Community Currency - 06/02/11

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Empowering Citizens, Monitoring and Halting the Nuclear Industry

Ed Ellsworth has been working hard the past two months to help citizens monitor the radiation spewing at Fukushima and tonetwork online. He is uniquely qualified to be playing such a heroic role in empowering people and challenging the nuclear industry.

His considerable technical skills have been put to good use over the past several decades, when he teamed up with one of the great philanthropists of San Francisco, Henry Dakin. Ed worked with Henry on book projects like Information Moscow. Ed started The Dolphin Network newsletter at the at Henry's famous 3220 offices, using the new Postscript printing technology. Ed purchased his Linotronic typesetter and Oscar-Fisher film processing equipment in 1989, and used it to start Pinnacle Type (near the TransAmerica Building, San Francisco). He worked with Henry on various projects with Washington Research Institute and the 3220 Gallery penthouse gathering space. They used to monitor the Molniya satellite, and help various citizen-to-citizen peace and environmental projects. At 3220, Ed managed the building's T1 internet connection and supported many groups that started or came through there. 

Dan Sythe (International Medcom), Ed and Henry (Washington Research Institute) put a remote geiger counter radiation detection network around Chernobyl in the mid-80’s. The Chernobyl plant was venting radioactive gases, without warning the surrounding population. The Chernobyl nuclear accident occurred on 26 April 1986, at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. It was considered the worst nuclear power plant accident in history, until Fukushima. Ed worked on the petition drive campaign for Green Action Japan. He also worked with Dan Sythe on geigercounter.com. Dan just took some geiger counters to be donated to Japan.

The earthquake, tsunami, nuclear meltdowns have triggered an enormous response from citizens in Japan and throughout the world. People are organizing with renewed vigor against nuclear power and pressuring their governments to shut down nuclear plants and halt the construction of new nuclear facilities. Despite false assurances, lack of transparency, overt support of the nuclear industry, government officials are facing a rising tide of opposition as citizens educate themselves and others about the harmful effects of radiation, the inadequacy of the nuclear industry to protect the public from radiation and the nuclear wastes that it continues to generate. The ability of citizens to monitor their air, water, soil, food is critical to holding the nuclear industry and government accountable for their actions and inactions and reining in a suicidal technology. Ed Ellsworth has a unique background and insight into using communications technologies to benefit and empower activists. His website, enlightenedfilms.com has a wealth of information, links, films to raise awareness on critical issues. I have known him for years, but never realized until recently the depth and breadth of his work and knowledge.

The International Forum on Globalization and GreenpeaceUSA have also been working in solidarity with the people of Japan and the world to alleviate the situation in Japan and halt the nuclear industry from expanding. Please sign the Petition to roll back reckless radiation limits and protect hundreds of thousands of Japanese children from a lifetime of cancer fear.  Support the No Nukes Actionrally at the Japanese Consulate, June 10th in San Francisco, in solidarity with No Nuclear Power in Japan, 6.11 in Tokyo and New York.