P H Y S I C I A N S F O R S O C I A L R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y

PSR is the U.S. affiliate of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, recipient of the 1985 Nobel Prize for Peace.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

PSR REPORTSV I S I T P S R O N T H E W E B A T W W W . P S R . O R G

VOL. 38, NO. 2 FALL 2016

2 From the President: Climate Change and Children's Health

3 ATreaty to Ban Nuclear Weapons

4 Students Seek More Forms of Action

5 Addressing Toxic Energy

6 PSR/Arizona: Building Resilient Communities

8 Donors & Doers

FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

HopefortheFutureAs some of you already know, I will be leaving my post as PSR’s execu-tive director at the end of 2016. PSR is well on its way to choosing a new executive direc-tor and I’m delighted to help effect a smooth transition. Part of my excitement stems from my belief that we are near-ing the tipping point at which green energy use overtakes that of fossil fuels, and that the very successful Humanitarian Impacts campaign sweeping the globe will start influencing decision-makers in the U.S.

PSR’s policy work is a major part of the overarching solution to the most pressing problems of our time, and the inter-connected work we are doing within coalitions is essential to our success.

PSR launched its state re-ports, entitled Death by Degrees: The Health Crisis of Climate Change, in the early 2000s. We fired off the campaign Code Black: Coal’s Assault on America’s Health and backed it up with lawsuits against sources of mercury pollution, primarily coal-burning power plants. We testified before the EPA, we urged city councils and legisla-tors to help close coal plants, and we achieved big wins. In 2015, we joined the Keep It in the Ground campaign and called on the Obama administration to review its coal-leasing program. Today, there is a moratorium on new coal leases on federal

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Catherine Thomasson, M.D.

A Fond Farewell to Our Executive Director After five extraordinary years as our executive director, it is with some sadness and great appreciation that we are preparing to say good bye to Dr. Catherine Thomasson. She has been a strong, effective and dedicated champion of our work and has led our efforts with boundless energy and loyalty to the PSR Family. Thankfully, she will be with us through the fall until the end of the year. Meanwhile, the national Board’s planning for the transition to our new executive director is going very well. We look forward to announcing our new executive director in early December.

By Ira Helfand, M.D.

This year’s 71st anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings served as an urgent re-minder of the momentous decision about nuclear policy that faces our country today.

The international community is working for a new treaty to ban nuclear weapons. The Obama ad-ministration is opposing that effort and proposing instead that the U.S. spend $1 trillion over the next three decades to maintain and “improve” our nuclear arsenal. Will we, as a people, allow our government to follow this dangerous policy?

During the coup attempt in Turkey in July, power was cut to the U.S. Air Force base at Incirlik, Turkey, and the base was essentially locked down for many hours. The U.S. houses some 50 hydrogen bombs at Incirlik, a short distance from the Syrian border, and the disruption of normal activity there set off alarm bells throughout the international community. What is the U.S. doing with an arsenal that can destroy modern civiliza-tion, parked at a location that is so terribly vulnerable?

This incident came amid a national debate over the sort of

StoptheNewArmsRace

By Barbara Gottlieb

With the U.S. Congress too mired in gridlock to pass meaningful energy policy, and the Clean Power Plan still awaiting de-finitive judgment in the courts, much of the action to secure our clean energy future is taking place in the states. Needless to say, PSR chapters are deeply involved.

From coast to coast, PSR chapters are advancing policies that replace fossil fuels with renewable energy and energy efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and pro-tecting health. Their approaches vary, but several common threads stand out from their work of the past six months: a clear vision of the future, resolute opposition to fos-sil fuels, and creativity in educating their communities.

Here are a few quick snapshots of those characteristics in action:

Clear Vision of a Healthy FutureIn the Northwest, PSR/Washington and PSR/Oregon worked together to ensure that the city of Seattle committed itself to a clean-energy

future. Under pressure from PSR and other groups, the full city council unanimously passed a resolution to:

support clean and safe electricity production and oppose the use of fossil fuels and new nuclear energy in generating electricity;

establish the goal of replacing all fossil-fuel and nuclear-generated electricity with increased energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy; and

require an ongoing evaluation of Washington State’s existing nuclear power plant, the Columbia Gen-erating Station, on the basis of health, safety, reliability, and cost.

The strong coalition that won passage of the resolution was led by the Oregon/Washington Joint Nuclear Power Task Force, headed by Chuck Johnson, PSR/Oregon.

PSR does not have a chapter in Nevada, but PSR activist Joanne Leovy, M.D., has been working overtime to improve the health of

PSR’sCleanEnergyActions

What is the U.S.

doing with a nuclear

arsenal that can

destroy modern

civilization parked in

a country like Turkey

that is so terribly

vulnerable?

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Martha Arguello, Executive Director, PSR/LA, speaks at “Break Free from Fossil Fuels” rally.

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PSR REPORTS FALL 2016

www.psr.org

PSR Reports (ISSN‑0894‑6264) is the

newsletter of Physicians for Social Responsibility,

a nonprofit organization. Guided by the values and ex‑

pertise of medicine and public health, Physicians for Social

Responsibility works to protect human life from the gravest

threats to health and survival.

