VICTORY! Coal Export Proposal in Longview, WA Conclusively Defeated!
Great news! In June, the US Supreme Court denied a petition to overturn Washington State's 2017 denial of water quality permits for Millennium Bulk Terminals' proposed coal export facility in Longview, WA. Multiple courts at the state and federal levels have now held that Washington State was within its rights to protect public health and safety from the increased air and water pollution that would have come with transporting coal along the Columbia River. With the Supreme Court's dismissal of this final legal appeal, this is the official end of this coal export proposal.
Read morePublic Health & Social Justice
All the major open-access slide shows on the Public Health and Social Justice website, curated by Oregon PSR Advisory Board Member Martin Donohoe, MD, have recently been updated (6/23/21 update). Open access means that all or a portion of any slide show can be used by anyone, with appropriate citation. The site addresses the social, economic, environmental, human rights, and cultural contributors to health and illness. Some of the content focuses on the medical humanities and the history of medicine.
Read moreWelcome to Our New Climate Justice Organizer, Samantha Hernandez
In May 2021, we welcomed Samantha Hernandez (pictured above) to the Oregon PSR staff as our new Climate Justice Organizer. Samantha will be supporting a wide range of Oregon PSR's Healthy Climate Program work including our advocacy efforts in coalitions to stop fossil fuels and nuclear power and advance a just and equitable transition to clean energy. She will also work on our partnership with the Oregon Justice Resource Center to re-frame mass incarceration as a public health crisis as well as issues relating to the intersection of public health and water quality and forests. Here's what Samantha has to say about joining Oregon PSR:
Read moreThis Must End: A Letter From a Colleague in Gaza
Dr. Yasser Abu Jamei (pictured above) is a dear friend and colleague in Gaza whom I met on a medical delegation to Gaza with Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility. He is psychiatrist and is the Director of Gaza Community Mental Health Program. You could not imagine a more gentle, thoughtful and lovely human being.
Our US tax dollars ($3.8 billion each year) go to the Israeli military. This assault and all the horrors now being perpetuated by the Israeli military are happening on our dime. Please speak up if you are outraged and despair at this current intensification of the violence and the disregard for human rights and human life. -Maxine Fookson, RN, MN, Oregon PSR Board Member
Read moreShare Your Stories As We Celebrate 40 Years!
Oregon PSR is celebrating our 40th year of action for a more healthy, peaceful, and just world. Since our founding, our dedicated members, volunteers, and donors have been the driving force behind our mission to bring the perspective and expertise of healthcare and public health to the interconnected movements for a healthy climate, a nuclear-free world, and a more safe, peaceful, and just society.
Read moreBecome an Oregon PSR Recurring Monthly Donor Today!
Oregon PSR is celebrating our 40th year of work for a more healthy, peaceful, and just world in 2021. We began from the powerful vision of our founders who sat on Dr. Karen Steingart’s living room floor and strategized about how a health message could help prevent nuclear war. Over the next forty years, our members, volunteers, and donors contributed their passion and leadership to the organization, bringing a broad public health frame to issues such as environmental justice, gun violence, and climate health, learning and growing along the way.
Read moreReverberations from Fukushima: 50 Japanese Poets Speak Out
This anthology, edited by Leah Stenson, conveys the enormity of Fukushima, the first nuclear disaster of the 21st Century on both the environmental and human scale. The second edition features all new prefatory material, including contributions by Nobel Peace Prize nominee Dr. Helen Caldicott, Fairewinds Energy Education founder Maggie Gundersen, and professor emerita Dr. Norma Field. The essays examine the status of Fukushima ten years after the disaster through the lens of social, political, and environmental concerns.
Read moreA Letter From Our Board President, Pat O’Herron, MD
What an extraordinary time for Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility to be celebrating our 40th anniversary. With the support of our members, donors, and volunteers, we’ve accomplished so much in these past four decades!
Challenging times can be times of profound growth and learning, and this has certainly been the case for Oregon PSR. The movements to promote peace and justice and to protect our climate continue to grow, and I encourage you to read about our ongoing work to make our world more just, peaceful, and healthy for all.
Read moreCelebrating 40 Years of Work for Health, Peace, & Justice
Oregon PSR is celebrating our 40th year of work for a more healthy, peaceful, and just world in 2021. We began from the powerful vision of our founders who sat on the living room floor in Dr. Karen Steingart’s house and strategized about how a health message could help prevent nuclear war. Over the next forty years, countless members, volunteers, and donors brought their passion and leadership to the organization, bringing a broad public health frame to issues such as environmental justice, gun violence, and climate health, learning and growing along the way.
Read moreMaking Connections Online for Peace & Justice
Though 2020 and the early months of 2021 have posed a unique set of challenges to Oregon PSR’s work, we continue to learn and implement new ways to grow our movement for a more healthy, just, and peaceful world. With the support of our members and volunteers, we have taken advantage of online meeting technologies to broaden the reach of our Peace Program efforts well beyond the borders of our state, involving new partners and reaching new audiences. If you missed any of our recent events, be sure to check them out on our website, Facebook page, or our new YouTube channel.
Read more