ACTION ALERTS
Below please find actions you can take on the local, state, and federal levels, to protect the environment, defend health, and demand justice, including anti-nuclear weapons and military spending reduction policy advocacy.
SUBSCRIBE to our Action Alert Emails at the SIGN UP button above. And please follow us on Twitter @SFBayPSR, for more immediate news and info.
UPDATES AND ONGOING!
- Ask EPA: Enact the most stringent standards on Mercury and Air Toxics (MATS)
- Health Professional Sign-On Letter: Protect Families from Oil & Gas Health Harms
- Support AB421: Referendum Reform: Reclaim our Democracy from Corporations
- Ask San Francisco to add building electrification to a 2024 housing bond
- VICTORY! Air District voted YES to defend healthy air in the Bay Area
- Urge U.S. Representatives to abolish nuclear weapons, H. Res. 77
- Tell FERC to deny the GTN Xpress Pipeline to reduce health harms
- SIGN Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty
- California Air Resources Board (CARB) — we need a climate plan that prioritizes health and equity
- Close Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant
- Sign: No Nuclear War over Ukraine
- Demand the Cleanup of Bayview Hunters Point in San Francisco
- And more below
Ask EPA to enact the most stringent standards on Mercury and Air Toxics (MATS)
The EPA has proposed a rule to strengthen the standards on Mercury and Air Toxics (MATS), which would require coal- and oil-fired power plants to further reduce emissions of mercury and other hazardous air pollutants. PSR believes that the EPA should enact the most stringent standards for MATS possible.
Please submit comments to the EPA asking them to finalize the more stringent alternative standard of no higher than 0.006 pounds per million Btu’s for non-mercury metal hazardous air pollutants and to revise the mercury standard for lignite-fired power plants to a more stringent level.
ACTION
DEADLINE: June 23, 2023
Post a comment to the EPA here.
Your voice as a health professional matters. Please focus on the effects of mercury and air toxics on health and feel free to mention how it may affect your patients. The comments can be posted anonymously, if you don’t want your name displayed online.
Sample comment:
“I am a …. (doctor, nurse, public health professional, concerned citizen). Because of detrimental health effects of mercury and other air toxics, I urge you to finalize a stringent alternative standard of no higher than 0.006 pounds per million Btu’s for non-mercury metal hazardous air pollutants and to revise the mercury standard for lignite-fired power plants to a more stringent level.”
See detrimental health effects of mercury and other air toxics here to customize your comments.
Health Professional Sign-On Letter:
Stop Oil Permits in the Health Protective Zone
Protect Families from Oil & Gas Health Harms
California is the only major oil production state without a health protection zone (setback) to shield children, families, and communities from highest exposure levels to harmful emissions and other forms of environmental degradation originating from oil and gas operations.
Environmental justice communities have fought for over a decade to protect themselves and their families from oil and gas pollution and to mandate a health protective zone around their homes, schools, and health care facilities. SF BAY PSR mobilized health professionals in support of SB 1137. But, just a few days after Governor Newsom signed SB 1137 into law, Big Oil spent millions to deceive Californian voters on a referendum to overturn this health protective law. The law was to go into effect in January of 2023, but it is now on hold until it is voted on through a ballot measure in 2024.
Over the past few months there have been hundreds of oil and gas drilling permits, many within the 3,200-foot health protective zone from schools, homes, and hospitals.
ACTION
SIGN this Health Professional Letter to Governor Newsom
READING: Inside Climate News: History of Racism Leaves Black Californians Most at Risk from Oil and Gas Drilling, New Research Shows
AB 421: Referendum Reform: Reclaim Our Democracy from Corporations
Imagined as a tool to empower California’s voters, referendums instead have been co-opted by billion-dollar corporations who are interested in protecting their profit margins by any means necessary. They deceive voters into signing petitions. They mislead voters about who is behind a measure. For example, Big Oil used deceptive tactics to collect signatures to try to overturn SB 1137, mentioned above. And after millions of dollars of misleading and deliberately confusing ads, voters are often left wondering what a yes or a no vote even means. That’s exactly what the corporations want.