To receive PSR Reports regularly, we invite you to join PSR and

support our work. Write to PSR, 1111 14th Street, NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005, or visit

our website at www.psr.org.

President: Lynn Ringenberg, M.D., F.A.A.P.

Executive Director: Catherine Thomasson, M.D.

Environment and Health Program Director: Barbara Gottlieb

Security Program Director: Martin Fleck

Director of Operations and Executive Editor:

W. Taylor Johnson, M.F.A., D.L.S.

Design: Cutting Edge Design, Inc.

© COPYRIGHT 2016 PHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Printed on recycled paper with vegetable‑based inks.

PSR

AChangingClimate:ImpactsonChildren’sHealth

I’m seeing more young infants and children today than I did a decade ago who take multiple medications every day just so they can breathe better and improve the quality of their lives.

Children suffer directly from hot-ter and longer heat waves. According to a study in 2011, extreme heat is the leading cause of environmental deaths in the United States, kill-ing more people than hurricanes, lightning, tornadoes, and floods. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, studies show that high school athletes and infants younger than one year are especially at in-creased risk of heat-related illness and death. Warmer temperatures also are expanding the regions where vector-borne diseases occur, like malaria, Lyme disease, West Nile vi-rus, and now Zika virus, with partic-ularly devastating effects on infants.

Waterborne diseases are expected to worsen as well, with continued warming—we’re already seeing an increase in once rare and usually fatal amoebic meningoencephali-tis due to Naegleria fowleri infections. The increased natural disasters that come with climate change place children at risk for injury, expo-sure to infectious diseases, loss or separation from caregivers, and mental health trauma. In develop-ing regions, mass migrations due to droughts and crop failure will create more child refugees, violence, and political instability.

These impacts are only likely to worsen. Children born in 2016 will be 34 years old in 2050 and 84 years old in 2100. How will your area of the United States and our world look then?

“How will the probable rise in temperature (3.6 to 7.2° Fahrenheit), rising sea levels, and the increasing likelihood of extreme

weather affect the course of their lives and the lives of their chil-dren?” ask the authors of a recent journal published by The Future of Children, a joint project be-tween Princeton University and the Brookings Institution.

I think about those same ques-tions, and I feel a responsibil-ity to get educated on the science of climate change and roll up my sleeves to work for change. Because even though scientists say we are too late to stop the Earth’s warming, we do still have a chance to slow it down by reducing the use of fossil fuels. We can also push for changes in our communities right now— including measures like energy-efficient design, more green space, cleaner and improved public transporta-tion, safer areas to walk and bicycle, renewable energy like solar and wind, and climate resilience policies in our communities.

The Lancet report challenges us by saying that “health professionals have an essential role in the achieve-ment of planetary health; working across sectors to integrate policies that advance health and environ-mental sustainability, tackling health inequalities, reducing the environ-mental impacts of health systems, and increasing the resilience of health systems and populations to environmental change.”

As President Barack Obama said: “Someday, our children, and our children’s children, will look us in the eye and they’ll ask us: Did we do all that we could when we had the chance to deal with this problem and leave them a cleaner, safer world?” And I want to be able to say, yes, we did. I hope you do, too.

To learn more about PSR’s “Climate Change Makes Me Sick” campaign, please visit our website at www.psr.org.

Being involved with a non-profit like Physicians for Social Responsibility is an insightful and rewarding personal experience. Every day it provides me invaluable scientific and medical information on climate change and its impact on health, especially that of children, minority populations, the elderly, and those with disabilities.

The Lancet report “Managing the Health Effects of Climate Change” stated in 2009 that “climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century.” The American Medical Association and American Academy of Pediatrics made recent statements that health is inextricably linked to climate change, and that clinicians need to understand this relationship to better recognize and anticipate climate-associated health effects, and advocate for health- protective public policy.

Physicians have a “special obli-gation,” as the Hippocratic Oath reminds us, to better understand how climate change is impacting the health of our patients.

There has been much public discussion about how sea-level rise from global warming is affecting our low-lying coastal regions, something which will only worsen in the coming decades. As a pediatrician caring for children for 35 years, I want to make sure that issues of public health, and children’s health in particular, are brought to the forefront of any dis-cussions we have about the impacts of climate change.

Children will, of course, inherit the planet we leave them. But it’s important to point out that they are also the most vulnerable of all to the health impacts caused by cli-mate change. The World Health Organization estimates that 88 per-cent of the diseases and deaths tied to climate change in the world now occur in children who are younger than five years. They suffer dispro-portionately from climate-sensitive diseases, and are exposed longer to the damaging health effects posed by climate change.

Clinicians who care for children are seeing climate change impacts first-hand in their practice today. Due to climate-related increases in ozone and pollution in the atmo-sphere, we see worsening respiratory problems, allergies, and asthma. According to the CDC, asthma rates are increasing every year in the U.S.

FROM THE PRESIDENT

Lynn Ringenberg, M.D., examines a day-old infant girl with pediatric intern Christian Tan, M.D., at the University of South Florida.

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temperament that is required of our presidents, who control the “ nuclear codes.”

