Who We Are
The Treaty Alignment Campaign is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to the total elimination of nuclear weapons and fossil fuels. All the human, financial and political resources wasted on nuclear weapons could be used to solve – and pay for – the remaining challenges to a complete decarbonization of the economy, thus saving the planet from two existential threats at once.
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW, or “Nuclear Ban Treaty”), agreed in 2017 by 122 countries at the United Nations, bans everything to do with nuclear weapons, no “ands”, “ifs” or “buts”! This treaty represents the overwhelming consensus of world public opinion on what can and must be done to save this planet from the threat posed by nuclear weapons. So long as these weapons exist, there is the increasing possibility of their use.
The United States can and must sign the TPNW as a first step towards the total elimination of these weapons. Prior to ratification by the Senate and entry into force of the treaty for the United States, the US should work with the other 8 nuclear-armed nations to ensure this leads to the complete, verifiable and irreversible elimination of all nuclear weapons from all countries.
We are already in the midst of a climate crisis, but to avoid a climate catastrophe that could make this planet uninhabitable, greenhouse gas emissions must be urgently and drastically curtailed. The Paris Agreement does not even mention fossil fuels, and yet 86% of global CO2 emissions (and nearly 80% of all greenhouse gas emissions, including methane, etc) are from the burning of fossil fuels. Nothing is more important to restoring a sustainable climate than ending all burning of fossil fuels as soon as possible.
A new Fossil Fuel Treaty would make everything to do with the continued burning of fossil fuels as illegal as the continued production and maintenance of nuclear weapons. These two treaties, above all, put pressure on the private companies which are involved in both these industries – and which operate all across the globe.
The Treaty Alignment Campaign is committed to using the Nuclear Ban Treaty and a future Fossil Fuel Treaty as tools to educate people across the US to support the elimination of both nuclear weapons and fossil fuels for the sake of our survival.
The Campaign focuses specifically on getting individuals, faith communities, colleges, banks, businesses and other organizations and institutions to “align” themselves with these international agreements, by disconnecting and divesting, as far as possible, from both fossil fuels and the nuclear weapons industry. This sends a powerful message: The age of nuclear weapons and fossil fuels is now over, and we must move on to a different way of relating to the rest of the world and to the planet.
The Treaty Alignment Campaign is now coordinating, and raising funds for, the tax-deductible (501c3) work of the Warheads to Windmills Coalition. Donations for this work can be made out to: Warheads to Windmills.
The Treaty Compliance Campaign offers:
- EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS to debunk myths and shift paradigms. Nuclear weapons are inhumane, and they are now illegal under international law. We don’t “need” nuclear weapons to be “safe.” In fact, they’re obscenely expensive, unthinkably dangerous, and militarily obsolete. They exist to make a large amount of money for a small number of corporations. They must be eliminated — before they eliminate us.
- DIVESTMENT TOOLS for individuals and organizations who don’t want their money to support preparations for global annihilation.
Our sister organization, NuclearBan.US, is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit that works to build POLITICAL SUPPORT for the Treaty in the US. They’re supporting city, state, and national legislation to shift funding from nuclear weapons of mass extinction to green technologies and other pressing human needs.
We share a goal: for the US and the other 8 nuclear-armed nations to sign and ratify the Nuclear Ban Treaty and work together to dismantle every single bomb.
Meet the Team
Vicki Elson, Executive Director
When Vicki Elson became a mom in 1981, she became acutely concerned about protecting her beautiful children from nuclear wars and nuclear accidents. She thought she was neurotic, and she told herself to stop worrying so much. She spent 35 years raising her kids and grandkids and making herself happy by working as a childbirth educator, filmmaker, and labor support “doula.” But after Fukushima she started worrying again, and she realized that she’s not neurotic at all — it’s a crazy world where the profits of a few put the entire planet in unspeakable danger.
In July 2017, she had a life-changing opportunity to witness the U.N. negotiations for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and she watched the roomful of ambassadors break all their own rules (no clapping, no hugging) when the Treaty was agreed. Now she makes herself happy by doing something constructive about nuclear weapons: helping citizens take action toward total abolition. She thinks that’s an even more important way to help babies and families to live happy, healthy lives. She also writes little songs to inspire citizen action.
Timmon Wallis, Administration and Finance Officer
Timmon Milne Wallis holds a PhD in Peace Studies from Bradford University. He is currently the director of the Quaker Council on European Affairs. He has served as executive director of Nonviolent Peaceforce, and he has directed peace-building projects in Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Northern Ireland, Kosovo, Georgia, Myanmar, Chechnya, Croatia, Sri Lanka, Philippines, and South Sudan.
He has also served as editor of Peace News, as director of the National Peace Council (UK), as international secretary of Peace Brigades International, as training manager for International Alert, and as programme manager for Quakers in Britain. He was the founder and director of Peaceworkers UK.
His book, Disarming the Nuclear Argument: The Truth About Nuclear Weapons, analyzes the cost, accident risk, and legality of nuclear weapons, and the absurdity of the whole concept of perpetuating nuclear weapons as “deterrence.” The book played a role in the successful July 2017 United Nations negotiations for a Nuclear Ban Treaty, and it is a handbook for those seeking a safer, saner world.
Board Members
Nick Cantrell, President
Lois Gagnon, Clerk
Jeff Korff, Treasurer