WHEREAS, The United States holds over 5,000 nuclear weapons, most of which are more powerful than the U.S. atomic bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki and which pose a devastating and existential threat to humanity; and
WHEREAS, President Trump recently declared that the United States would restart testing nuclear weapons for the first time in 30 years, increasing the threat of global nuclear war and a continued arms race; and
WHEREAS, Nuclear testing results in radioactive material that causes environmental and health hazards, as well as damage to infrastructure; and
WHEREAS, President Trump recently granted permission for a nuclear submarine to be built right here at the Navy Yard in Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, The City Council of Philadelphia previously passed resolution 190241, u
rging the United States of America's federal government to enter the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which calls for the abolition of nuclear weapons among all United Nations member states, to prevent the threat of nuclear war and devastating humanitarian consequences to Philadelphia and our international neighbors
; and
WHEREAS, The City of Philadelphia Board of Pensions and Retirement holds investments in nuclear weapons and systems manufacturing, despite already having divested from private prisons and gun manufactures; and
WHEREAS, The City Council of Philadelphia previously passed resolution 210010, calling on the City of Philadelphia Board of Pensions and Retirement to adopt Environmental Social Governance criteria and request and disclose climate risk information from all relevant parties; and
WHEREAS, Detoniation of even a small fraction of nuclear weapons would cause large-scale climate and agricultural disruption such that the lives and food security of more than two billion people could be at risk; and
WHEREAS, It is a moral obligation for the City of Philadelphia to invest in what our residents need such as safe and healthy homes, affordable transit, working utilities, childcare, and more rather than weapons that threaten life on our planet; and
WHEREAS, The Council of the City of Philadelphia urges the City of Philadelphia Board of Pensions and Retirement follow suit and reinvest the less than 1% of its investments in nuclear weapons into Philadelphia’s local economy; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, THAT THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, Urges the City of Philadelphia to make moral investments and weigh the threat that nuclear weapons pose to all of humanity and our environment in light of the Trump administration’s decision to restart testing of nuclear weapons and proposal to build a nuclear submarine right here in Philadelphia.
End