Steve Erickson: A Lifetime of Social Activism
Longtime Salt Lake City activist sits down with Erica Lukes
Steve Erickson became involved in activism as a student at Columbia University during the Vietnam years and has been organizing protest movements ever since. He now resides in Salt Lake City, where he believes the most pressing issues in the world today are those surrounding war and peace.
Mr. Erickson founded the Citizens Education Project, which mounted substantial resistance in the 1980s to weapons research and development at Dugway Proving Ground. He successfully prevented the U.S. Army from building a biological aerosol testing facility intended to experiment with some of the world’s most deadly pathogens for potential germ warfare use. It was likely the first time a grassroots campaign blocked a biological weapons program.
He has similarly been a watchdog of Utah nuclear weapons project proposals, conducting opposition to missile and electronic warfare testing. Mr. Erickson worked with “Downwinders” to stop nuclear testing and obtain justice for victims and survivors of radioactive fallout exposure. He took a leading role in opposing a Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage facility.
Mr. Erickson's activism included lobbying at regional and state levels to develop affordable housing plans. He has extensive experience advocating for affordable housing and issues that challenge the under-served.
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