Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility

Nuclear weapons are in the news and on people’s minds lately in a way that we haven’t seen in decades. Taking advantage of this heightened awareness, Oregon PSR has been proactive this year in raising the topic of nuclear disarmament in innovative ways and with new audiences, building the case for nuclear abolition as a social justice concern that is deeply connected to the economic, racial, and environmental justice issues being addressed by growing and increasingly interconnected progressive movements. While recent news such as Trump pulling out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and increased conflict between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan are worrisome, the success of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (commonly called the Nuclear Ban Treaty) gives us a legal framework for a path to make the possibility a nuclear weapons-free world a reality.

Portland voters made history in November 2018: Measure 26-201 passed by 65%, making the Portland Clean Energy Initiative the first-ever Oregon environmental initiative created and led by communities of color. Oregon PSR was pleased to support this incredible measure by gathering signatures, getting out the vote, adding staff capacity to the campaign’s Steering Committee, field team, and communications team as well as publishing a new report detailing the initiative's remedies to existing health inequities.

Physicians for Social Responsibility and fellow plaintiffs just won a landmark victory for climate and health as a federal judge rejected the leasing of public lands for fracking and ordered a halt to drilling on more than 300,000 acres in Wyoming.

While the ruling applies to Wyoming, the precedent implicates oil and gas leases on public lands across the American West and is a major rebuke to the Trump administration’s anti-environment, anti-climate agenda.

More than a decade ago, Oregon began putting laws on the books to limit global warming pollution, but every time a bill is proposed to cap carbon emissions while growing a clean economy and job market, it has been blocked or gutted by major polluters' clout. This year, the state legislature is once again considering a Clean Energy Jobs Bill. Click here to read Oregon PSR's suggested changes to the bill.

Since 2017, Oregon PSR has been working with many other organizations on a campaign to end Portland’s cooperation with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), a program of cooperation between local law enforcement and federal law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and others. Human and legal rights groups such as the ACLU assert that JTTF collaboration does nothing to improve overall community safety and, in fact, by profiling and targeting vulnerable communities, it makes individuals feel less safe to report crimes or concerns.

Maxine Fookson, RN, MN (pictured here), a member of Oregon PSR's Peace Work Group, will provide the following testimony at Portland City Hall today to encourage an end to Portland's contract with the JTTF:

Oregon PSR is committed to advancing health protective bills and stopping harmful legislation during the 2019 Oregon State Legislative Session, which began on January 22nd and will end by June 29. Take a look at our ever-evolving agenda for the Oregon Legislature and contact our lobbyist if you would like to learn more and/or help us pass these important pieces of legislation. 

Sign the petition to Oregon's State Legislature encouraging them to adopt Senate Joint Memorial 5, which urges Congress to lead global effort to reduce threat of nuclear war.

A growing coalition of groups from across the state has unveiled Oregon’s Green New Deal, a bold new proposal for climate action and economic justice. The Oregon Just Transition Alliance has gathered support for the proposal from Portland African American Leadership Forum, Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon, NAACP of Lane County, PCUN, Beyond Toxics, Unite Oregon, OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon, Rogue Climate, and many more. With less than 12 years remaining to stop the most catastrophic climate change scenarios, these groups recognize that Oregon currently has a unique opportunity to adopt bold climate policies that center and uplift those who are most impacted by climate change.

Since 2017, Oregon PSR has been working with many other organizations on a campaign to end Portland’s cooperation with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF).  The JTTF is a program of cooperation between local law enforcement and federal law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and others.