PSR Monitor

Big Win in Court! PSR Lawsuit Overturns EPA Limits on Scientific Advisory Boards

A lawsuit in which PSR was the lead plaintiff has overturned the U.S. EPA's effort to block some scientists from serving on EPA advisory boards.

EPA had proposed barring scientists who currently receive EPA grant money from serving on EPA science advisory committees, allegedly because the grantees would be biased. At the same time, EPA imposed no such limits on industry representatives who might serve on the advisory bodies.

The case, Physicians for Social Responsibility v. Scott Pruitt, was heard in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. PSR was represented by attorneys from Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law organization.

Celebrating the 50th Earth Day Across the Country

PSR chapters across the country celebrated the 50th Earth Day. They found ways to share their messages of health, action and hope while honoring stay-at-home orders and social distancing. See our roundup of highlights here.

U.S. Call to Action on Climate, Health and Equity.

Please join PSR in endorsing the "U.S. Call to Action on Climate, Health and Equity." The Call proposes policies that build healthy energy, transportation, land use, and agriculture systems, allowing us to deliver immediate and sustained health benefits while reducing future health risks from climate change.

Now you as an individual can add your name to support this valuable tool. After you endorse, please share the Call with your federal, state and local elected officials. Ask them to use it as a framework to develop policies that protect us from climate change while delivering a wealth of other benefits for health.

PSR Climate Ambassadors making their voices heard

Here are some of the latest media hits from our PSR Climate Ambassadors. Through their op-eds and LTEs they are successfully getting their voices heard on climate, clean energy and health issues across the country.

• Opinion: "Oil-Gas Industry Exploits Virus to Gut Protections, to Humanity's Peril" by Harv Teitelbaum (CO)
• Letter: "Pollution will make pandemic worse" by Dr. Claire Gervais (WI)
• Letter: "EPA Abdicates Enforcement Responsibility" by Dr. Paul Gee (AZ)

Learn more about our PSR Climate Ambassadors program and consider joining this special advocacy effort. If you have any questions contact Antonia Herzog.

This Month, Consider Indoor Air Health

Most of us are spending more time indoors this month. Many people do not know that the air inside is usually dirtier than the air outside, contributing to asthma and other pulmonary complaints. The My Green Doctor program has a short guide to help your patients improve indoor air quality, "Go Green at Home to Prevent Asthma and Breathing Problems".

My Green Doctor is a free donor and membership benefit from Physicians for Social Responsibility that is saving money as offices adopt wise environmental practices and share these ideas with their patients. My Green Doctor explains what to say and do so there is nothing for the office manager to study or prepare. This is how health professionals prepare their communities for the health threats of climate change. Ask your office manager to register here.

UN Secretary-General Calls for a Global Ceasefire

Amidst of the mayhem of a global emergency, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was a voice of reason cutting through the havoc. On March 23, responding to the Covid-19 pandemic, Guterres called for "an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world" so countries could work together in a unified effort to combat the virus.

Nuclear Weapons Community Cost Calculator

The folly of prioritizing nuclear weapons over public health has never been so obvious as it is in 2020, the year of the pandemic.

Each April, Dr. Bob Dodge, PSR-LA President, PSR Board Member, co-chair of PSR's Committee to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (PSR-CAN), and co-founder of Citizens for Peaceful Resolutions, calculates the cost of nuclear weapons programs to our communities. See what the costs are in your community.

Will Covid-19 save the world?

On April 17, Ira Helfand, along with his IPPNW colleagues Dr. Arun Mitra and Dr. Tilman Ruff, placed a joint op-ed on CNN focused on what we can learn from the Covid-19 pandemic: "When the experts tell us the sky is going to fall if we don't take action, we better take action or the sky really may fall. And we must apply this lesson to the two other existential threats that humanity faces: the climate crisis and the growing danger of a nuclear war."

PSR Member Web Conference & Update

As a valued member of PSR, we would like to invite you to an exclusive members-only web conference on Thursday, April 30th from 2:00 - 3:00 pm (EDT). During this event, Executive Director Jeff Carter, along with PSR-Los Angeles Chapter Director Martha Argüello and Washington PSR Chapter Director Max Savishinsky, will update members on how PSR is responding to and impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and answer any questions you may have. We hope you'll join us. Space for this virtual meeting is limited, so please click here to RSVP.