But we can change that. This year we are helping to plan to build a statewide, community-driven campaign to write new rules and take back the power of direct democracy for California’s voters and communities.
ACTION
Join our coalition to pass AB 421 by completing this endorsement form.
READING: Mother Jones: Big Oil Expands Assault on California’s Health and Climate Laws
UPDATED: Tell Mayor Breed and Supervisors to Fund San Francisco’s Climate Plan
Sponsored by SF Climate Emergency Coalition, including SF Bay PSR
To fund San Francisco’s Climate Plan, voters will need to pass bonds. These bonds could be put on the ballot in 2024—if the committee approves.
A UC Berkeley Center for Law Energy and the Environment (CLEE) report recommended that the first step toward funding SF’s Climate plan should be a general obligation bond. See page nine of the Executive Summary.
We are asking the city to issue a bond to rehabilitate existing affordable housing buildings with climate-friendly features such as:
- electrification, replace gas water heaters, furnaces, and stoves with healthier, efficient electric appliances
- energy-efficiency upgrades such as double-pane windows
- green space/plantings in or around the buildings
ACTIONS
Make your health voice heard! Tell Mayor Breed and the Supervisors that the City of San Francisco must do its part to address climate change by incorporating climate goals and actions into a housing bond.
1. CALL: Please call and tell your Supervisors that we want a housing bond that includes building electrification on the ballot in March 2024.
Connie Chan (chair) 415-554-7410, ChanStaff@sfgov.org
Rafael Mandelman 415-554-6968, MandelmanStaff@sfgov.org
Hilary Ronen 415-554-5144, hillary.ronen@sfgov.org
Shamann Walton 415-554-7670, shamann.walton@sfgov.org
Ahsha Safai 415-554-6975, ahsha.safai@sfgov.org
President Aaron Peskin 415-554-7450, aaron.peskin@sfgov.org
2. WRITE: Or write a short email to the Supervisors.
Email Clerk of the Committee brent.jalipa@sfgov.org with File #230265 in the subject line.
Copy President Peskin on the letter for sure, and the other 5 Supervisors if you wish.
MORE INFO about the benefits of a bond to fund electrification of affordable housing:
- Removing “natural” gas will reduce climate-warming emissions, lessen the danger of gas leakage and explosions, and provide our most vulnerable residents with healthier indoor air while lowering their energy usage.
- Such projects will comply with the coming BAAQMD regulations on replacement of gas furnaces and water heaters, and reduce the cost of utilities for the tenants because of the ultra-efficiency of heat pumps and induction cooking.
- The CA Energy Commission has funding for pilot projects to electrify buildings, so those funds might further support City projects, adding value.
MORE INFO about the battle to gain funding for SF’s Climate Plan:
The San Francisco Climate Emergency Coalition has been actively meeting with the mayor’s budget staff and supervisors.
San Francisco has an ambitious Climate Action Plan (CAP), which Mayor London Breed proudly introduced in 2021. Confusingly, in the past two city budget cycles, she funded it at $0. The city is in danger of missing its climate goals without serious efforts to fund and implement the CAP.
After years of inaction, the passage of the federal Inflation Reduction Act means the US finally has a fighting chance at meeting our climate goals. But the IRA is just the start — now we have to do the hard work of implementation, everywhere. Cities, including San Francisco, have a critical role to play to ensure we get to net-zero carbon emissions as quickly as possible.
Unfortunately, San Francisco is already behind. This year, the San Francisco Environment Department (SFE) is requesting $7 million for staffing and programs essential for achieving the CAP on schedule. This is a minuscule amount in the city’s overall $14 BILLION budget.
The climate crisis impacts the city in countless ways. It is a public health crisis, and funding climate initiatives will improve residents’ and the planet’s health. Such initiatives are also critical to address environmental justice and equity issues in San Francisco and improve the lives of underserved, low-income, and BIPOC communities. Climate initiatives will attract more businesses and tourists, create jobs, and elevate the status of San Francisco as a world-class city.
