PSR Monitor

New white paper on climate and health

We are proud to present PSR board member Alan Lockwood's new white paper, Heat Fire Water: How Climate Change Has Created a Public Health Emergency. Dr. Lockwood draws on the three big climate reports of last fall—the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, the IPCC special report Global Warming of 1.5° C, and the Fourth National Climate Assessment: Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States—to create a uniquely focused summary of climate change's implications for health, organized, as the title suggests, around the major axes of climate change effects in the U.S.

Medical schools now moving to teach future doctors to address climate change

In a healthy and welcome trend, physicians are persuading medical schools to teach the nation’s future doctors about the connection between climate and health, so our future health professionals are prepared to address the realities of the climate crisis’s impact on their patients and communities.

PSR Opposes LNG-by-Rail

PSR opposes the Trump Administration's reckless proposal to allow liquefied natural gas (LNG) to be hauled by train. If such a train were to derail, the result could be a "gas bomb"—a fire so intense that emergency responders could not put it out.

AMA adopts sweeping climate change education policy

The American Medical Association (AMA) adopted at its June 2019 meeting a sweeping new policy that pledges the organization to promote education for medical students and physicians on the topic of the health threats from climate change.

Recent heat wave kills six, harms health of others

Last month's heat wave across the country had lethal consequences. According to estimates, six people have died from heat-related illnesses. Millions more endured the heat and may suffer subsequent health repercussions. The East Coast and Midwest experienced rare heat indexes climbing past 110°F.

PSR Chapters Focus on Nuclear Weapons in August Recess Meetings

On August 6, activists from PSR Los Angeles, Beyond the Bomb, Nuclear Free Schools, Vets for Peace, and Peace Action, met with Representative Adam Schiff, Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, to discuss Representative Adam Smith's No First Use legislation (H.R. 921). The bill simply states it is the policy of the United States not to use nuclear weapons, unless the United States or our treaty allies are attacked with nuclear weapons first. This meeting with Schiff fell on the 74th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, a sobering reminder of the horrors that nuclear weapons can unleash.

Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 2019

Seventy-four years ago, the United States dropped nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two of the most horrific acts of warfare in history. This month, PSR chapters and other organizations gathered at 73 events around the country to commemorate these attacks and urge our leaders to prevent such a horror from ever happening again. Check out our album featuring photo highlights from some of those events here.

Join PSR and UCS on Sept. 25 for a webinar on Back from the Brink

Union of Concerned Scientists and PSR are proud to be co-hosting a webinar to highlight the Back from the Brink Campaign on September 25. Back from the Brink: The Call to Prevent Nuclear War is a national grassroots initiative seeking to fundamentally change U.S. nuclear weapons policy and lead us away from the dangerous path we are on. The Call lays out five common-sense steps that the United States should take to reform its nuclear policy.

Join us on Wednesday, Sept. 25 at 5 Pacific/8 Eastern. For questions or to RSVP, please email [email protected]. More details soon to come.

2019 Visionary Leaders Awards

Join PSR for the Visionary Leaders Awards Reception, on Thursday, November 7th, 2019 in Washington, DC. This year, PSR will be presenting Dr. Helen Caldicott with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her internationally renowned work to educate the public about the health hazards of nuclear war. Our other honorees include: Marylia Kelley, Co-Founder and Executive Director of TriValley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment), Kelly Campbell and Regna Merritt, Chapter Leaders of Oregon PSR and the Sunrise Movement, a youth-led nonprofit pushing immediate political action on climate change.

The event will begin with a free symposium on nuclear war and climate change keynoted by Dr. Caldicott from 2:00 - 4:00 pm, followed by the Visionary Leaders Awards reception from 6:00 - 9:00 pm. Early bird prices end August 31st; get your tickets today!

PSR Actions

Ask the presidential candidates about climate change!

Citizen advocacy for climate action now: 100% clean energy economy

In the news

How doctors convinced the world the planet was worth fighting for
The Conversation - Aug 25
Highlights PSR's anti-nuclear weapons work and work to get the broader medical community to respond to the climate crisis

It's time to listen to doctors on the risks of climate change
Todd Sack, MD, PSR board member, PSR Florida, The Florida Times-Union - Aug 25

Preventing Nuclear War
Robert Dodge, PSR board member, PSR-Los Angeles, The New York Times - Aug 22

Human Health on an Ailing Planet—Historical Perspectives on Our Future
New England Journal of Medicine - Aug 22
Highlights PSR's anti-nuclear weapons work and work to get the broader medical community to respond to the climate crisis

Nuclear Free Future: Hiroshima/Nagasaki Vigils - Why Now?
Channel 17/Town Meeting Television - Aug 19
Interview with John Reuwer, MD, Greater Boston PSR, discussing Back from the Brink

Commentary: Fracking and flaring a danger to families, oil field workers
Grand Forks Herald - Aug 19
References latest edition of fracking science Compendium co-authored by PSR and Concerned Health Professionals of NY (CHPNY)

Nuclear weapons are a threat to our world
Bert Crain, MD, Western North Carolina PSR, The Hickory Record - Aug 16

Nuclear weapons, no first use: "It makes the world safer"
Statement by Jeff Carter, PSR Executive Director, Global Research - Aug 14

A public health emergency
PSR member Alan Peterson, MD, LNP - Aug 12

Let's eliminate nuclear weapons now
Lynn Ringenberg, MD, PSR Florida, Tampa Bay Times - Aug 12

Healthy children more important than gas fracking
Ned Ketyer, MD, Philadelphia PSR, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Aug 9

How we learned to hate the bomb
The Progressive - Aug 9
Quotes Dr. Ira Helfand, PSR board member, and Martin Fleck, PSR's Nuclear Weapons Abolition Program Director

Letter to the editor on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Stephen Wall, MD, PSR member, The Mountaineer - Aug 9

Weymouth, Braintree, Hingham, Quincy appeal compressor permit
Wicked Local Hingham - Aug 9
References Greater Boston PSR and their recent findings on new air quality data

Congressional delegation should press for nuclear de-escalation
Maine State Rep. Benjamin Collings, Portland Press Herald - Aug 8

Driller, public health consultant debate correlation-versus-causation at fracking hearing
The Tribune Review - Aug 8
Quotes Laura Dagley, Philadelphia PSR, and references PSR and the newest edition of the fracking science Compendium

U.S. must turn back from nuclear brink
Maine State Senator Geoff Gratwick, Bangor Daily News - Aug 8

Banning of nuclear weapons need of the hour
Arun Mitra, MD, IPPNW Co-President, The Shillong Times - Aug 7
References PSR's Nuclear Famine report and PSR's statement on U.S. withdrawal from the INF Treaty

Hiroshima and the new arms race—no winners
Robert Dodge, MD, PSR-Los Angeles, PSR board member, Common Dreams - Aug 6

On nuclear anniversaries, support no-first-use policy
Chris Covert-Bowlds, MD, Washington PSR, The Seattle Times - Aug 5

Report: 'No evidence that fracking can operate without threatening public health'
DeSmog Blog - Aug 5
Covers PSR and CHPNY's 6th edition of the fracking science Compendium

The U.S. should never start a nuclear war
Olivia Alperstein, PSR Media Relations Manager, OtherWords - Aug 2

The research is in: Stop fracking ASAP
Barb Gottlieb, PSR Environment and Health Program Director, OtherWords - Jul 31

Physicians and the threat of nuclear war
The ASCO Post - Jul 25

Interview with Dr. Ira Helfand, IPPNW, PSR board member
Pressenza - Jul 22