How do you know when you’ve had enough? With addiction, usually there are warning signs. The rewards no longer surpass the drawbacks, the risks, and the loss. A smoker notices a persistent cough. An alcoholic can’t remember the night before. Small, relentless wakeup calls. Read more »

The Pentagon and US Navy are planning to rebuild the Trident submarine nuclear weapons fleet over the next fifteen years at a cost likely to exceed $1 trillion over the life of the program. Read more »
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Nearly half of Americans live an area which is heavily polluted, the American Lung Association stated in their annual State of the Air Report released last week. What does this mean? The roughly 157 million people living in these areas are placed at a high risk for asthma, respiratory disease and premature death. Most cities have shown improvement from last year’s report, but how much of an improvement is it if nearly half of us are living in air that is harming our health? Read more »

The National Conversation on Public Health and Chemical Exposures was initiated by the Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in June 2009 to make a plan to better protect the public from harmful chemicals. Read more »
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In the wake of the Japanese nuclear crisis, Americans are considering things that they haven’t thought of in a while. One is the relationship between nuclear power and health. As workers dump millions of gallons of irradiated water into the ocean, radiation levels reach Chernobyl-like levels in villages around Fukushima, and iodine-131 is found in US milk, it is reasonable to question how “clean” nuclear is. Read more »

It has been a privilege on behalf of PSR to be participating for the past two days in the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Annual Conference on Nuclear Policy. This gathering with over 700 top level participants from 40 countries has been grappling with some of the most pressing issues facing our world today. Read more »
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“Nuclear Meltdown” -The words displayed on almost every American newspaper front page, television screen and computer homepage alike in recent days. An earthquake and tsunami descended on Japan causing worry and strife across a nation. Read more »

The German public sent a strong message to policymakers in state elections on Sunday. Read more »

As the United Kingdom considers the renewal of their Trident submarines, it’s time for a debate about nuclear weapons in Europe. Read more »
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The signing of the proposed Mercury & Air Toxic Standard is a long overdue victory for American public health. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson articulated that this is the initiation of an effort that will, “Save lives, prevent illnesses, and provide economic opportunities.” Read more »

A recent report estimates that coal’s impacts – including its effects on health and the damage in inflicts on the environment -- cost the U.S. about $345 billion annually. According to the report, a full rendering of coal’s costs would double to triple the price of coal-generated electricity. Read more »

My name is Martin Donohoe and I practice internal medicine, teach courses in public health, medical humanities, and women’s rights, and work with a number of activist groups on issues relevant to universal health care, food safety, and environmental preservation. Read more »

Last week we posted essays to the Environmental Health Policy Institute addressing the question: “How does our food production system drive our exposure to toxic chemicals?” Read more »

Thanks to the commitment of PSR’s Security Program to the professional development of its staff, I was able to attend a week-long course at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). Read more »

As Ronald Reagan is lionized this month to commemorate the centennial of his birth, it ought to be recalled that Reagan's presidency brought America and the world to the brink of infinite peril. President Reagan's nuclear buildup and nuclear saber-rattling so increased the temperatures inside the pressure cooker of the Cold War that it seemed likely to blow its lid at any moment - splattering everyone standing in the kitchen of Planet Earth. Read more »

The health, welfare and very survival of societies and people throughout the world, including those not possessing nuclear armaments or involved in nuclear strategies, continue to be threatened by the existence of nuclear arsenals. Read more »

Last week, in a small Senate hearing room packed standing-room-only with spectators, Senator Lautenberg of New Jersey opened a session on reforming the outdated, 36-year-old Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA, or “Tosca”). Read more »

With the corporate takeover of our nation’s food system, eating a meal has never been so controversial. Few consumers realize the growing offenses to worker’s rights, environmental sustainability, and public health that factory farming inflicts on our world. Read more »
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What is happening now in North Africa and the Middle East should give people in the region and around the world a reason to hope. Read more »
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Last Wednesday more than 60 people joined us for the first in a series of Confronting Toxics webinars – this one was about the role of the healthcare professional in federal chemicals policy. We were lucky to have Richard Denison, PhD, Senior Scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund, as well as Lindsay Dahl, Deputy Director of the Safer Chemicals Healthy Families coalition, as presenters. Read more »