First, I want to thank you again for sending us to Washington DC with the funds you helped raise. It covered all of our costs – and even left us with some money to print six gigantic posters. Before we left I had asked people in my community who live within miles of the site to send us their photo to represent their desire for a 100% cleanup of the Santa Susana Field Lab.
Over 500 people sent us their photos. Tender photos, like the mom holding her newborn. Some were playful, like the photo of kids jumping into a pool. Some were heartbreaking. Many photos showed adults and children in treatment for cancer. We printed these and took them to DC’s most iconic places. Then we gave a poster to each elected official we met with.
During one of our meetings with our elected officials, a seasoned member from the advocacy group, Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA), heard Jeni and I share our story with a Legislative Assistant for Congressman Brad Sherman.
“You don’t have any idea how powerful you are, do you?” the ANA advocate asked us after the meeting. “You have community support, you have 650,000 people who’ve signed your petition – you don’t have to be so timid. You can get the cleanup.”
That was a startling revelation for me. We’ve been used to begging on our knees for handouts from the California Department of Toxic Substances Control. But the ANA advocate was right.
By the end of every meeting we had in Washington DC we got promises for supporting the cleanup. Not all meetings started that way, but when they heard about the petition and the community support, many of them sat up straight, asked for contact information, and began scribbling notes as fast as they could. Because our strength in numbers not only motivates our elected officials (especially as many of us are constituents) but more importantly, our solidarity means they can fight for the cleanup.
Each elected official who declares their support for us are also declaring opposition to Boeing, NASA and the Department of Energy. That’s no small problem. But with our strong community support we are handing our officials a tool they can use to pry off the deceit, greed, and abuses of power from the three polluters’ tough exteriors. That's why this petition matters so much.
Would you forward this email to five friends? We need 349,521 more signatures to get to a 1,000,000. That’s a number that even Boeing, NASA and the Department of Energy will find intimidating.
Your help is always so appreciated,
Melissa