An exhibit of photographs documenting the birth and growth of the movement that stopped -for thirty one years- the development of nuclear power in the US.  

A look at the people who, against all odds, made a difference.

15 . 22 X 29 Black & White archival pigment prints.

May 16th - June 1 2008-  RECEPTION May 16th  5 PM to 8PM

OVER THE RAINBOW GALLERY@ THE INSTITUTE FOR LIVING ETHICS - Corner of Broadway & Hudson, NYACK NY 10968.“……..So although the organization and events featured here–the Clamshell Alliance and its brave blockade of the Seabrook Nuke–are now past factors in the anti-nuclear movement, this collection of text and photographs is no mere exercise in nostalgia. The Seabrook action, the organizing and decision-making that preceded and followed, basically energized an opposition that swelled in localities and then legislatures around the country to stop the creation of new nuclear power plants in the United States. That embargo is now under challenge. And it is the spirit of the Clamshell that must be reawakened if we are to resist the intent of the industry….” Lionel Delevingne, Nyack May 2008  To the Village Square…we must carry the facts of atomic energy, from there must come America’s voice. 

Albert Einstein. June1946

For Immediate Release: January 25, 2008 
Contact: Linda Gunter, 301.455.5655

Gunter, walking tall… on track …. 1976

Takoma Park, MD - Paul Gunter of Beyond Nuclear, whose service to the cause of anti-nuclear activism spans three decades, has been named a recipient of the prestigious Jane Bagley Lehman (JBL) Award. Ms. Bagley Lehman was a founder of the Tides Foundation which will present the award in March.

Gunter joins fellow award winners - physicist Dr. Arjun Makhijani, president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, and Georgia activist, Glenn Carroll of Nuclear Watch South.

The JBL awards seek to recognize individuals who have exhibited a deep commitment to the public interest and whose work demonstrates innovative approaches to social change. The 2007 awards specifically sought individuals whose anti-nuclear work reaches wide audiences and successfully bridges the gap between grassroots activists and decision-makers.

“It’s an honor to be recognized and I truly appreciate the support I received from my fellow activists, all of whom deserve to share this award,” Gunter said. “I especially appreciate the decision of the Tides Foundation to recognize the importance of this issue today. We face a tsunami of well-funded propaganda from the nuclear power industry, all of it misleading and counter-productive to addressing climate change. The Tides Foundation has done enormous service in shining a spotlight not only on the contribution of three individuals but on all the incredible work that this movement, collectively, has contributed over the decades.”

Gunter began his anti-nuclear activism in the 1970s as co-founder of the country’s first opposition movement to nuclear power - the Clamshell Alliance - which fought construction of the Seabrook reactor in New Hampshire. Since then he has developed expertise as a meticulous watchdog over the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, exposing the agency’s persistent prioritizing of industry profit margins over public safety.

Jane Bagley Lehman co-founded the Tides Foundation in 1976 and was the Chair of the Board until her death in 1988.

How Creative Mass Non-Violence Beat a Nuke and Launched The Global Green Power Movement

by Harvey Wasserman, photographs by Lionel Delevingne. Published on Sunday, May 13, 2007 by CommonDreams.org

Thirty years ago this month, in the small seacoast town of Seabrook, New Hampshire, a force of mass non-violent green advocacy collided with the nuke establishment. A definitive victory over corporate power was won. And the global grassroots “No Nukes” movement emerged as one of the most important and effective in human history.

To read the whole article, view the photographs click this blue link:

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/05/13/1160/

30 years after the pivotal anti-nuke protest, the debate goes on

by Karl Meyer, published in Hampshire Life, 6/8/07 (Daily Hampshire Gazette, Northampton, MA)

On the morning of Saturday, April 30, 1977, 2,000 protesters from across New England converged on a salt marsh in Seabrook, N. H. The previous summer the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission had approved a permit for twin reactors to be built on coastal flats along the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border and anti-nuclear opponents began meeting to plan their response. (more…)

New Hampshire Magazine article by John Walters, photos by P.T. Sullivan, April 2006

Thirty years ago, a few Seacoast activists started a fight against nuclear power that would spread far beyond the Seabrook marshlands where it began.

To read the whole article, view the photographs and listen to “Acres of Clams” click this blue link:

http://www.nh.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060331/NHM01/60331005/-1/

Boston Globe article by Steven Rosenberg, April 29, 2007

Click on the blue link below to read this article:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/04/29/nuclear_reaction/?page=full

30 years after Clamshell standoff, the push for nuclear energy to reduce greenhouse gases is splitting environmentalists
by Tim Harper for the Toronto Star, published May 7 2007, also published by Common Dreams News Service
WASHINGTON - Thirty years ago, they stormed the New Hampshire coast, arriving by foot and by boat, to be met by state police, National Guard troops and a governor roaming the site in army fatigues. By the time they slapped the cuffs on Paul Gunter and more than 1,400 others known collectively as the Clamshell Alliance, the battle had already been won and a band of New England activists had stalled the Seabrook nuclear plant and essentially stopped the American nuclear industry.
To read the whole article click this blue link:
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/05/07/1033/

Photo Essay and text by Lionel Delevingne for Mother Jones.com, May 4, 2007

On April 30th, 1977, a rag tag army of 2,400 people descended, marching and singing, on Seabrook, New Hampshire, to protest the building of a new nuclear power station. Inspired by the civil rights movement and mentored by the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker group, the “Clamshell Alliance,” a small group of local activists had trained the crowd to express their collective frustration with the powerful nuclear lobby. The tactic was non-violent civil disobedience…
to view the photo essay and read the whole article click on this blue link:
http://www.motherjones.com/news/update/2007/05/30_ann_seabrook.html

by David Tirrell-Wysocki for AP, published by Common Dreams news service and elsewhere worldwide, April 27 2007

Thirty years ago this week, hundreds of anti-nuclear demonstrators trekked down a dusty road and set up camp next to piles of construction material destined to become the Seabrook nuclear power plant. Police dragged or carried away 1,414 protesters on May 1, 1977, ending the skirmish, but galvanizing a national anti-nuclear movement… to read the whole article click this blue link: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/04/28/830/

A tale of resistance to the Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant, and the role of the nuclear industry today
by Matt Kanner for the Wire, a NH Seacoast news service, April 26, 2007

About 150 anxious demonstrators occupied a marsh island in Seabrook on the morning of April 30, 1977. They waited for the tide to go down so they could trudge through the surrounding marsh and reach the construction site of what is now the Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant, where they would join about 2,000 other anti-nuclear activists… to read the whole article, click on this blue link:
http://www.wirenh.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2054&Itemid=18