Jerry Brown urges America to ‘wake up’ as Doomsday Clock moves closer to midnight
Former California Gov. Jerry Brown says he seldom finds himself at a loss for words. Thursday morning marked one of those times, when he was on hand for the Doomsday Clock to move to 100 seconds to midnight.
The Doomsday Clock, which is released annually by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, uses minutes to midnight as a measure of humanity’s proximity to existential cataclysm, such as nuclear war or irreversible climate change. For the first time in the clock’s 73 years, that proximity is measured not in minutes but in seconds.
The former governor was one of several dignitaries and officials on-hand Thursday morning for the unveiling of the clock; other notable names present included former United Nations Secretary Ban Ki-moon and former president of Ireland Mary Robinson.
“It’s very hard to find the words even to express the moment we now are in,” said Brown, who serves as executive chair of the Bulletin. “What you’re hearing this morning is really the voice of prophets of doom.”
The former Democratic governor chastised politicians on both the right and left for failing to take the threats of nuclear war, climate change and cyber warfare seriously.
“Even if there’s one in 100 chances that these men and women before you are correct, then we are truly in a dangerous moment,” Brown said. “But you would never know that from the president, from the Republican leadership or even from the Democratic leadership.”
Brown said that moving the clock closer to midnight should be used to “wake up America, wake up the world” while there’s still time to avert the looming crises.
“We’re not there yet. The world is not over. We have incredible opportunity to reverse the nuclear arms race, the carbon emissions and the headlong rush to ever-more-dangerous technology,” Brown said.
This story was originally published January 23, 2020 at 10:05 AM with the headline "Jerry Brown urges America to ‘wake up’ as Doomsday Clock moves closer to midnight."