Mayors around the world are leading on aggressive climate policies in their cities. It’s time for Mayor Breed to show that she is a serious leader who recognizes that climate action is the path to a livable, equitable, and rejuvenated San Francisco, by committing to funding $7 million for SFE in her 2023-2024 budget and to a city bond that would help fund building electrification and other climate friendly projects.
VICTORY! Bay Area Air District Voted YES!
SF Bay PSR and other members of the Bay Area Clean Air coalition sponsored this important resolution!
BIG NEWS! Last week, after six hours of public comments and nail biting….the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) passed the nation’s first zero-emissions appliance standard to gradually transition Bay Area homes to clean, healthy, electric furnaces and water heaters, beginning later this decade. This is historic! These new rules are now a model for the rest of the country.
In the Bay Area, gas appliances in homes produce more toxic NOx pollution than all of the region’s passenger cars.
The new standards will have major implications for climate, air quality, and public health, particularly for communities of color and lower-income communities. Transitioning to electric furnaces and water heaters is expected to prevent 15,000 asthma symptom incidents and avoid up to 85 premature deaths every year. These new rules will save lives!
Our health voices and white coat brigade were front and center! Our staff spent months writing communication materials, strategizing, and organizing to make it easy for us to take action.
We want to express our heartfelt gratitude to all the organizations in the Bay Area Clean Air coalition for their committed leadership and dedicated work on these rules, to Sunstone Strategies for their phenomenal strategizing and media outreach, and to the BAAQMD board for their 20 YES votes (0 no votes, 1 abstain, and 3 absent).
MANY THANKS to ALL of YOU who signed, wrote, attended the meeting, and gave testimony online and in person, including: Drs. Janice Kirsch, Margie Chen, Marjaneh Moini, Bret Andrews, Mary Williams, Amanda Millstein, Cynthia Mahoney, Bob Gould, and SF Bay PSR Intern Sienna Marley.
We look forward to supporting the Air District staff and implementation working group members to ensure that this standard is implemented with strong equity guardrails to protect lower-income communities.
To keep WINNING, we need your support! Wins like this require staff time and organizational support. Please give generously today!
DONATE HERE!
PRESS and MORE INFO:
Dr. Janice Kirsch is quoted in the Washington Post article below!
Dr. Margie Chen was interviewed by ABC News!
Answers to frequently asked questions: Bay Area Clean Air coalition’s website
Washington Post: Analysis | The Bay Area is going electric for furnaces and water heaters
San Francisco Examiner: No more NOx: Bay Area bans harmful gases lurking in your home
KQED: Bay Area Regulators Approve Rules to Phase Out Gas Furnaces and Water Heaters
Bloomberg: San Francisco Region Set to Ban Gas Appliances — But Not Stoves
The Hill: San Francisco Bay Area to phase out natural gas furnaces and water heaters
SPUR’s blog on subsidies to make the switch affordable for all, especially lower-income families
SF Bay PSR Resources: health benefits of electric appliances in homes
Tell Your U.S. House Representative to Show Leadership on Abolishing Nuclear Weapons by Cosponsoring H. Res. 77
Last month, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved their iconic Doomsday Clock ahead to 90 seconds before midnight, the closest it’s ever come to symbolic global apocalypse. It’s time for action and leadership—especially from members of Congress whose voice and votes help shape U.S. nuclear weapons policies and the decisions of the Executive Branch.
ACTION
WRITE HERE, a template is provided.
Write to your Congressional representative today to urge them to co-sponsor H. Res 77, a resolution introduced by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) and and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) that calls on the United States to embrace the goals and provisions of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) and to adopt Back from the Brink’s common sense policies for preventing nuclear war.
Feel free to personalize your letter, including if you live in an area that has adopted a BftB resolution as a way to demonstrate broad constituent support for H. Res. 77.