Even before these latest remind-ers of the immense dangers posed by nuclear weapons, fears of the grow-ing threat of nuclear war had fueled a robust global movement, largely ignored here in the United States, to eliminate these weapons once and for all.

The governments of states that do not possess nuclear weapons are reacting with alarm to the increasing danger that these weapons will be used and cause what the Red Cross calls “catastrophic humanitarian consequences.” The rising tension between the U.S./NATO and Russia, the increasingly unstable situation in Korea, and the ever-present danger of war between India and Pakistan, have all contributed to this growing sense of a world at risk to a degree we have not seen since the end of the Cold War.

Combined with the recognition that nuclear weapons might actually be used, a growing body of scien-tific and medical research has shed new light on just how catastrophic the effects of these weapons would be. Studies by several teams of cli-mate scientists have shown that a large-scale nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia would not only kill hundreds of millions of people in those countries but would also plunge the world into a decade-long nuclear winter. Temperatures across the planet would drop an average of 13° Fahrenheit. In the Northern Hemisphere there would not be a single day free of frost for three years: the temperature would drop below freezing for at least some part of every day. Under these conditions food production would stop and the vast majority of the human race would starve.

Equally alarming, their studies show that even a very limited nuclear war, as might take place between India and Pakistan, would cause similar—though less intense—global climate disruption. The cooling and drying that would follow such a lim-ited war would not cause a full-scale nuclear winter, but it would disrupt food production around the world and trigger a “nuclear famine” that would put some 2 billion people at

risk and destroy modern civilization as we know it.

Faced with this existential threat, a strong majority of the UN mem-ber states voted last year to set up an Open Ended Working Group (OEWG) to recommend new legally binding measures to help achieve the elimination of nuclear weapons. I had the privilege of leading the OEWG’s discussion on the medi-cal consequences of nuclear war this May in Geneva. So far 107 nations, a clear majority of the 193 members of the UN, have indicated support for a treaty to ban nuclear weapons. The OEWG concluded its meeting in Geneva on August 19 with a 68–22 vote to recommend that the General Assembly launch negotiations for such a treaty in 2017 (see sidebar).

We in PSR have a special role to play in changing U.S. government policy. Our message about the medi-cal consequences of nuclear war is

the most powerful argument there is for a fundamentally new approach. Our campaign to “Stop the New Nuclear Arms Race” is designed to push legislators to abandon the tril-lion dollar nuclear spending spree that it is currently being planned. Instead, all Americans should sup-port this effort to ban nuclear weapons as the next step towards a nuclear weapons convention among the nuclear weapons states that sets up a detailed, enforceable, verifiable process to eliminate these weap-ons, and the threat they pose to all humanity, from the world.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki have shown us what nuclear weapons will do. We have been warned. Whether we heed that warning is up to us.

A version of this article appeared in the August 4, 2016 edition of the Hampshire Gazette (Northampton, Mass.)

The Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty Is Coming!   ✔Three international Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear

Weapons conferences

  ✔United Nations Working Group in Geneva issues its final report calling for Ban Treaty negotiations

Next Up: United Nations First Committee meets in October

In 2017: First Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty conference

Last year, the United Nations First Committee—which is in charge of nuclear disarmament—responding to the very successful series of Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons conferences, created the Open Ended Working Group on Taking Forward Multilateral Disarmament Negotiations (OEWG), open to all UN members but blockable by none.

The OEWG met several times this year in Geneva. All nine of the nuclear-armed countries boycotted the entire OEWG process, though their wishes often surfaced in the statements and votes of nations “who include nuclear weapons in their security policies”—in other words, the so-called “nuclear umbrella” countries such as Japan, South Korea and NATO countries like Canada and Germany.

Representatives of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War presented on the medical consequences of nuclear weap-ons at the OEWG in May. PSR is the U.S. affiliate of IPPNW.

On August 19, the OEWG concluded its work and issued a report back to the UN First Committee, including a recommendation backed by 107 nations that the General Assembly should convene a confer-ence in 2017, “open to all States, with the participation and contri-bution of international organizations and civil society, to negotiate a legally-binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination.” This was a major victory for IPPNW and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). The next step in the process, this October, will be a General Assembly resolution to start negotiations.

PSR

“This is the most significant contribution to nuclear disarmament in over two decades.”

MEXICO AMBASSADOR JORGE

LOMONACO

“The US needs a transformational change in our nuclear policy that embraces the international call to abolish these weapons that is embodied in the campaign for a Ban Treaty that will prohibit the possession of these weapons.”

IRA HELFAND, M.D., IPPNW CO-

PRESIDENT AND CO-CHAIR OF

THE PSR SECURITY COMMITTEE

“A majority of nations believe that nuclear weapons are unacceptable and must be prohibited. And now they are ready to negotiate a ban.”

TIM WRIGHT, ASIA-PACIFIC

DIRECTOR OF ICAN

left: ICAN and IPPNW campaigners protest in front of the Australian Embassy in Geneva during the Open Ended Working Group. right: “The ayes have it”—voting in Geneva for the official OEWG Report to the UN on August 19, 2016.

