Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility

It is a little staggering to reflect on everything that has happened over the past year: wildfires and ice storms destroying communities in Oregon and beyond and demonstrating that climate chaos is upon us; the deadliest wave of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the arrival of approved vaccines; and a presidential election that signaled the end of the Trump Administration alongside a very disturbing reminder on January 6th that the violent right-wing extremism and white nationalism of Trumpism is still with us.

At the beginning of 2020, Oregon PSR began a campaign to close the waste incinerator that has been in operation for 34 years in Brooks, Oregon, just north of Salem. This incinerator has been burning not only residential waste but also out-of-state medical waste which, when burned, releases toxic chemicals into the air that our communities breathe. Our work has continued despite the year-long struggles over COVID-19, wildfires, and, more recently, severe winter weather.

Mass incarceration is a major public health issue in the United States. With over 2 million people currently incarcerated, the US leads the world by far in incarceration rates. The negative health impacts created by mass incarceration are present not only in prisons, but also in the communities that prisons are located and the communities where adults in custody come from, which are disproportionately lower income communities and communities of color.

As we celebrate our 40th year of work in 2021, we are asking members who believe in this organization to consider investing in the next 40 years. In addition to making one-time donations, here are four other ways that you can support our work.

Oregon PSR Program Assistant Katy Morrow recently conducted an online interview with Catherine Bax, PA (pictured here), a member of our Healthy Climate Action Team.

How long have you been a part of Oregon PSR?

“I feel like I’ve always been peripherally involved in PSR. In the 70s, when living in Los Angeles, my involvement primarily consisted of participating in anti-nuke actions and Hiroshima/Nagasaki memorials every year. We moved to Portland in 1993 but I didn’t really start volunteering with Oregon PSR until about 2014 after I’d retired from Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center.”

In early March 2021, our Executive Director Kelly Campbell led an interactive skills-building workshop titled Growing the Nuclear Abolition Movement through Local Resolutions during the Ending Nuclear Weapons Before They End Us online conference organized by Back from the Brink and the Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). 

Mass incarceration is a major public health issue in the United States. With over 2 million people currently incarcerated, the US leads the world in incarceration rates. The negative health impacts created by mass incarceration are present not only in prisons, but also the communities that prisons are located in and the communities where adults in custody come from, which are disproportionately low income and communities of color.

Thanks so much for joining us for Remembering Fukushima 10 Years Later: A Film Screening & Panel Discussion. In case you missed any of the panel discussion webinar, or to watch it again, you can view video of the panel discussion here.

We were honored to have the filmmaker, Hitomi Kamanaka, along with panel members Norma Field, Ruiko Muto, and Leona Morgan, discuss the film and the disastrous impacts on communities from radioactive contamination released from the explosions at the Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima on March 11th, 2011. Our distinguished panelists also shared their thoughts on nuclear technologies, from uranium mining at the beginning of the nuclear cycle to the precarious and dangerous burial of nuclear wastes.

In many ways, the state of Oregon has been at a crossroads: amid the unprecedented and traumatic crises of COVID-19, wildfires, and white supremacy, our state has been faced with choices between the status quo or a bold path forward towards a healthy and livable future. We cannot afford to go “back to normal” when “normal” wasn’t working for far too many people. Instead, our lawmakers have the opportunity to lay a foundation for a world where everyone is treated fairly, lives in a healthy home, and has a bright future.

Oregon PSR and Oregon Justice Resource Center are continuing our discussion on mass incarceration and public health with regard to Oregon state prisons and adults in custody in Oregon. We are entering into our second year of working together to both better understand and better advocate for the health and well-being of adults in custody in Oregon state prisons.