Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility

Youth from Portland area schools, along with adult allies, will be gathering to march across the Hawthorne Bridge to the Eastbank Esplanade near OMSI to kick off a full-day climate festival with speakers, tabling, artwork, music, orientations to joining the climate movement, and community-building activities.

Strike Schedule

- Rally 10:30AM - 11:30AM @ City Hall

- March 11:30AM - 12.30PM @ Across Hawthorne Bridge

- Festival 12:30PM - 5:00PM @ Outside OMSI by Tilikum Crossing

To join the Oregon PSR contingent, please RSVP to Lluvia Merello, Oregon PSR Energy Justice Organizer.

Learn more about this event.

Crude oil from tar sands in Canada is being shipped by rail through our neighborhoods and being exported using our rivers, putting our communities at risk and causing untold harm to native lands, boreal forests, our climate, and our health.

In collaboration with many of our community partners, we have planned an upcoming vigil at Zenith Energy, and we hope you will join us. The vigil at Zenith Energy will be one of dozens of events taking place from September 20th through the 27th throughout Oregon during the Global Climate Strike.

We will be keeping watch, legally and peacefully, outside of the Zenith Energy facility to express our concern for the planet, our discontent at the current status quo, and our optimism that things can change for the better. We will be tracking train movements, observing construction at the site, and putting pressure on elected officials, as well as the Zenith Energy facility, to cease these dangerous tar sands oil shipments.

This effort is being organized as part of the Global Climate Strike week of action, with input from the Stop Zenith Collaborative, 350PDX, and other organizations and individuals. Members of the media, public officials, faith leaders, and all others are invited to join the vigil. Bring food to share, illumination for the dark, pictures of what motivates you, music, art, and your watchful presence.

To get more involved, contact Oregon PSR Healthy Climate Action Team member Melanie Plaut, MD by email or phone (503-544-8227) to sign up for a four-hour shift during the vigil. Shifts begin at 7:00 AM & PM, 11:00 AM & PM, and 3:00 AM & PM. Vigil shift partners, safety details, train-spotting techniques, and information regarding tar sands and the history of Zenith will be provided.

Photo above: Public opposition to Zenith Energy at Portland City Hall. Photo courtesy of OPB.

Take action today to protect the Southern Oregon coast from the Jordan Cove LNG export terminal. This huge fracked gas liquefaction and shipping terminal would dramatically alter and permanently harm people and wildlife throughout the Coos Bay area. Thankfully, Oregon has a state agency that can stop this project through the Coastal Zone Management Program, which requires Jordan Cove LNG to prove that its project is aligned with local and state laws meant to protect Oregon's Coastal Zone.

Submit a comment to the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development asking them to deny the Coastal Zone Management Act certification for Jordan Cove LNG.

With the support of our members and volunteers, Oregon PSR’s Healthy Climate Program has been able to participate in effective coalitions and advocacy efforts to protect a healthy climate for all Oregonians, and I would like to take a moment to update you on some of our recent efforts. July 2019 was the hottest month ever recorded, underscoring that the voice of public health in promoting a healthy, stable climate is more important than ever.

Oregon PSR staff and members mobilized to advocate for and against a long list of bills in the 2019 state legislative session in Salem this year. The 2019 session yielded a wide range of progressive, health-protective policies and discussions and concluded with a significant handful of long-awaited victories, including support for nuclear disarmament, better oil train safety measures, equal access to roads for all Oregonians, and a major step forward on cleaning up Oregon's dirty diesel problem. Several dangerous measures that would have weakened Oregon's renewable energy goals and created loopholes for new nuclear power were successfully blocked from passage. We thank all those who volunteered their time and energy to advance our mission to protect public health from the gravest threats to survival in the Oregon state legislature this year.

How does the climate crisis affect human health, and which communities are most impacted? This was the central question asked by the People's Climate Movement when they approached PSR chapters to present the Climate, Health, and Equity Town Hall, a webinar focusing on the health impacts of climate change, which people are on the front lines of the crisis, and what can be done about it. Our Healthy Climate Program Director Damon Motz-Storey was joined by PSR Los Angeles Executive Director Martha Argüello, Dr. Maureen McCue of Iowa PSR, and Barb Gottlieb, Program Director of the Environment & Health Program at PSR's national office in Washington, D.C.

On June 25th, 2019, the Port of Vancouver Commission passed a strong policy statement affirming that the Port “will not pursue new bulk fossil fuel terminals.” The resolution and policy statement acknowledge the importance of renewable energy in the Port’s operations and future development. The Port passed this policy on the same day that the largest wind turbine shipment in the region’s history is being unloaded. 

“The Port chooses not to pursue new bulk fossil fuel terminals on Port owned industrial property,” said Don Orange, Port Commissioner, during a motion to amend the resolution.

Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility
Position Paper on House Bill 2020 - Carbon “Cap and Invest” in Oregon
June 14th, 2019

View this document as a PDF.

For years, state lawmakers have been debating a carbon cap-and-trade program to put a limit on Oregon’s greenhouse gas emissions and create a market-based mechanism to incentivize emissions reductions and generate money for clean energy technology and job training. In the 2019 legislative session, this program has been placed into House Bill 2020, which would establish the Oregon Climate Action Program and direct a newly established Carbon Policy Office to implement this cap-and-trade system with specific parameters.

Oregon PSR staff has been working to support Oregon House Bill 2007, which would help to protect our communities from the unacceptable threats to our health posed by diesel pollution. Now, we need your support to make sure that HB 2007, commonly referred to as “the Diesel Bill,” passes in this legislative session.Diesel pollution and inhalation presents serious health threats to all of us living and working in Oregon. According to the Oregon DEQ, residents of 23 Oregon counties, representing 92 percent of the state’s population, are exposed to diesel particulate matter that increases health risks.

We strongly encourage our members, especially those living outside of the Multnomah County area, to take action and call your state lawmakers today.