Improving the Built Environment to Reduce Indoor Heat-Related Illnesses and Deaths
Greater Boston PSR Heat waves can produce dangerous indoor heat, especially for people who don’t have or can’t afford air conditioning. Heat pumps can help. Download
Fracking with “Forever Chemicals”
This report presents previously unpublicized evidence that major oil and gas companies, including ExxonMobil and Chevron, have used per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), or substances that could degrade into PFAS, in hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) for oil and gas in more than 1,200 wells in six U.S. states. Toxic in minuscule concentrations, these man-made chemicals accumulate …
Air Pollution and Covid-19: A Dangerous Combination
Does living near active oil and gas wells increase rates of COVID-19 infection and death? PSR explores this chilling possibility in a new white paper, Air Pollution and COVID-19: A Dangerous Combination. The report examines five counties in Colorado and five in New Mexico, each with high levels of oil and gas activity. Among its …
Compendium of Scientific, Medical, and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking (Unconventional Gas and Oil Extraction)
Seventh Edition A collection of nearly 2,000 abstracts of medical, scientific and investigative reports about the consequences of oil and gas drilling, fracking, and associated infrastructure. Presents evidence that these activities are dangerous to public health, the environment, and the climate cycle and a grave environmental justice issue, with communities of color, Indigenous people, and …
Convincing Nuclear-armed Countries to Take the Path to Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
With the upcoming entry into force of the nuclear ban treaty, an important question arises: what strategy can we, American civil society groups, adopt to leverage the TPNW to steer the U.S. and the other nuclear-armed states towards total elimination of nuclear weapons? To answer this question, Physicians for Social Responsibility has conducted a series …
Running Out of Time
Why U.S. Health and Life Insurance Companies Should Divest from Fossil Fuels Climate change has emerged in recent decades as a grave threat to human health and the economy. Nevertheless, many health and life insurance companies remain heavily invested in the fossil fuel industry, investments which contradict their mission to protect human health and support …
Enough is Enough: 2019 Global Nuclear Weapons Spending
In its report “Enough is Enough: Global Nuclear Weapons Spending 2020” the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons has produced the first estimate in nearly a decade of global nuclear weapon spending, taking into account costs to maintain and build new nuclear weapons. ICAN estimates that the nine nuclear-armed countries spent $72.9 billion on their …
Legality of Nuclear Weapons
Some experts argue that nuclear weapons are already illegal under international law. Meanwhile, the United States—with 1,750 deployed nuclear weapons—and eight other nuclear-armed nations unequivocally consider them legal. Adopted in 2017, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is an initiative to build a comprehensive legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons.
Health Effects from Gas Stove Pollution
A new report, coauthored by PSR, documents dangerous levels of indoor air pollution from gas stoves. The report presents scientific evidence that gas stoves release several hazardous pollutants, notably nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide.
Climate and Health Risks of Liquified Natural Gas
Read PSR’s report on liquified natural gas (LNG) and its implications for our environment, our health, and our climate.