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PSR

Nevadans by advocating for renew-able energy and energy efficiency. Rooftop solar had created 5,000 very important jobs, yet the state Public Utilities Commission en-dangered that progress by propos-ing to cut the amount that utility companies pay solar panel owners for electricity fed back into the grid, and charge higher fees to rooftop solar producers for grid connection. Dr. Leovy wrote to the commission and the governor and testified at hearings about the health benefits from renewable energy and from reductions in mining and burn-ing fossil fuels. She also submitted a resolution that passed the county medical society and will be submit-ted to the state medical society, call-ing for renewable energy and energy efficiency to replace fossil fuels and for decision-making on electricity production to factor in the health benefits of cleaner sources.

Rejecting Fossil FuelsMany PSR chapters are working to put a definitive end to the fossil fuel era. The state of Oregon passed the first-ever state legislation to transi-tion away from coal and towards renewable energy. The historic law

came about thanks to a strong coalition that collected signatures to put a similar measure on the November 2017 ballot. This prospect prompted the affected utilities to support the measure as a legislative bill, in order to avoid a fight at the ballot box. PSR/Oregon was proud to bring the voice of health profes-sionals to the coalition

and other partnerships to achieve this healthy climate milestone.

PSR members are resolutely fighting against hydraulic fractur-ing (fracking) to extract natural gas in many states. PSR/Philadelphia

is educating and mobilizing health professionals across half of Pennsylvania, preparing them to inform lawmakers and the public about the damage to health caused by fracking operations. PSR/Maryland, which played a lead role in the pas-sage of that state’s temporary mora-torium on fracking, is gearing up to push for a permanent ban. PSR/Florida has been successful in con-vincing multiple city councils to call for moratoria on fracking and has testified at the state level. PSR/LA continues to fight urban fracking in Los Angeles neighborhoods.

Meanwhile, PSR/New York is focusing on the pipelines that move fracked gas from the wellsite to re-fineries, ports, or final users, often hundreds of miles away. PSR/New York partnered with the national PSR office in September to hold an in-person training to equip health professionals to take action to address the health dangers from natural gas pipelines and related infrastructure, which leak methane, a potent greenhouse gas, as well as dangerous air pollutants and even radioactivity.

Creativity in ActionIn the nation’s more conserva-tive heartland, PSR/Iowareaches broad swaths of Iowans by bring-ing its message to popular public events. For Earth Day, the chapter pulled together more than 20 other organizations plus local environ-mentalists, students, faculty, and others to create an educational day of activities at a beautiful state park. The celebration focused on love for nature, complemented by activism to stop assaults on it. So, yes, there was tabling with postcards and peti-tions, but many groups opted for fun interactive activities including nature walks and scavenger hunts, nature-focused puppet shows, even a delicious smoothie-making bicycle activity.

Similarly, the chapter reached a diverse crowd by joining the lo-cal 4th of July parade. Under the

By Michelle Gin, M.P.H.

Among the challenges faced by ||student chapters is how to balance academics, being active in professional organizations like PSR, and a personal life. Hosting edu-cational events in an ever-changing world heavily reliant upon technol-ogy has shaped how we interact with one another, absorb information, and decide to take action. PSR is committed to the building skills of the next generation, and developed the Building Advocacy Skills webinar

banner of “Our Stressed Home Planet Earth: Don’t Bomb It, Don’t Burn It,” chapter members threw thousands of earth stress balls to the crowd from a parade truck fueled by food waste oil. The chapter was also a hit at the county fair, where PSR/Iowa featured bubbles—you need clear air and healthy lungs to blow bubbles and balloons. While the kids came for the bubbles, chapter members talked with the parents about clean, healthy energy options and urged them to fill out post-cards to the governor about clean power policy.

PSR/Maine chose a different tack, highlighting the climate impacts of our food supply in an event they christened “Taste for Change: A Celebration of Food, Climate, and Environment.” The event incorpo-rated local, organic, and climate-friendly foods, including local vegan cooking demos, a vegan cake contest, and all-compostable din-nerware. People walked away with a much broader understanding of the impact of what they eat on climate and how climate affects their health. The event earned favorable media attention, with a reporter for a local newspaper calling it the coolest event she’d ever attended.

The decision to spotlight the cli-mate/food connection is echoed by a new resource just produced this fall by the national PSR office: a slide show on climate and food, “Eating for Health and Climate.”

StudentsSeekMoreFormsofAction—andWanttoLearnfromYourExperiences

series in 2013 for that purpose. Now, it’s time for an addition.

We are very fortunate to have two students, both skilled in ad-vocacy, serve as National Student Representatives (NSRs) on the PSR Board of Directors. Alli Stradiotto (Creighton University School of Medicine) and James Baier (Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania) are tak-ing the lead to expand on the Building Advocacy Skills series. Three new mod-ules will be launched this coming academic year: Coordinating with Other

Local/Student Groups; The Ins and Outs of Direct Action; and Online Activism.

Alli notes, “Engaging other groups is critical to build capac-ity and work in partnership to ac-complish shared goals. I’m excited to create the Coordinating with Other Local/Student Groups module to guide chapters in fostering connections that endure.”

