Bombplex Hearing Tuesday

My colleague John Arnold ably documented this morning what's at the heart of this week's federal Environmental Impact Statement hearings in New Mexico on the National Nuclear Security Administration's Complex 2030 proposal: the "bombplex", as the activists call it.

I'll be there tomorrow at the Albuquerque Convention Center (11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 6 to 10 p.m.). This is participatory little-d democracy at its finest, where the government rents a hall and invites y'all in to tell it what you think. If you care about nuclear weapons, whether you're for 'em or against 'em or hold some far more nuanced view in between, by all means come.

But I'll offer a caution: this hearing is not about whether the United States continues to build and maintain nuclear weapons. I will not be suprised if lots of folks stand to argue against the continued maintenance of our nuclear arsenal, because this is the only chance the public has to really talk about that issue and there are many people of good conscience who believe nuclear weapons to be wrong. But that's not what this hearing is about.

This hearing is instead about a more narrowly focused question: how to carry out the decision that has already been made to continue to build and maintain nuclear weapons for the foreseeable future. There's a good argument to be had about the bigger question, but unfortunately, there was no public hearing on that. So, for better or worse, Tuesday's hearing will have to do.