Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility

Last night's election was a huge victory for our community and for a more healthy and just Oregon. The two ballot measures that Oregon PSR has been working on tirelessly for months went our way, with the Portland Clean Energy Initiative passing and the anti-immigrant Measure 105 being resoundingly defeated. With your help, we brought the voice of public health to the hard-working, diverse coalitions working on both of these ballot measures. Thanks so much to all of you who have donated your time and money, knocked on doors, made phone calls, written letters, and otherwise been involved in these efforts!

Portland is awash in a toxic stew that is impacting the elderly, vulnerable and particularly children with particulate exposure that causes everything from dementia to lower IQ and attention deficits.

A major cause is diesel fuel, found in heavy concentrations in SE Portland’s Brooklyn Railyards, along highways and within local streets.

"Global climate change is the biggest public health emergency of our time. Air pollution and greenhouse gases present both immediate and indirect harm to people living across the globe, especially those who already are experiencing discrimination or economic hardship.

The science is clear: we must stop mining and fracking for coal, oil and gas and rapidly transition to clean energy to preserve a healthy, life-sustaining planet.

Investing in untested small modular nuclear reactor projects, as the U.S. Department of Energy just did with Oregon's NuScale Power to the tune of $40 million, is not a part of that transition. Nuclear power has never been and never will be clean energy."

We’ve celebrated each permit denial and each withdrawal of an application for a new coal terminal, but after multiple denials for the terminal proposed in Longview, WA, Big Coal and its venture capitalists did not go silently into the night. Emboldened by the pro-coal Trump administration, Millennium Bulk Terminals (MBT) is aggressively pushing its dirty project on a bigger stage. We are holding them off.

As you may know, Oregon PSR has worked with an amazing group of volunteers to bring Mustafa, who was seriously injured as a small child by the explosion of a US bomb in Fallujah in 2002, to Oregon for much-needed medical treatment. Thanks so much to all of you who have supported these efforts! We wanted to give you an update on Mustafa, whose situation clearly illustrates the unacceptable human health effects of war.

The Jordan Cove Energy Project and Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline (PCGP) in SW Oregon pose severe threats to health and safety and the stability of our climate. Oregon PSR’s Healthy Climate Action Team seeks to prevent harms associated with this proposed Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) facility served by a 229-mile fracked-gas pipeline. We’re excited to work in concert with local partners, the new Power Past Fracked Gas coalition, and a number of Pacific Northwest tribes.

Oregon PSR has been hard at work on passing what CNN commentator Van Jones has called “the most important ballot measure in the country”: The Portland Clean Energy Initiative (Measure 26-201). With the November 6^th Election Day 2018 fast approaching, we ask our members in Portland to vote YES, volunteer, and donate to help us win a landslide victory for this important measure. If passed, it will be the first environmental policy initiative created and led by organizations representing low-income people and communities of color in Oregon’s history.

Little did I know, when I took on the role of Executive Director at Oregon PSR nine years ago, that it would become my dream job. What a privilege to work every day on the issues that matter most to the survival of the world. How lucky I am to work with a team of incredible staff and passionate volunteers as we develop new partnerships to expand the movement for climate justice, encourage our congressional delegation to become leaders for nuclear disarmament, and deepen our understanding of how to become effective accomplices to communities most impacted by environmental injustice, racism, and militarism.

A majority of members of a public committee guiding a study about the potential health risks of the proposed Millennium Bulk Terminal’s coal terminal are recommending that the dock should not be built.

Read the Earthfix story quoting Oregon PSR Executive Director, Kelly Campbell. 

Learn more about the hearing and RSVP.