In September 2013, seventeen international scientists and experts wrote to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon urging international action on the Fukushima crisis.
We write to you in urgency. The situation around the world at radioactively contaminated sites is not good, and it is clear that the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi reactor site is progressively deteriorating, not stabilizing.
This powerful letter outlines a set of reasonable concerns and action steps; Helen Caldicott is among the signatories and her website details her ongoing activism.
In the fall of 2013, the Temple of Understanding began an effort to think urgently, compassionately and with cultural sensitivity about the Fukushima crisis. We started a list of guiding questions:
- How can the world best express global solidarity with Japan in dealing with Fukushima?
- Is Japan getting the very best of international expert advice? How can experts contribute?
- How are demand and consumption patterns implicated, and how do we all need to take responsibility?
- Have we got a mutual understanding that violations of trust, including inaccurate reporting, and delays or failures in permitting and other regulatory processes, are unacceptable and require immediate and decisive attention?
- Is risk evaluation conducted transparently, with all involved included in the evaluation process, and updated on an ongoing basis? What standards are being used?
In November 2013, The Temple of Understanding supported and co-sponsored the event “People of the Earth Address the Fukushima Crisis: Powerful technologies are out of control and are threatening the future of all life.” Chief Arvol Looking Horse, 19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe and Spiritual Leader of the Great Sioux Nation, spoke at the Church Center for the United Nations and presented a Council Statement on the crisis.
“Our collective future as human beings is in our hands. We must address the Fukushima nuclear crisis and all actions that may violate the Creator’s Natural Law. We have reached the crossroads of life and the end of our existence. We will avert this potentially catastrophic nuclear disaster by coming together with good minds and prayer as a global community of all faiths.”
