Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility

Photo courtesy of King 5

TUESDAY, MAY 9 -- Workers have been evacuated or told to shelter in place because of a tunnel collapse onto a contaminated rail line used to reprocess nuclear waste. 

In an interview with the Washington Post, Edwin Lyman with the Union of Concerned Scientists stated: “It appears that this is a potentially serious event...Collapse of the earth covering the tunnels could lead to a considerable radiological release.”

The incident is a grim reminder that we are still at risk of exposure to highly dangerous radioactive waste from the production of nuclear weapons and nuclear power. You can make a difference: tell the Oregon State Legislature to reject SB 990, which would allow construction of new nuclear power plants that create dangerous nuclear waste.

http://xray.fm/broadcasts/17248 (start @ 1:32:40)

Host Jefferson Smith interviewed Damon Motz-Storey, Oregon PSR Program Assistant, and Mia Reback of 350 PDX this morning on XRAY In The Morning. Damon and Mia discussed Portland General Electric's permit applications to build out deadly fracked gas infrastructure at the Carty Generating Station near Boardman, OR. Add your name to our petition to support clean, renewable energy instead of expanded use of climate-busting fracked methane gas.

2017 Greenfield Peace Writing Scholarship Winners

From left to right: Keagan Rice, Kennah Watts, Jessyka Evans, and Brittany Ngia

PORTLAND, OR - Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility was proud to honor four Oregon 11th and 12th graders at the ninth annual Greenfield Peace Writing Scholarship Awards Ceremony on Friday, April 28th at the First Unitarian Church in Downtown Portland. The winning students read their entries alongside a keynote speech from Alisha Moreland-Capuia, MD of OHSU.

Proposed coal export site, Longview, WA. Photo courtesy of tdn.com

April 28, 2017 (LONGVIEW, WA) – The Washington State Department of Ecology and Cowlitz County released the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) for the proposed Millennium Bulk Terminals project in Longview, Washington, the last remaining coal export terminal proposed in the Pacific Northwest. State agencies and Cowlitz County will use the FEIS to decide whether to issue or deny permits to Millennium. “The multiple findings of significant, adverse impacts that cannot be mitigated mean that Ecology and Cowlitz County should deny Millennium’s permit applications. Any other outcome would be scientifically and legally unsupported,” states Jan Hasselman, Staff Attorney with Earthjustice.

A summary of key findings from the FEIS is available here.

Read the full press release here.

Premier Christy Clark

SEATTLE, WA: Yesterday one of the Canada’s top officials, Premier Christy Clark, requested that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stop the export of U.S. coal out of British Columbia’s ports. This request comes after the Trump Administration imposed a tax on Canadian lumber coming into the United States. If this request is approved, communities across the Pacific Northwest will benefit from a decrease in coal dust and diesel pollution that has long threatened the health of those living along rail lines. Open topped rail cars carrying coal contaminates air and water with particles containing arsenic, lead, mercury, and other dangerous pollutants.

Read the full press release here: British Columbian Premier Requests End to US Coal Exports Through Canada

(Photo courtesy of Portland Business Journal)

Oregon PSR hosted a rally outside of Portland General Electric's annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday, April 26th, 2017. Advocates declared loud and clear that ratepayers do not want to be locked into several decades of climate-busting gas power plants. Our Program Assistant, Damon Motz-Storey, was quoted in coverage of the rally by the Portland Business Journal.

Northwest ratepayers could save hundreds of millions of dollars over the next decade if the Bonneville Power Administration and Energy Northwest shuttered the region's only commercial nuclear power plant and replaced its electricity with renewable sources, a new study has found.