Jan./Feb. 1984 RAIN Page 21 was also concern about the measure's constitutionality and about the supremacy clause of the national government. Our lawyers, by this time busily engaged, assured us that the supremacy clause could allow the national government to supersede our ordinance if it so chose, but that possible supersedure in no way made the ordinance unconstitutional. Beyond this, the opposition focused on fear of a loss of economic latitude in attracting interested businesses—including those with non-nuclear products. There was apprehension that the ordinance would give an anti-progress, anti-business stigma to an already economically depressed area. Despite these concerns, the measure passed by a 53 percent to 43 percent margin, and the three "liberal" female candidates who had supported the measure were elected to the city council. (There were nine male candidates who waffled on or opposed the measure.) The nuclear free zone concept had received its first test on the west coast; it emerged in fine form. Shortly after the measure's passage, we began to receive numerous inquiries, first from other communities in Oregon, then gradually from all over the country. In response to this, we put together an organizer's booklet. How to Make Your Community a Nuclear Free Zone. It offers a step-by-step procedure, from drafting a proposal through the final stages of a campaign. We There was apprehension that the nuclear free zone ordinance would give an anti-progress, anti-business stigma to an already economically depressed area. discuss the mistakes that we made and how to avoid them as well as provide numerous pointers. So far we have sent out about 200 of these booklets. The nuclear free zone movement is currently taking root throughout America—previously it was a European phenomenon. In 1982 Garrett Park and Sykesville, Maryland, became the nation's first NFZs. There has also been the establishment of Nuclear Free America in Baltimore, which is the national free zone nerve center and clearinghouse. The National Free Zone Registry, which maintains a listing of individuals who wish to declare their homes, cars, gardens, etc., to be nuclear free zones, has also emerged within the past year. The Registry encourages national and international networking by putting registered free zoners in touch with each other. According to Nuclear Free America, there are about 26 communities nationwide that have passed some type A gathering at the Peace Festival near Grants Pass, Oregon of free zone ordinance. Probably the most prominent recent campaign was the one held in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Cambridge was the first community to vote on NFZ status while contending with community businesses that had nuclear-weapons-related contracts. The measure failed last November by an 18 percent margin after an expensive anti-free-zone media blitz helped to reverse the favorable public sentiment that polls showed months before the election. Millions of dollars in defense contracts would have been lost by passage of the measure, as well as many jobs. One of the fundamental objectives of the nuclear free zone movement is to establish basic community control. Our economy is currently addicted to defense contracts, and Reaganomics has only encouraged this. When a community realizes that its long-range vitality is undermined by this addiction, the result can be a strong sense of community empowerment. In Ashland, the process of becoming an NFZ brought with it a satisfying sense that we lived in a community that was willing to say "NO" to the nuclear industry and was ready to begin an examination of constructive alternatives. One of the most potentially viable alternatives involves the development of our bioregional identity. A bioregional approach emphasizes the need for political units whose identity is defined by the ecosystem that directly affects, surrounds, and informs the people who live in that particular region. Ideally, the residents of a community or particular environment will be the ones to make the decisions regarding that region. It is clear that the struggle to establish bioregional
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