Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility

Oregon PSR endorses the following ballot measures in the November 2020 election. Also, please note that our lack of endorsement doesn’t necessarily mean that we oppose a ballot measure, only that our Board of Directors has decided not to make a formal endorsement.

On September 17th, health professionals and public health advocates with Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility issued a plea to Governor Kate Brown and the Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC) to prioritize public health in state prisons and to work collaboratively with health experts to avoid continued loss of life and dignity in Oregon prisons. The call comes amid many suspected COVID-19 deaths, outbreaks in nine Oregon prisons, and inhumane conditions experienced by adults in custody who were evacuated due to fast-spreading wildfires.

Our hearts are heavy with the enormous loss and destruction Oregon and other Western states have endured this past week from devastating wildfires. Unhealthy air from wildfire smoke continues to blanket our region. The cities of Talent and Phoenix in the Rogue Valley have been decimated, including the main offices of our valued partner, Rogue Climate. Communities in Clackamas County, Marion County, Lane County, and Jackson County have been displaced and are in urgent need of support. Meanwhile, intense hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico and typhoons in Japan confirm that climate chaos is upon us.

The fracked gas industry wants to build the world’s largest fracked gas-to-methanol refinery in Kalama, WA. Kalama lies on the Washington side of the Columbia River less than an hour north of Portland, and if constructed, the facility would threaten the health of our entire region. The proposed refinery would consume a staggering amount of fracked gas, more than all of Washington’s gas-fired power plants combined. It would convert the fracked gas to methanol, which would be shipped overseas to be burned as fuel or used as feedstock to make plastics.

Oregon PSR's Board President, Dr. Patrick O'Herron, submitted testimony on behalf of Oregon PSR about police accountability legislative concepts to the Oregon Legislature's Joint Committee On Transparent Policing and Use of Force Reform on September 3rd, 2020. Read our testimony below. 

NuScale Power, a small modular nuclear reactor development firm based in Oregon, is seeking approval from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the design of their initial reactor model. The company has an agreement with the Utah Association of Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS), a collection of small publicly-owned municipal utilities in Utah, California, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, and Wyoming, to deploy a first-of-its-kind plant of a dozen 60-megawatt (MW) pressurized water reactors grouped in a common containment facility at the Idaho National Laboratory site, assisted by a proposed power purchase agreement to sell some of the output to the US Department of Energy. As of August 2020, UAMPS has not found subscribers for all the power that this plant would produce if constructed.

Oregon PSR mourns the death of longtime member Robert "Bob" McFarlane, MD earlier this year. Bob was a committed activist and leader in the peace and justice community. He was deeply involved with Oregon PSR, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the nuclear freeze movement, and was a member of the Hanford Advisory Board, among his other peace and social justice work.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) has proposed new rules to strengthen protections for Oregonians from chlorpyrifos pesticides. Chlorpyrifos are an extremely harmful insecticide that causes neurological harm, risk of cancer, and damage to bees, butterflies, and birds. It’s important to show the ODA that you care about protecting human and environmental health from chlorpyrifos exposure. See the full 2020 Chlorpyrifos proposed rules here. 

Other states including Hawaií, California, and New York have taken steps to ban or severely restrict chlorpyrifos. Oregon had a bill in the state legislature in 2020 that Oregon PSR submitted testimony in support of that would have taken steps towards limiting chlorpyrifos and protecting public health. Since the Republican walkout stalled many important bills, the ODA is moving forward with new proposed rules to reign in this dangerous pesticide. The proposed rules, OAR-603-057-0545, are good but need to be even stronger.

Alissa Vandenbark (pictured above) interned with Oregon PSR remotely throughout the summer of 2020, pivoting plans for an in-person internship in Portland to a completely virtual work experience as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. During her time with Oregon PSR, Alissa provided much-needed support for our Healthy Climate and Peace Programs, assisted with our membership and development efforts, and led an interview and documentation project relative to Oregon PSR’s shifting work during the pandemic. We are very grateful to Alissa for her many contributions to our work, especially under such unexpected and often challenging circumstances, and we wish her the absolute best in her future endeavors. Thanks so much, Alissa!

Oregon PSR is actively recruiting a cohort of new Board members to help guide our work. Read on to see if you or someone you know might be interested in applying for Board membership.