Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility

We have some exciting news to share: Five of our incredible Healthy Climate Action Team volunteers have stepped up to issue a $5,000 matching challenge in honor of Earth Day on April 22nd. We need your help to meet their generous match by the end of April.

Will you support our work for a healthy climate in honor of Earth Day with a financial contribution today, knowing that your donation will be matched 1 to 1?  

Karen Weliky, DMD is a volunteer with Oregon PSR’s Peace Work Group. She first discovered the organization through her work as a photographer for art events at the Japanese American Museum of Oregon Annex with our We Hold Sacred nuclear justice exhibit in 2021. She has taken photographs for Oregon PSR rallies to stop pipeline construction, including our Stop Line 3 health professionals solidarity event earlier this year, and she hopes to continue her event photography for the organization as in-person events resume. In addition to her arts background, Karen comes to Oregon PSR with a robust science background through her past and present careers as an oceanographer and a dentist, enabling her to act upon her converging passions for climate change and health advocacy.

Join Oregon PSR online on Thursday, April 28th at 6:00 PM for an evening of celebration of the high school student winners of our 2022 Greenfield Peace Scholarship. The Greenfield Peace Scholarship is an opportunity to hear from young Oregonians on some of the most pressing issues of our time. We sponsor this annual scholarship to encourage Oregon’s youth to consider their leadership role in promoting a more healthy, just, and peaceful world. Named in honor of Del Greenfield, our longtime Executive Director, the scholarship is in its 14th consecutive year in 2022.

The 2022 Greenfield Peace Scholarship Awards Ceremony will stream live on Oregon PSR's YouTube channel and Facebook page.

On April 20th, we hosted Let’s Talk Trash, an online discussion of Oregon PSR’s campaign to oppose trash incineration in Marion County and beyond. We explored the health effects of waste incineration, how we can eliminate the burning of trash in Oregon, and a zero-waste system that reduces trash and pollution while protecting and putting the health of Oregon’s communities first.

Oregon PSR members and our allies have been part of three recent webinars all exploring aspects of why nuclear power is not a climate solution. We invite you to watch these to learn more about the inherent problems with nuclear power.  

Oregon’s 2022 short legislative session ended with a number of bills that passed amidst challenging global and local circumstances. With the ongoing pandemic and last summer’s deadly heat waves taking a disproportionate toll on marginalized communities, it was heartening that Oregon’s legislature took action on so many important issues. 

On February 24th, 2022, Oregon PSR and our partners at Southern Oregon Climate Action Now (SOCAN) presented an online webinar exploring the health impacts of gas appliances.

Farmworkers are critical to Oregon’s economy and society. In a year of pandemic, catastrophic fires, and dangerous levels of air quality, farmworkers continued to work, despite serious risks to their health, to make sure that we have food available. It is time that we demonstrate our commitment to economic security for all of our workers by extending overtime pay to farmworkers through House Bill 4002.

In the summer of 2021, Oregon experienced a record heat wave in which at least 96 Oregonians died and countless others suffered due to lack of access to life-saving cooling devices. Over the past few years, Oregonians have faced months of unhealthy air quality from wildfire smoke, along with dangerous ice storms and other extreme weather events worsened by climate change.

As the Oregon legislature engages in a short session, Oregon PSR is once again weighing in on bills that affect the health of Oregonians. One silver lining of another session of remote testimony is that it’s easier to testify from the comfort of home rather than driving to Salem to be heard. Continue reading to see what bills we have been supporting during this legislative session and how you can make an impact.