Baier describes The Ins and Out of Direct Action as a module focused on non-violent direct action such as demonstrations outside of

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Karen Coker and Kristen Scarcelli from Plant IQ cooking

up a simple climate-friendly dish during one of PSR/Maine’s

cooking demos.

PSR/Maine board member Peter Wilk, M.D., and former board member Lisa Belanger, R.N., enjoy-ing the event over the amazing vegan appetizers.

Elizabeth Fraser from Girl Gone Raw shows how easy it

is to make vegan ice cream.

Alli Stradiotto, PSR National Student Representative, MS-2

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By Kathy Attar

At long last, Congress updated the nation’s chemical policy, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), by enacting the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act. The tremendous advocacy effort by hundreds of non-profit environmental health advo-cacy organizations, including PSR, resulted in a final piece of legislation that makes progress over current law in certain areas. Unfortunately, viewed from the health perspec-tive, the Lautenberg Chemical Act falls short of protecting the health of all communities.

PSR and our activists worked hard to pressure Congress for improve-ments. The act improves TSCA’s safety standard for chemicals by prohibiting consideration of costs in evaluating a chemical’s risks. Once a chemical is determined to be un-safe for a specific use or in a specific product, the EPA is mandated to eliminate that risk. However, fund-ing is limited, so the EPA could be stymied by the lack of resources nec-essary to carry out chemical assess-ments, and the pace of assessments is slow. Finally, the new law creates unprecedented federal preemption of states’ abilities to enact legislation to protect their residents from haz-ardous chemical exposures, though it does not overturn prior state chemical legislation. Focus on Air ToxicsWith TSCA reform finally passed, PSR is focusing its toxics program on airborne toxics, including meth-ane, a powerful greenhouse gas that poses a severe threat to the world’s climate and thus to human health.

Natural gas mining and infra-structure are the single largest source of U.S. human-caused methane emissions. According to the EPA’s own figures, they represent almost 40 percent of total methane emis-sions. Methane can escape from oil and natural gas systems at various points: during well completion and extraction at the wellsite, during processing, and from high-pressure transmission pipelines and related infrastructure during transport, storage, and end-use distribution.

Five thousand people were or-dered to evacuate near the disastrous Porter Ranch methane storage leak. But even worse, proximity to the fracked wells is now being shown to correlate with high rates of sinus problems, respiratory distress, mi-graines, lightheadedness and disori-entation, blood and bone marrow damage leading to anemia and im-munological problems, reproductive system effects, and birth defects and other harms to the developing fetus. To make matters worse, methane leaks are frequently accompanied by

AddressingToxicEnergythe leakage of other volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Some VOCs are known to be carcinogenic; some are hazardous air pollutants, and they all contribute to local formation of ground-level ozone.

Chapters and National Weigh In on Pipelines New York has a ban on fracking, but New Yorkers aren’t safe yet from fracked gas. Major pipelines car-rying gas fracked in Pennsylvania are being built across New York State, and more are planned. Those pipelines, and the compressors that drive the gas through them, bring the risk of VOC and methane leaks, and accidents and fires, into dozens of communities.

PSR National and PSR/New York are collaborating to train health professionals on the health implica-tions of natural gas transport and storage facilities. The goal: to grow the cadre of health profession-als who can bring their scientific knowledge to bear and change the debate around natural gas to one focusing on public health.

In Pennsylvania, where fracking is rampant, PSR/Philadelphia set out to train health professionals to be effective speakers on fracking. Now, with low natural gas prices reducing the rate of fracked gas extraction, the related issues of pipelines and compressor stations are emerging as a strong topic around which to net-work and organize. The chapter is gearing up to educate on that topic, and has submitted comments voic-ing their concerns about proposed pipelines. PSR/National has also spoken out to oppose new infra-structure—like the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline Project, which would take methane fracked in northeastern Pennsylvania and connect it with

markets in the mid-Atlantic and southeastern states, even as far south as Alabama. The pipeline, almost four feet in diameter, would clear-cut a corridor across farms and waterways, permanently fragment woodlands, limit how landowners may use their land, and expose near-by residents to a long-term threat of toxic leaks and explosions.

Given the scientific evidence that pipelines and associated infrastruc-ture are linked to serious health impacts for nearby communities, as well as global consequences due to methane’s contribution to climate change, PSR is opposing these proj-ects while pushing for cleaner, safer, low-cost wind and solar power for healthy energy.

Health Professional Education on Toxics

PSR has just released the final series of three lectures and handouts for young medical professionals. Lead, mercury, plastics, pesticides and many toxics are not fully regulated or expunged from products, food or pipes, so patients need to learn from their providers and clinics how to protect themselves. We have new experts presenting at residency programs, nursing schools and the public to bet-ter prevent exposures. Thanks to Beth Neary, M.D., Johanna Congleton, M.S.P.H., Ph.D., and Larysa Dyrszka, M.D., who created the initial pre-sentations, and to Kathy Attar for finalizing the materials including handouts. Please give us a call if you’d like to set up presentations or learn the material.

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Kathy Attar, PSR Toxics program manager, on left, with members of the Network of Safer Chemicals

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By W. Taylor Johnson, M.F.A., D.L.S.

