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.
n 2024, we are advocating for the phase out of toxic fossil fuel extraction, production, and use in California and for a just transition to a HEALTHIER, electric economy based on renewable energy. We are also continuing to advocate for the abolition of nuclear weapons and the protection of communities harmed by nuclear testing and industries.
We need as many health voices as possible to counter the powerful influence of the gas and oil industry over our CA legislature!
ONGOING ACTIONS!
- JOIN US: Medical Professional Lobby Day on Gas Stove Warning Labels
- SIGN: Keep Coal Out of Oakland
- CALL: Make Polluters Pay
- Let’s Celebrate! Updates: Protect Communities from Oil Well Pollution
- TELL Governor and Reps to Save Rooftop Solar
- Peace Advocacy in the New Year: Please click here to read our newsletter and take actions to address violence in Israel and Gaza
- Ask San Francisco to fund their Climate Plan
- Urge U.S. Representatives to abolish nuclear weapons, H. Res. 77
- 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
Medical Professional Lobby Day on Gas Stove Warning Labels
Sponsored by CALPIRG and supported by SF Bay PSR, Climate Health Now, among others
Join fellow health professionals to advocate for AB 2513 (Pellerin) which will require gas stoves in California come with a warning label about the health risks associated with gas cooking, so consumers can make informed purchasing decisions for their family.
More than four decades of research shows that gas stoves are producing dangerous air pollution indoors – increasing the risk of childhood asthma and other respiratory problems, but this risk has largely been hidden from the public. Despite all the studies, lack of education and federal regulations leave consumers largely unaware of the risks associated with gas stove cooking. AB 2513 simply gives consumers more information by requiring gas stoves sold in California come with a warning label on the health risks associated with gas stoves and the importance of ventilation. Manufacturers are working hard to kill this bill and keep the public in the dark, so we need to show our state lawmakers that the medical and scientific community agrees we need gas stove warning labels. Read more about the legislation here.
ACTION
We are looking for health professionals (physicians, nurses, public health experts, dentists, pharmacists, researchers, etc.) to join CALPIRG, SF Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility, and Climate Health Now for one of the advocacy days below.
Talking points and tips will be provided!
Car pool options available.
Friday, August 5, 4pm: advocacy training, online, optional
Wednesday, August 7: meetings throughout the day with CA legislators in Sacramento, in-person
Thursday, August 8: meetings throughout the day with CA legislators, online
SIGN UP HERE
Deadline to register: July 30
Contact Jenn Engstrom, CALPIRG State Director, if you have questions at jengstrom@calpirg.org or 916-524-1145.
THANK YOU!
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AB2513 UPDATES!
Bravo to SF Bay PSR Member Dr. Bret Andrews for giving testimony in April to support AB2513. Left to right: Dr. Bret Andrews of SF Bay PSR; Professor Rob Jackson of Stanford; and Assembly Member Gail Pellerin.
NEW STUDY: Professor Rob Jackson of Stanford released a new study that found gas stoves are a major source of indoor nitrogen dioxide pollution, and expose people to NO2 levels in their homes that exceed EPA & WHO safety levels. The study also shows that low-income households & families of color are exposed to more gas stove NO2 pollution than the national average. Gas stove pollution is a health hazard and contributes to racial health disparities. READ MORE.
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Keep Coal Out of Oakland!
Sponsored by No Coal in Oakland
Help prevent the construction of a major coal export terminal on the San Francisco Bay. A recent peer-reviewed Health Impact Study quantifies expected increases in Bay Area negative health outcomes due to emissions from trains that would carry 7.5 million tons of coal per year to the terminal.
ACTION
Please sign your name—including any health credentials—to the attached open letter calling for a binding commitment against handling coal at a marine terminal planned for the Oakland waterfront. The letter is co-sponsored by SF Bay PSR.
ADD YOUR NAME
If you are a member of another organization that could sign on, the attached letter also contains a link to the Organizational Sign-On Form!
Live in Oakland? No Coal in Oakland yard signs are available!
REQUEST FORM
If the property is developed as a coal terminal, it could handle from 4 to 15 million tons of coal per year. Each day, one or more uncovered coal trains, each more than a mile long, would spew toxic coal dust and diesel exhaust from Utah to Oakland, including through densely populated environmental justice communities in the East Bay. After a fossil-fueled trip across the Pacific, the coal would be burned, polluting Asian power plant communities and emitting substantial greenhouse gasses. We cannot allow it.
The coalition coordinating this campaign includes: No Coal in Oakland, 350 East Bay, Youth vs. Apocalypse, West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, SF Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility, Sierra Club, SF Baykeeper, Asian Pacific Environmental Network, West Oakland Neighbors, Interfaith Council of Alameda County, Faith in Action
LEARN MORE at No Coal in Oakland.
Below: Image credit: “Fig. 1. Study Area with Estimated PM2.5 Concentrations associated with 2.1 μg/m3 Increase in the Peak of the Annual Average Increment,” from Health impact assessment of PM2.5 from uncovered coal trains in the San Francisco Bay Area: Implications for global exposures, Environmental Research v252 Part 1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2024.118787
Make Polluters Pay!
Supported by Last Chance Alliance, SF Bay PSR, PSR-LA, and many more
We’ve come so far. The Idle Oil Wells Clean Up Bill (AB 1866) and the Local Environmental Choice and Safety Act (AB 3233) are just weeks away from a final vote in California. We need you to help get them across the finish line.
The Idle Wells Clean Up Bill (AB 1866) is a quadruple win for California. By requiring the largest polluting oil companies to plug and clean up 20% of their leaky idle oil wells per year, it protects our climate, it defends public health, it saves Californians money, and it creates thousands of jobs.
Meanwhile, the Local Environmental Choice and Safety Act (AB 3233) defends local democracy from Big Oil’s overreach. Simply clarifying existing law, this bill affirms the rights of local governments to restrict and phase out oil and gas pollution in their jurisdictions so they can continue to protect their communities and help California achieve its climate goals.
Both bills are up against the full might of the fossil fuel industry in the Senate so our movement is making hundreds of phone calls to ensure our politicians side with the people, and health professionals, over polluters.
ACTIONS
1. Health professionals: Please sign this letter in support of the Idle Wells Clean Up Bill (AB 1866).
SIGN HERE
2. