Climate change’s threats to human health and life are growing. Will you join our latest effort to roll back climate change?
I remember as a child in grade school being told to crawl under my desk during air raid drills. It seemed like a game at the time. I subsequently learned how ludicrous these drills were in response to the threat of nuclear war with the Soviet Union and how the founders of PSR and IPPNW had demonstrated the courage and wisdom to point out to leaders of both countries that there would be no winner in a nuclear war. It was at this point that I joined PSR.
My wife and I have two grown children, and we are expecting grandchildren soon. My wife teaches pre-school deaf children to listen and talk with the help of sophisticated hearing aids and cochlear implants. Her school is now required to conduct lock down drills during which her students crawl under their desks, supposedly to protect themselves from a gunman with an assault weapon.
We’ve come a long way, but we still have a long way to go to make this world a healthy and safe place for our children. That’s why I’m a member of PSR.
Biographical Sketch
Dr. Bill Durston has been practicing Emergency Medicine for 30 years. He is also a Marine Corps combat veteran of Vietnam, decorated for courage under fire, and a former expert marksman. Bill has served on the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of PSR, and he helped restart the Sacramento Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility in 2003. Bill has also served on the Board of Directors and as Injury Prevention Chairperson for the California Chapter of the American College of Emergency Medicine. Bill served as PSR/Sacramento President from 2003 to 2006 when he stepped down to run for U.S. Congress in a grassroots campaign in 2006 and again in 2008. Bill narrowly lost in 2008 to a well-funded incumbent who had previously been considered undefeatable, but who was ousted in a subsequent election cycle. Bill’s background gives him a unique perspective on the issues of war and militarism, gun violence, and organizational development.
Conference: Climate Smart Southwest
Build new and fortify existing cross-cultural, community, and governmental partnerships to educate and engage community action to address the anticipated public health impacts of climate change in the Southwest, September 20-21 in Tucson.
The Shameful Epidemic: Will Sandy Hook shock us into dealing with gun violence at last? (Sacramento News and Review, December 20, 2012.)
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