Tell FERC to deny the GTN Xpress Pipeline
Sponsored by Oregon PSR
Join health professionals and public health advocates in states across the Northwest (OR, WA, ID, CA) in opposition to TC Energy’s proposed GTN XPress project! Tell the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to deny the GTN XPress pipeline!
The Federal Energy Regulatory Committee (FERC) is expected to issue a decision on this project as soon as February of 2023.
ACTION
Tell FERC to deny the GTN XPress pipeline.
SIGN HERE
Following successful community opposition to proposed new pipelines in recent years, pipeline expansions have become part of a national strategy to increase fracked gas. FERC has approved 15 similar XPress projects over the past 5 years alone, resulting in a dramatic expansion of fracked gas in the U.S. Join us and tell the
The GTN XPress would increase the amount of fracked gas flowing from British Columbia through Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. This expansion would result in more than 3.47 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year. If approved, this would be like adding the pollution of 754,000 passenger vehicles a year on the road each year until 2052.
As health professionals and advocates, we understand that methane gas and expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure is bad news for public health and the environment. Communities near pipeline routes and compressor stations experience increased health risks. Pipelines leak. Additionally, communities that live near compressor stations are known to experience symptoms ranging from skin rashes to gastrointestinal, respiratory, neurological, and psychological.
We thus urge FERC to deny the GTN XPress Project! This is a plan that has been opposed by community leaders, Tribes, as well as the Attorney Generals in Washington, California, and Oregon.
The health community calls for
A Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty
PSR has co-authored a letter with our international health professional allies to demand governments develop and implement a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty (FFNPT).
Please SIGN HERE
To protect the health and lives of present and future generations we need a rapid, equitable phase-out of fossil fuels globally. Please sign and share the letter broadly with your colleagues and organizations.
In fall of 2022, the European Parliament called on countries to develop a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty – a major development in the global push to end the expansion of fossil fuel projects.
CA Climate Scoping Plan: We Need a Public Health Advisory Group
As a result of efforts led primarily by environmental justice advocates, there has been some improvement made to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) 2022 Draft Climate Change Scoping Plan. While we are encouraged by the elimination of all new gas plants, and improvements in the transportation sector, we are disappointed that the final 2022 Scoping Plan is still centered on putting the interests of fossil fuel and other polluting industries above the needs of overburdened communities, public health, science, and common sense.
Global warming is the biggest health threat we have ever faced, but a comprehensive public health analysis was not integrated into the design of the 2022 Draft Climate Change Scoping Plan. The health analysis conducted by CARB was extremely limited in scope, and did not inform members of the Air Resources Board or the public about the comprehensive public health threats, benefits, and costs of the potential policies and scenarios within the Scoping Plan.
We urge CARB to form a public health advisory group and work with public health professionals with expertise in climate, health, and equity to conduct on-going robust and comprehensive public health equity analyses that inform the implementation of each component of the 2022 Scoping Plan. We have to do all we can to minimize health harms and maximize health benefits of climate policies being enacted in California.
In brief, our top priorities include:
- Direct emission reduction (real zero not net zero emissions)
- Rapid phase out of fossil fuels, phase out of refineries
- Clean renewable electricity and energy
- No reliance on unproven technologies such as CCUS
- A scoping plan centered on public health and equity
Helpful Resources:
We will post updates throughout 2023.
Prevent California from a Nuclear Disaster
UPDATE: SB 846 passed. This is bad news!
The aging Diablo Canyon Nuclear power plant that is near four earthquake faults will remain active for at least five more years.
We remain OPPOSED to the continued operation of the Diablo Nuclear Power Plant for these reasons:
- It was built on the presumption of no active earthquake faults within 30 kilometers, it is now known there are 4 nearby active faults capable of larger quakes than the plant was designed for. One fault comes within 600 meters of the plant.
- The reactors are aging, with critical upgrades having been avoided because of the presumed shutdown in 2025.