It’s going to get real hot! A new |study co-sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation pre-dicts that if current heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions trends continue, there is a 90 percent chance that regions around the world will experience record- breaking heat between 2060 and 2080. A projected increase in tem-peratures by nine degrees in areas such as the U.S. Southwest could result in 110 degrees Fahrenheit or more being typical, rather than the average summertime high. Such ex-treme heat is likely to result in power outages lasting weeks, leaving com-munities vulnerable to significant heat-related health risks.

PSR/Arizona is working to edu-cate neighborhoods in the Tucson area to build community resilience, adapt to climate change, and survive extreme heat events and power out-ages. I spoke with Barbara Warren, M.D., M.P.H., a founding mem-ber and current coordinator of the PSR/Arizona chapter, about this important and engaging work.

In the fall of 2012, PSR/Arizona initiated the Climate Smart Southwest (CSSW) Project to gather local and national environmen-tal leaders, as well as members of Southwest communities, to address public health vulnerabilities to climate change. Six working groups were formed to address the fol-lowing: vulnerable communities; mental and spiritual health; health systems preparedness; food secu-rity; cross-cultural and cross border concerns; and education of chil-dren in our schools. A major CSSW conference was held in September 2013, attended by over 400 mem-bers of Southwest communities,

with 45 local and national co-sponsors including Sierra Club, Earthjustice, Union of Concerned Scientists, World Wildlife Fund, Center for Biological Diversity, University of Arizona, and PSR’s National Office.

“If the power grid were to go down regionally due to an extreme heat wave,” notes Dr. Warren, “the potential impact is comparable to that of the deadly and destructive Hurricane Sandy,” one of the costli-est climate-related disasters in U.S. history. PSR/Arizona has advanced the project Building Resilient Neighborhoods (BRN) with the support of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sub-grant from the University of Arizona School of Public Health. PSR/Arizona offers facilitator train-ings and workshops on BRN to help local communities respond to the health impacts of climate change. “PSR/Arizona is currently working with three very high risk communi-ties in Tucson, each with differ-ent sets of needs and challenges, to help them help themselves,” says Dr. Warren. Important products of PSR/Arizona’s efforts to enhance emergency preparedness and resil-iency are their free Citizen’s Guide for Readiness for Climate Extremes in the Desert Southwest and workshop guides and materials, available in both English and Spanish.

To bring people together from different socioeconomic groups who might be reluctant to partici-pate—such as the elderly and non-English speakers—a “Potluck in the Park” proved effective in one of the communities. This was especially poignant since parks are identified as cooler spaces to go to in heat-related emergencies. The primary goal of the community gathering was

to help neighborhoods become more cohesive and gather emergency preparedness resources. As a byproduct, com-munity events such as this have also resulted in community mem-bers sharing ideas to reduce and prevent the emission of greenhouse gases and other adapta-tion plans. Their ideas include planting more trees; growing locally, sustainable foods; and conservation of water through home-har-vesting and redirection of rainwater. Although these ideas are not novel, this demonstrates that bringing people together facilitates dialog and heightened awareness of

the importance of being proactive in ad-dressing climate change.

Inspired by the model of Transition Towns that emerged in the United Kingdom in 2006, Dr. Warren observes that in Tucson, “neighborhoods are learning to work together to address climate change and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by the way we live locally.” She further notes that “increasing localization and learning to be more kind to the environment in terms of how resources such as food, energy and water are acquired and used” help to achieve these goals.

Dr. Warren notes that as a result of PSR/Arizona’s workshops on Building Resilient Neighborhoods, the Tucson Green Building Council chapter “encouraged our partici-pation in a 2030 District project to enable a densely built sector of Tucson with high resource con-sumption to reduce energy and water use by 50 percent by 2030.” Healthy built environments are human-made physical environments that are designed to integrate health and wellness as an integral part of a com-munity. One of the 2030 District project co-developers received training as one of PSR/Arizona’s BRN workshop facilitators.

Much of the PSR/Arizona’s work is done in coalition with other like-minded local organizations. “We work with climate scientists and others at the University of Arizona, including engagement with Students for Sustainability,” notes Dr. Warren. In addition, author and educator Susan Feathers—a founding member of Sustainable Tucson—explores the possible outcomes of climate change in the Tucson area in her new book Threshold, incorporat-ing illustrations of a climate disaster scenario like those used by PSR/Arizona.

PSR/Arizona is a well-rounded chapter. They actively work to ad-dress the causes of climate change by promoting solar energy incentives, plus energy efficiency in the built environment, to replace coal mining and combustion and thus reduce the health impact of fossil fuels. Their dedicated volunteers were integral to achieving support for the New Start Treaty and are educating legislators and the public about a new campaign to Stop the New Nuclear Arms Race and instead reduce the U.S. nuclear arsenal. They also advocate for sane gun control. For more information on PSR/Arizona, please visit www.psr.org/chapters/arizona/ or www.psr.org/azclimate.

