Beyond Nuclear honors Terry Lodge with Dr. Judith Johnsrud "Unsung Hero" Award at ANA's 30th annual DC Days
Kevin Kamps (left) presents Terry Lodge with the 2018 Dr. Judith Johnsrud "Unsung Hero" award. Photo by Rick Wayman, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.Beyond Nuclear's radioactive waste specialist, Kevin Kamps, presented the fifth Dr. Judith H. Johnsrud "Unsung Hero Award" to attorney Terry J. Lodge, at the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability's (ANA) 30th annual D.C. Days awards ceremony at the Gold Room in Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill on May 22, 2018.
Read Kevin's introduction of Terry, here.
Read Terry's acceptance speech, here.
Other ANA awardees this year included U.S. Representative Barbara Lee (Democrat-California); U.S. Senator Ed Markey (D-MA); Susan Gordan of MASE (Multi-Cultural Alliance for a Safe Environment in New Mexico), for her 17 years of service to ANA as its past executive director; and Dianne Valentin, board president of Georgia WAND (Women's Action for New Directions), as the 2018 Bill Mitchell Grassroots Activist of the Year awardee. See the D.C. Days awards reception announcement/invitation, here.
The past winners of the Dr. Judith H. Johnsrud "Unsung Hero" Award are:
2014 -- Diane D'Arrigo, Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS)
2015 -- Michael Keegan, Coalition for a Nuclear-Free Great Lakes and Don't Waste Michigan
2016 -- Kay Cumbow, Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination (CACC) and Great Lakes Environmental Alliance
2017 -- David Kraft, Nuclear Energy Information Service of Chicago.
ANA is a coalition of three-dozen community watch-dog groups, living in the shadows of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear weapons complex. Beyond Nuclear joined ANA as one of our first acts after the formation of our organization in 2007.
See a pamphlet about ANA, here.
admin
Wednesday is Loud & Clear's regular segment Beyond Nuclear, looking at nuclear issues including weapons, energy, waste, and the future of nuclear technology in the United States. Today, the hosts interview award-winning anti-nuclear activists about their work. Kevin Kamps, the Radioactive Waste Watchdog at the organization Beyond Nuclear; Terry Lodge, anti-nuclear attorney and 2018 awardee of the Judith Johnsrud Unsung Hero Award; and David Kraft, co-founder of the Nuclear Energy Information Service and 2017 awardee of the Judith Johnsrud Unsung Hero Award, join the show. (Listen to the segment beginning at the 28 minute 25 second mark, and ending at the 58 minute 5 second mark, of the 115 minute 41 second entirety of the show.)
admin
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 24, 2018
CONTACT:
Tish O’Dell, Ohio Community Organizer
440-552-6774
Ohio Attorney & Community Rights Advocate Receives the 2018 Johnsrud Unsung Heroes Award
TOLEDO, OHIO: This week, one of Ohio’s most dedicated environmental attorneys, Terry Lodge, received the 2018 Johnsrud Unsung Heroes Award in Washington, D.C. Dr. Judith Johnsrud was a geographer who worked diligently for more than 50 years to protect communities from nuclear power in all its phases.
Lodge began practicing law in 1978. He has fought corporate welfare, defended peaceful protestors, and worked to advance other issues protecting people and nature. However, he is most well-known for his environmental efforts. For decades, Lodge has battled nuclear power plants, mountaintop removal, pipeline construction, and fracking wells. Today, he also works tirelessly in partnership with the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) to advance, protect, and defend Ohio communities’ democratic and environmental rights.
Dr. Johnsrud recognized what the anti-nuclear movement was up against. She stated, "[We must] recognize that [nuclear power] is a political problem and that problem lies in the law of the United States."
Lodge concurs, recognizing that the problem we face in protecting our communities from a multitude of environmental harms lies in this same law – and he sees local community democracy as the most viable remedy. In his address accepting the award, Lodge stated,
“Rediscovering and using … [our] forgotten tools [of local control and democracy] makes voting on issues a form of civil disobedience. How about a local ban on hauling spent fuel through your town? Give your town the gift of criminal punishments for transports of weapons or waste through it. Legislate your county’s denial of consent to a radwaste dump. Legislate nature’s right to exist; prohibit air, soil and water from exposure to nuclear perils and make citizens the legal guardians with the power to sue on behalf of nature. These changes are utterly necessary for the survival of the planet.”
About CELDF — Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund
The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund is a non-profit, public interest law firm providing free and affordable legal services to communities facing threats to their local environment, local agriculture, local economy, and quality of life. Its mission is to build sustainable communities by assisting people to assert their right to local self-government and the rights of nature.
admin
The Toledo Blade has reported on this story in an article entitled "Activist-attorney Terry Lodge receives national award." Here is the text of the entire article:
Toledo lawyer Terry Lodge is this year’s recipient of the Johnsrud Unsung Heroes Award presented by the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability, a coalition of more than 30 activist groups across the nation that promote non violence and less reliance on nuclear power.
The award, presented Tuesday at the alliance’s 30th annual awards gala in Washington, is named after the late Judith Johnsrud, a geographer “who worked diligently for more than 50 years to protect communities from nuclear power in all its phases,” the alliance said.
Mr. Lodge, who specializes in environmental and energy issues, has been a lawyer since the late 1970s. He is associated with the nonprofit Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, which offers free and affordable legal services.
In his acceptance speech, he encouraged more active participation in democracy.
“Legislate nature’s right to exist; prohibit air, soil and water from exposure to nuclear perils and make citizens the legal guardians with the power to sue on behalf of nature,” Mr. Lodge said.
Another area activist, Michael Keegan of Monroe, received the award in 2015 for his many years as a nuclear watchdog. Another Michigan activist, Kay Cumbow of St. Clair County, was the award recipient in 2016.
admin
Ellen Thomas of the Proposition One Committee has provided a video recording of Kevin's presentation, and Terry's acceptance, of the Dr. Judith H. Johnsrud "Unsung Hero" Award for anti-nuclear power activism. Thanks Ellen!