- The attacks on the Zaporizhzhia reactor complex in Ukraine remind the world of the vulnerability of such plants to attack by adversaries / hackers, whether governments or terrorists, and the potential for massive radiation release.
- Spending billions of dollars on the aging Diablo nuclear plant would steal resources that should be used for far more cost-effective renewables and storage, essential for dealing with climate change.
No Nuclear War over Ukraine
Supported by International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, SF Bay PSR, PSR National, and others
SF Bay PSR continues to stand with our global allies in support of the Ukrainian people. We have all been feeling a bit overwhelmed by Russia’s brutal attack on Ukraine and the new United Nations Climate Change report. But history has proven that we can achieve power and hope when we take action alongside others who are standing up across the globe for peace and a healthy planet. Join us!
As of August 4, 2022, more than a million people have signed! Let’s keep it going!
SIGN HERE
As healthcare professionals, we call for NATO and the Russian Federation to renounce the use of nuclear weapons in this conflict and for an immediate cease fire and the withdrawal of all Russian military forces. We are extremely concerned about the heightened risks of nuclear harms, including from the use of nuclear weapons and from potential damage to the 15 nuclear power plants in the region. We must protect Ukraine’s people and sovereignty. Our own government must work for immediate and long-term diplomatic solutions that will provide for true security, both at home and abroad. And we must follow Ukraine’s lead in their negotiations for peace.
CLICK HERE for more info on our efforts to support peace in Ukraine.
SF Bay PSR Board Member Dr. Aude Bouagnon spoke at a rally on Earth Day 2021 to support Bayview Hunters Point community efforts to advocate for the clean up of toxic wastes harming the health of residents. Photo by Dr. Ahimsa Sumchai.
Demand the Cleanup of Bayview Hunters Point in San Francisco
Contact San Francisco Mayor Breed & Board of Supervisors to ask them to ACT NOW:
● Declare a Public Health Emergency in Bayview Hunters Point and Treasure Island!
● Declare a moratorium on shipyard development and Lennar’s unsafe soil excavation!
● Conduct full retesting, safe cleanup and removal of all radioactive and toxic contamination at Hunters Point Shipyard Superfund Site & Treasure Island!
The San Francisco Hunters Point Naval Shipyard site was home to a Naval shipyard repair facility from 1945 to 1974 and the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory (NRDL) from 1948 to 1960. These facilities contaminated soil, dust, sediments, surface water and groundwater with toxic chemicals, heavy metals, PCBs, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and radionuclides.
We are honored to support the Bayview Hunters Point Community Advocates in their efforts to fight for environmental justice.
READINGS & RESOURCES can be found HERE.
SIGN to demand the Cleanup of Radioactive & Toxic Contamination in San Francisco, Bayview Hunter’s Point Community
SIGN the petition here
Please join SF Bay PSR to support Bayview Hunters Point Mothers and Fathers Committee, Marie Harrison Community Foundation, Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice, Literacy for Environmental Justice, Youth Vs. Apocalypse and other allies to demand a FULL cleanup of ALL contamination at the Hunters Point Shipyard Superfund Site and adjacent areas.
KEEP THE PRESSURE ON the Biden-Harris Administration
Let’s keep the pressure on the Biden-Harris administration and your congressional representatives. Tell them you want to see in a “Green New Deal” that justly transitions us to a green economy.
Support the Thrive Agenda and contact your representatives. Supported by 200 grassroots organizations and 83 members of Congress, the Thrive Agenda is a roadmap to a just recovery from our climate crisis, the global pandemic, and the intertwining of persistent racial injustice, Make your voice heard!
Also, please support the Third Reconstruction resolution, introduced on May 24, 2021, by Congresswomen Barbara Lee and Pramila Jayapal, in collaboration with the Poor People’s Campaign, “Realizing a Third Reconstruction: A Moral and Political Commitment to Fully Address Poverty and Low-Wealth in America by Building Up from the Bottom.”