PSR Actions

Help PSR support vulnerable communities – restore Medicaid to COFA communities

Let’s Protect Those Who Are Working to Protect Us

Congress Must Not Undermine Our Future in Pandemic Stimulus Package

In the news

Taxes, COVID-19 and nuclear weapons funding — our nation's priorities
Bob Dodge, MD, PSR-LA President and PSR board member, The Hill - Apr 25

Letter From Michiana Ashcoal
Nuvo - Apr 23
Quotes PSR's Coal Ash report

DeSantis forgot medical appointee
PSR Florida President Howard Kessler, MD, Florida Times-Union - Apr 23

Baltimore will appeal Clean Air Act ruling, city solicitor says
Baltimore Brew - Apr 22
Quotes Chesapeake PSR President Gwen DuBois, MD, MPH

The F-35 in a time of global plague
PSR member John Reuwer, MD, Vermont Digger - April 22

A Baltimore Neighborhood Fights for Its Right to Breathe
Nonprofit Quarterly - Apr 22
Mentions Chesapeake PSR

Courts again side with scientists after EPA blocked grantees from serving on its boards
The Hill - Apr 21
Coverage of PSR's lawsuit against the EPA

In a resounding win for science, the D.C. Court of Appeals rules the EPA's policy of disqualifying leading scientific experts is irrational and illegal
Earthjustice - Apr 21
Press release from Earthjustice, which represented PSR in its lawsuit against the EPA

COVID-19 and Climate: Implications for Public Health
Lakeshore Public Radio - Apr 20
Quotes PSR Environment & Health Director Barbara Gottlieb

Will Covid-19 save the world?
Drs. Ira Helfand, Arun Mitra and Tilman Ruff, IPPNW, CNN - Apr 17

Budgets are Moral Documents: Nuclear Weapons Funding and COVID-19 Response
PSR Board Member Robert Dodge, MD, Common Dreams - Apr 16

Groups call for six-month moratorium on new CAFOs
The Perry News - Apr 16
Letter signed by PSR Iowa

Pollution will make pandemic worse
Claire Gervais, MD, PSR Wisconsin, Wisconsin State Journal - Apr 15

Maryland must do more to protect its most vulnerable during epidemic
Chesapeake PSR President Gwen DuBois, MD, MPH, Baltimore Sun - Apr 14

Norton Thanks 102 National and Local Groups for Letter to Congress Supporting D.C. Coronavirus Funding Fix
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC) Press Release - Apr 14
Mentions PSR

National Security or Human Security?
Leonard Eiger, Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, Voices for Creative Nonviolence - Apr 9

EPA Abdicates Enforcement Responsibility
Paul Gee, MD, PSR Arizona Arizona Daily Star - Apr 8

Oil-Gas Industry Exploits Virus to Gut Protections, to Humanity's Peril
Harv Teitelbaum, PSR Colorado, The Pueblo Chieftain - Apr 9

Stop state budget cuts during coronavirus pandemic and focus on tax reform
Mark Vossler, MD, Seattle Times - Apr 7

Groups, council members push Mayor Young to house Baltimore’s homeless at hotels during coronavirus outbreak
Baltimore Sun's Midnight Sun - Apr 6
Quotes Chesapeake PSR President Gwen DuBois, MD, MPH

City to begin moving homeless seniors to motels; advocates say more must be done
Baltimore Fishbowl - Apr 6
Quotes Chesapeake PSR President Gwen DuBois, MD, MPH

Why America Needs to Rethink Its National Security Priorities
The National Interest Online - Apr 6
Quotes Washington PSR President Mark Vossler, MD

The McAllen Monitor
LNG support spurs criticism - Mar 31
Mentions PSR's Liquified Natural Gas report

Coronavirus and Climate Change: What You Need to Know
Live Kindly - Mar 27
Quotes PSR-Los Angeles Executive Director Martha Dina Argüello

One year of U.S. nuclear weaopns spending would provide 300,000 ICU beds, 35,000 ventilators and salaries of 75,000 doctors
Newsweek - Mar 26
Includes ICAN data on misplaced priorities

Shut down by the coronavirus, here's how the YMCA of Greater Des Moines will decide when to reopen
Des Moines Register - Mar 25
Quotes PSR President-elect David Drake, DO

It's not the 'Chinese virus,' it's the 'Trump virus'
PSR board member Mike Martin, MD, San Francisco Chronicle - March 23