Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) applauds the new standards announced by the Environmental Protection Agency on March 27 to limit industrial carbon pollution from new power plants.

PSR has intervened in a lawsuit to defend the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s newly proposed rule to regulate mercury and air toxics from coal-fired power plants.

A letter to the editor from Harrisburg PSR's Dr. James E. Jones.

PSR is petitioning the White House to have the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) release health-protective standards for disposal of coal ash.

Moving the U.S. off of polluting, carbon-heavy coal-fired electricity will be much easier when clean, healthy renewable energy sources are in place. To that end, Catherine Thomasson MD, PSR’s new executive director, testified on February 14 in favor of a bill to facilitate development of an off-shore wind farm off the Atlantic coast.

Dr. Alan H. Lockwood, an Emeritus Professor of Neurology at the University of Buffalo and a member of Physicians for Social Responsibility, was in Fairbanks as a guest of the Alaska Community Action on Toxics and the Northern Alaska Environmental Center.

PSR Executive Director Dr. Catherine Thomasson explains the public health costs of coal-fired power plants.

While there has been limited research in Australia on the health effects of coal mining, extensive studies in the US by the Physicians for Social Responsibility found people living in high coal-producing counties had higher rates of cardiopulmonary disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hypertension and kidney disease compared with people in non-coal-producing counties.

PSR, acting with environmental organizations, filed a Notice of Intent to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to require the Agency to release rules for safe disposal of coal ash, the toxic waste left when electrical utilities burn coal.

Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) joined environmental groups in announcing their intent to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in federal court to force the release of long-awaited federal safeguards for toxic coal ash.

Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) has worked for twenty-two years to protect the public from the severe toxic effects of mercury. Mercury, a neurotoxin, damages the developing brain; fetuses, infants and children exposed to mercury can suffer lifelong developmental delays, loss of IQ and mental retardation. In adults, mercury can damage the heart and kidneys.

"The information being presented to students misleads them on very basic questions of health and safety. Fossil fuels like coal have very damaging effects on health, and schools should warn students about them, not ignore them," noted Barbara Gottlieb, Director of Environment and Health at Physicians for Social Responsibility.

PSR chapters across the country celebrated the EPA’s recent finalization of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule. This rule is a huge victory for human health, particularly for children, who can face developmental delays and mental retardation due to mercury exposure.

PSR-Los Angeles, along with NRDC and Communities for a Better Environment, are asking a federal appeals court to review an action by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that lets a local air quality agency avoid monitoring pollutants from area freeways.

A letter to the editor from PSR board member Dr. Alan Lockwood.

An op-ed from PSR Maine Board member Dr. James H. Maier on the effects of mercury.

The short film "Southend," which was financed by Iowa PSR, features interviews with Muscatine, Iowa residents on the health effects of local air pollution.

Dr. Lani Graham, PSR Maine board member, discusses the toxics found in children's toys.

PSR chapters continue to make powerful strides to get the U.S. off of coal and onto clean, healthy, renewable energy sources. Just in the past week, PSR activists in Oregon, Iowa and Michigan conducted an impressive series of public events, media visits and Grand Rounds presentations.

“We can’t afford to ignore the costs of coal,” Maureen McCue, director of Iowa PSR and an adjunct clinical professor in the UI College of Public Health, told advocates Wednesday.