nuclear Age Peace Foundation President David Krieger.

Dr. Krieger, who co-founded the nonprofit educational organization 26 years ago, is urging everyone who believes in peace and a safer world for our children to take three steps without delay.

1. Vote: If you haven't already signed up at Change.org, you will be prompted to put in your name, email and a password that you choose. After signing up, press the vote button.

2. Spread the Word: Send a message to everyone on your email list with a personal note of encouragement to take two minutes and vote for nuclear disarmament.

3. Call Ten People: Call the ten people you know who are most likely to be influential in getting out the vote and ask for their help.

Should you doubt that such a big change in our military policy is possible, please bear in mind that President-elect Obama has already signalled his intention to work for a world free of nuclear weapons and to negotiate with Russia to reduce the number of nuclear weapons.

By voting for US Leadership to Abolish Nuclear Weapons Globally, we won't be protesting White House policy for a change. Rather, we will be urging Mr. Obama to follow through on his promises. We will be supporting the change we want to see in the world.

This is what Barack Obama had to say in Berlin last July.

"This is the moment when we must renew the goal of a world without nuclear weapons. The two superpowers that faced each other across the wall of this city came too close too often to destroying all we have built and all that we love. With that wall gone, we need not stand idly by and watch the further spread of the deadly atom. It is time to secure all loose nuclear materials; to stop the spread of nuclear weapons; and to reduce the arsenals from another era. This is the moment to begin the work of seeking the peace of a world without nuclear weapons."

Let's help him make this huge change by showing there is widespread public support for a saner and safer future for the planet.

There are two other initiatives by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation that are related to our idea in the change.org competition.

1. The First 100 Days -- A Nuclear Disarmament Agenda for President Obama. This project is designed to ask the new President to make the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons a real priority in the early days of his Administration. More at wagingpeace.org.

2. U.S. Leadership for a Nuclear Weapons-Free World - An Appeal to the Next President of the United States. In January 2008, we launched a movement to educate people about nuclear weapons and how they can be eliminated. We believe there is a significant gap in the education of most people which puts our country and the world at risk. We have collected more than 35,000 signatures so far. We will present the Appeal to the new Administration. The text of the Appeal sets out seven prudent steps that would make the world safer. Each step would reduce the threat from nuclear weapons and so will educate the reader on how nuclear disarmament can proceed.

Change.org idea - full text.

US LEADERSHIP TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS GLOBALLY

It is far too dangerous to keep global nuclear disarmament on the back burner. Nuclear weapons pose the most immediate, overwhelming and devastating threat imaginable to our country and to civilization. The only way to assure that these weapons do not proliferate and fall into the hands of terrorists is to abolish them forever, and only the United States has the leadership capacity to bring the countries of the world together to achieve this goal. It is time for the US to assert that leadership, and President-elect Obama has shown by his statements that he is prepared to lead on this issue. We call upon him to make a strong public commitment to US leadership to abolish nuclear weapons globally; to initiate bilateral negotiations with the Russians to take nuclear weapons off high alert status and to dramatically and verifiably reduce the number of nuclear weapons in the arsenals of our two nations; and to convene a meeting of all nine nuclear weapons states to negotiate a new treaty for the phased, verifiable, irreversible and transparent elimination of all nuclear weapons by the year 2020. This would make the United States more secure, restore its credibility throughout the world, and be a gift to all humanity and all future generations.