You know, I spent six years researching and
writing this book on nuclear weapons and now
I’ve spent almost a year talking about the
book, going to international meetings, meeting
with government officials about these issues
and it has not left me feeling apocalyptic.
I don’t feel doomed.
I don’t feel depressed.
I’m not medicated but here’s what it’s
left me feeling.
Deeply concerned.
I don’t think there’s anything inevitable
about a nuclear disaster, about a nuclear
catastrophe but it’s absolutely urgent that
we be aware of these risks and then we take,
you know, basic steps to reduce the danger.
And that’s one of the reasons that I wrote
the book.
That’s one of the reasons I’m still speaking
about it a year later.
And if I felt that we were doomed and I felt
that there was nothing that could be done
about this problem there are a lot more entertaining
things that I could be doing with my time.
So there are very simple things that we need
to push for that will greatly reduce the risk
as long as these nuclear weapons exist in
the world fully assembled they’re going
to present the danger of mass murder.
It’s just that simple.
But what we can do is reduce the number of
nuclear weapons in the world.
That’s hugely important.
We can prevent other countries from getting
nuclear weapons and the last step is we need
to lock up all the bomb grade uranium and
plutonium in the world to prevent terrorists
from getting a hold of it, stealing it and
making nuclear weapons.
President Obama has spoken of a vision of
a world without nuclear weapons, abolishing
nuclear weapons and I support that as well.
It was the policy of Ronald Reagan, President
Kennedy, all the way back to President Truman.
So someday I hope that will happen but before
that day comes we really, really need a public
debate and discussion on these issues and
we need to do everything we can in taking
concrete steps to reduce this danger.
There’s a natural kind of instinct to just
get into bed, pull the sheets over the head
and not deal with this or dig a bunker and,
you know, install high speed Internet and
protect yourself from it.
But there’s all kinds of ways that ordinary
people can get engaged in this issue, get
active on this issue and make change.
The two greatest dangers that we face in this
country, existential dangers, are climate
change and nuclear weapons.
And the thing about climate change is, you
know, maybe it can be reversed.
Maybe the harms can be, you know, reduced.
But the detonation of a nuclear weapon is
going to be instantaneous and it’s going
to be irreversible.
And so that’s something that I think we
really need to be focusing on as well as climate
change.