PSR/Arizona:BuildingResilientCommunities

Citizen’s Gu

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Published in

2015 Guía de Preparación Ciudadana para

Los Extremos Climáticos en el

Desierto Del Suroeste

Reforzar la adaptabilidad: preparación para prevenir y administrar los impactos de eventos climáti-cos extremos.

Publicado 2015.

PSR

Barbara Warren, M.D., M.P.H., PSR/Arizona

Chapter Coordinator

below: Climate Smart Southwest (CSSW)

conference attendees in Tucson with their banners for the national 350.org day of action against the

Keystone pipeline.

7

PSR REPORTS VOL. 38, NO. 2

www.psr.org

PLEASE CONSIDER…INCLUDING PSR IN YOUR WILLLeaving a bequest to PSR is a wonderful way to help continue the work you believe in so strongly. We suggest you check with an attorney or tax advisor to see how a bequest to PSR would fit into your estate plans. PSR’s Tax ID number and office address are listed below for your conve-nience. Please contact the Development Depart-ment by phone at (202) 667-4260 or by e-mail at psrnatl@psr.org for more information. PSR TAX ID #: 23-7059731 FULL LEGAL NAME:

Physicians for Social Responsibility ADDRESS: 1111 14th Street, NW, Suite 700

Washington, DC 20005

INVEST YOURSELF

Give TodayFrom our campaigns to reduce and eliminate the threat of nuclear weapons to our programs for stronger policies protecting human health from environmental threats, PSR is having an impact on the issues you care about most. There is much more to be done in preparation for the challenges that lie ahead. Please make a tax‑deductible contribution to PSR today. Give online at psr.org and your gift will be put to immediate good use. It will ensure that we have the resources necessary to deliver the strongest effort possible in the months ahead. Thank you!…OR GIVING A GIFT OF STOCK

A gift of stock is also an excellent way to sup-port PSR’s work. Listed below is PSR’s brokerage information. Please contact the Development Department by phone at (202) 667-4260 or by e-mail at psrnatl@psr.org for more information or to confirm receipt of your gift. BROKER: Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. DTC #: 0164 Code 40 PSR ACCT #: 3106-0448 PSR TAX ID #: 23-7059731 FULL LEGAL NAME:

Physicians for Social Responsibility ADDRESS: 1111 14th Street, NW, Suite 700

Washington, DC 20005

MATCH YOUR GIFTMany companies provide matching gifts for employee charitable contributions. Please check to determine whether your gift to PSR will be

met, doubled or tripled by your employer. It’s a great way to make your gift go further to support PSR. Just include your company’s matching gift form with your contribution, and we’ll complete it, send it in, and let you know when your gift has been matched!

STAY ACTIVEWould you like to be more involved in PSR’s advocacy efforts? A great place to start is PSR’s Activist Updates. Each of PSR’s program areas reaches out to members through Action Alerts and e-mail. Sign up to receive updates at psr.org.

Coming to Washington, DC, and have an hour to spare? How about visiting one of your elected officials to talk about the issues of most concern to you? Contact the PSR office at least a week in advance, and we’ll help schedule a meeting, pro-vide you with background materials, and possibly even accompany you on your lobbying call.

land during this review period, and the use of coal is on the d ecline.

But fracking for natural gas and oil has become a huge industry. Politicians–even our great climate champion, Sen. Whitehouse (D-RI)–are soft on natural gas. PSR co-released the Fracking Compendium last year and is about to co-release the updated fourth edition with our friends at Concerned Health Professionals of New York. Our members helped to win a fracking ban in New York and a moratorium in Maryland. We are now working to extend our reach and stop pipe-lines in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York.

With our coalition partner WildEarth Guardians, PSR is suing the U.S. Department of Interior to require a sweeping environmental review of the cli-mate impacts of oil and gas leasing on federal lands. The suit calls for a halt on new drilling on the almost 380,000 acres for which the federal government has leased extraction rights since early 2015, and it would require an analysis of the climate impacts of drill-ing on these lands. We expect the case will prompt a full evaluation of the impacts the federal oil and gas program has on climate and on taxpayers.

Clean energy and energy effi-ciency present us with true oppor-tunities for change. They create jobs, reduce pollution, reduce the water used by coal plants and fracking, and will help save us from the most catastrophic effects of climate change. The state of clean energy development is posi-tive but rarely touted: Texas is the largest wind producer nationwide; Iowa produces 31 percent of its electricity from wind; Hawaii gets 22 percent of its energy from so-lar, and when the state temporar-ily stopped allowing new permits for rooftop solar, it met with public outcry.

PSR’s Clean Energy Saves Lives cam-paign is widening its focus from the Clean Power Plan to state and regional programs that advance renewables and efficiency. We have launched a series of webinars to support our chapter work, out-lined in this PSR Reports (p.1).

I quote Bill McKibbon, who wrote in the New Republic re-cently: “We are under attack from climate change, and our only hope is to mobilize like we did in WWII.” PSR members and staff understand the threat and agree: It’s time to light a fire under our legislators and our colleagues.

This is true not only for climate but for nuclear weapons as well. This year we brought these two issues together with conferences on Climate Change and the

Increased Risk of Nuclear War, offered by PSR/Greater Boston and co-sponsored by ten lead-ing medical institutions. And PSR/Iowa brought us the infor-mative Climate Nuclear Nexus Forum in September. Don’t miss Ira Helfand’s article on p.1 about our success moving toward an international treaty to ban nuclear weapons.

