The 19th IPPNW World Congress got off to an energetic start this afternoon with the arrival here in Basel of the BAN (Biking Against Nukes) student bike tour. More than 30 medical students from every continent except Antarctica arrived in the Marktplatz in front of the Basel City Hall at exactly 5:30 pm--this is Switzerland--after a 700 kilometer trip that started in Dusseldorf 10 days ago. Read more »

Following Senator Lautenberg’s introduction of the Safe Chemicals Act in April, House Representatives Bobby L. Rush (D-IL) and Henry Waxman (D-CA) introduced the Toxic Chemicals Safety Act 2010, H.R. 5820, a bill that updates the federal Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Read more »

On the surface, nuclear weapons, safe energy, environmental toxins, and other PSR issues may not seem like medical concerns. When I introduce myself as an intern for PSR and explain PSR’s mission, most people question the relation between nuclear weapons and medicine—this is the fallacy I want to address, and one of the reasons SPSR has created the student activist toolkit. Read more »

Climate change's future health consequences will be severe if we continue to turn a blind eye to it; we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions now. Yesterday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson announced that the agency will deny 10 petitions calling for the agency to reconsider its determination that six greenhouse gases in the atmosphere threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations. Read more »

On May 6th, the President’s Cancer Panel issued a report expressing concern over the increasing number of toxics and cancer-causing substances which are being released into the environment. The report called for greater regulation of industrial chemicals as well as increased awareness of the problems associated with their dangers. Read more »

Senator Robert Byrd died June 28, 2010. He was remarkable and surprising in many ways and probably the last of a kind. One bit of trivia emerged that jogged my memory. Senator Byrd was a dedicated fan of the TV show “Gunsmoke,” and he advanced a resolution in the Senate protesting the end of the long running series in 1975. Read more »
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Stepping out of the Bethesda metro station into the blinding sunlight, I warily tried to navigate my way to David Hart’s house. I was excited to join a group of motivated individuals, both from PSR and Grow the Hope, a movement for progressive social change and supporters of President Barack Obama, to discuss the importance of nuclear disarmament. Read more »

Do you sometimes wonder how the chemical industry can be so oblivious to human health considerations? Consider the Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates (SOCMA). SOCMA officially opposes the Safe Chemicals Act of 2010, introduced by Senator Lautenberg in April, which proposes updating the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for the first time since its passage in 1976. Read more »
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We depend on chemicals in consumer products to perform as expected, and to be safe. But our regulatory system is not adequately protecting us from potential hazards in our food cans, diapers, shower curtains, baby bottles, and other consumer products. Listen to Washington State PSR President, Dr. Steven Gilbert, a toxicologist, together with pediatric urologist and PSR board member Dr. Rich Grady, discuss chemicals policy in an insightful and illuminating radio interview. Read more »
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Last week, PSR Maine member Jeff Peterson wrote a letter to the editor of the Portland Press Herald. As a pediatrician and a father, he wrote about the importance of strong chemical policy reform Read more »

Nuclear disarmament is a challenge that requires ongoing education around the risks tied to the very existence of the weapons themselves. PSR and our international affiliate International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), have been working on this issue for decades. While we’ve made some progress, the threat of nuclear war continues to loom over the world. With just a few missiles, the whole world could be annihilated. Prominent officials including UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and President Obama are now attempting to heed Kennedy’s wise words before these weapons “abolish us.” As the title of this blog post prompts, we need to destroy these weapons... or they will destroy us. Read more »
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The Japanese called the atomic bomb "Original Child Bomb." The makers of the bomb called it "Little Boy." The way early twentieth century physics was unfolding, perhaps it was inevitable that the drive to understand how the world works would have eventually led to development of nuclear weapons. Or perhaps not. Perhaps the perceived desperation of impending World War turned human endeavor in this direction. Perhaps the need to demonstrate the power of this weapon to U.S. enemies and allies alike led to the first use of a nuclear weapon. Read more »
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The current manmade environmental oil disaster of the Deepwater Horizon Oil blowout on April 20, 2010 happens to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the radiation disaster at Chernobyl on April 27, 1986. This is, therefore, an ideal time to consider the nature and effect of manmade disasters, which should give us guidance as to the direction of our future energy plans. Read more »

On Tuesday evening, I had the opportunity to join a distinguished group of current and former administration officials, members of Congress, senior reporters and colleagues from throughout the arms control community, in a private showing of Nuclear Tipping Point. Read more »
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The EPA is offering two versions of a proposed rule for regulating coal ash. One would require the states to adhere to strict new federal regulations. The other... well... Read more »
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Last month an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded, killing 11 people. The destroyed oil rig is releasing more than 200,000 gallons of oil into the Gulf each day. This disaster threatens to dwarf the notorious Exxon Valdez spill, which dumped 11 million gallons of crude oil into the remote Prince William Sound in 1989. By contrast, the current catastrophe has already leaked over 12 million gallons, according to one environmental group. And the gallons keep pouring out, despite automated robot repair efforts. Read more »
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Two issues with special relevance to PSR are emerging here at the NPT review in New York: Austria, Switzerland, China and the 80 odd nations of the Non Aligned Movement (NAM) have explicitly endorsed a Nuclear Weapons Convention (NWC), and recommended that a call to initiate negotiations for a NWC be included in the final document of the Review Conference. The call reflects a widely held view among participants that nuclear disarmament is as important as non proliferation and can not be put off indefinitely as it has in the past. Read more »
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The Non Proliferation Treaty review conference begins this week in New York against the back drop of one of the worst environmental disasters in decades, and the ongoing oil leak in the Gulf should give the nuclear negotiators at the UN much to think about. Read more »
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For those students who have never attended the NPT review conference, I would like to first give a snapshot of what the experience–or at least the first couple of days–is like. First, you queue…for hours. We waited outside in a line with visitors and other NGO representatives. Unfortunately there were only two people working at the registration on day 1, and this inside line inside was even worse – perhaps spending five minutes on each person, and well, with, say, 75 people in front of you…and you can do the math. Read more »

For those students who have never attended the NPT review conference, I would like to first give a snapshot of what the experience–or at least the first couple of days–is like. First, you queue…for hours. We waited outside in a line with visitors and other NGO representatives. Unfortunately there were only two people working at the registration on day 1, and this inside line inside was even worse – perhaps spending five minutes on each person, and well, with, say, 75 people in front of you…and you can do the math. Read more »