Changes are coming so quickly these days that it’s hard to address anything that isn’t bleeding and burning. And yet, some issues that are urgent are largely silent, that is, until they explode. We are on the brink of disaster. Nothing can compare with the immediate decimation of life on earth as we know it. With this in mind, and motivated by the passage of resolutions in other cities and towns in our area and throughout our commonwealth, nation and world, I am bringing a Resolution in Favor of a Nuclear Weapons Freeze to the Sunderland Town Meeting on April 25.

When I conceived of this idea it seemed a good gesture. Now it seems absolutely pressing. As the resolution opens, “The world is currently in a perilous position with regard to war and nuclear weapons use … A nuclear war would be the end of life on this planet as we know it … If humanity’s existence was a 24-hour clock where midnight represented apocalypse, then the world is 89 seconds to midnight, the closest we have ever been, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists....” (Greenfield Recorder, Jan 30, 2025)

What can one town do? Plenty. What we do in towns and municipalities adds up, town by town, city by city, village by village. What citizens around the world do, adds up. Politicians notice local actions. Citizens of towns, cities and the world have sway over politicians. They need our votes. As the Resolution states, “We are but one town in one nation, but we are world citizens, and regional statements make a difference in state, national and international decision-making, letting leaders know how the populace feels.”

This resolution has another benefit. Everyone who votes in its favor is more closely reminded of the issue. If the town of Sunderland decides to read the resolution in public settings it becomes even closer to people’s consciousness. The resolution continues, “Voting for such a statement such as this energizes citizens to become more involved as the subject comes up in the news.”

There are currently and likely will continue to be opportunities for us to work for passage of state and federal legislation, like today’s bill in the Legislature sponsored by the Warheads to Windmills Coalition. As their website states the bill will, “move the public fund out of weapons of mass destruction and climate risk. The logic is simple: our tax dollars should not fund destruction and killing. We should not be complicit in nor profit from weapons of mass destruction or the climate crisis.” Funds are to be moved to climate needs (https://warheadstowindmills.org/massachusetts-legislative-priorities/). 

So please consider three tasks: Contact your legislators to support this bill. A letter can be found at the above website. Create and pass a resolution for a nuclear weapons freeze in your town. And if you live in Sunderland, vote for our resolution on Friday, April 25 at 6:30 p.m. in the Sunderland Elementary School at the Sunderland Town Meeting.

Carrie Kline lives in Sunderland.