Bolstered by this momentum, PSR has launched a legislative campaign, Stop the New Nuclear Arms Race, to explain the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons to our legislators. We have already moved several senators and representa-tives to denounce components of the planned new trillion-dollar nuclear buildup. We are reaching out to the faith community, Rotary groups, and young people to help us spread the message.

Aided by the urgency expressed by the World Medical Association, the American Medical Association, and the Pope on both climate change and nuclear weapons, PSR will continue to raise the voices of health professionals in favor of a green energy tipping point and a ban on nuclear weapons. Your support makes all this possible, and I value your company these five years. We accomplished so much together.

Thank you!

CATHERINE THOMASSON, M.D.

EXECUTIVEDIRECTOR

Continued from page 1

decision-makers’ buildings, sit-ins, die-ins, and similar scenarios where students can engage with the public and raise awareness. This module is meant for those who want more in-person interactions. It is also for those who may be frustrated with how dependent our society has be-come on technology to communicate when a conversation seeing another person’s body language and passion

could make all the difference. The last module, Online Activism,

is intended for those who may not have the ability or capacity to be out in the streets. Some Student PSR chapters are in rural communities and cannot easily participate in a protest in Washington, DC. This module will encourage other forms of meaningful interaction to push for policy change.

Stradiotto and Baier intend to collaborate with PSR members and are calling upon you to draw upon your experiences through the de-cades and apply lessons learned to today’s issues. For any PSR member who feels that they have content, photos, or video clips to contribute to any of these presentations, please email Michelle Gin at mgin@psr.org by November 30 to be a collaborator for this project.

STUDENTS

continued from page 4

PSR

James Beier, PSR National Student Representative, MS-3

PSRPHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY1111 14th Street, NW, Suite 700Washington, DC 20005(202) 667-4260 phone(202) 667-4201 faxpsrnatl@psr.org emailwww.psr.org website

Forwarding Service Requested

PSR REPORTS FALL 2016

PSR

By Christine Herrmann

Amazing how PSR members keep |finding new ways to be relevant to our causes. They dazzle us. Space allows us to list just a dozen people; collectively they’ve volunteered and supported PSR for 340 years. Shout-outs to:

In February, Blythe and Frank Baldwin, M.D., organized talks on the Humanitarian Impacts of Nuclear Weapons featuring Ira Helfand, M.D., at Cornell University and SUNY Cortland. Frank is continuing to meet with students to keep them involved on the topic.

PSR/San Francisco President Bob Gould, M.D., works to advance mainstream medical engagement on climate change with the California Medical Association and to cre-ate new medical school curriculum for environmental threats. He’s a fount of information on all of our issues and travels the country for our causes.

Epidemiologist and former PSR Board Member Tom Newman,

M.D., M.P.H., works to advance sustainability and prevent runaway climate change by getting non-therapeutic antibiotics out of meat/poultry from the UCSF food system and stopping coal exports through the Port of Oakland. He also speaks to Rotary groups about why we must rid the world of nuclear weapons.

PSR President Lynn Ringenberg, M.D., manages to be everywhere:

Donors&Doers

speaking about climate change and nuclear weapons on the university circuit, at community meetings and medical conferences, and with Student PSR groups, all the while keeping PSR functioning smoothly. Are you one of the lucky donors to receive a thank you call from Lynn?

Maureen McCue, M.D., John Rachow, M.D., and David Drake, D.O., make PSR/Iowa so effective while also doing so much with PSR/National. In the exhausting sum-mer heat, they shined for PSR at anti-pipeline rallies and state fairs.

Ira Helfand, M.D., circles the globe for us regularly. This year, he’s been to New York, Geneva and the Netherlands to present the Humanitarian Impacts initiative at the UN Open Ended Working Group. Last year, it was Brazil for

the Rotary International conference, South Africa for the World Medical Association, and Rome for the Nobel Peace Laureates.

For climate and toxics solu-tions, we thank Cathey Falvo, M.D., for representing PSR (and International Society of Doctors for the Environment) at the United Nations.

Psychiatrist Harvey Fernbach, M.D., is PSR National’s go-to volunteer whenever we need help with a local event. His most recent

gig was taking responsibility for Maryland’s Security lobby team on Capitol Hill in September.

PSR’s Senior Scientist Alan Lockwood, M.D., toured the U.S. with Heat Advisory, his new book about the health impacts of climate change. Alan represented PSR in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Florida.

Bravo, team PSR, and the many more volunteers like you.

continued below

DONORS&DOERS

continued from above

Blythe and Frank Baldwin, M.D.

from left: Bob Gould, M.D.; Tom

Newman, M.D., M.P.H.; and Lynn Ringenberg, M.D.

from left:

Maureen McCue, M.D., and John Rachow, M.D.;

David Drake, D.O.; Harvey Fernbach,

M.D.Cathey Falvo, M.D.

Ira Helfand, M.D.

Alan Lockwood, M.D.