The Committee to Bridge the Gap came into being in a country torn apart by the Vietnam War. Responding to the moral imperative to work to end the horrors of the war, and catalyzed by the killings at Kent and Jackson State at home, a “Committee to Bridge the Gap” was formed, aimed at bridging the generation gap and attempting to change community views of the war and other issues that divided the country. We worked night and day for the following five years to help end the war. After the bombs and napalm finally stopped, Bridge the Gap shifted focus to work for environmental and social justice and fighting nuclear dangers of all kinds.
Committee to Bridge the Gap from 1970 to now:
- The shutdown of the UCLA reactor, which insecurely stored weapons-grade uranium, and the subsequent banning of such uranium in scores of reactors here and abroad, enough for hundreds of atomic bombs.
- The banning internationally of dumping radioactive wastes in the ocean.
- The defeat of the proposal to dump nuclear waste at Ward Valley, which could have contaminated the Colorado River for thousands of generations.
- The closure of the Department of Energy’s Hanford N reactor and the ending of U.S. and Russian production of plutonium for nuclear weapons.
- The ending of U.S. plans to place in orbit nuclear reactors and bombs to power “Star Wars” battle stations.
- The closure of the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant, which could have devastated much of Southern California from radioactive fallout, were there an accident or terrorist attack.
- The shutdown of the Santa Susana Field Lab nuclear facility, believed to be the first time a community succeeded in shutting down an unsafe Dept. of Energy nuclear site.
- The adoption of regulations requiring nuclear plants to be protected against truck bombs.
Currently, the Committee to Bridge the Gap continues to fight against the existential threats of nuclear war and climate change.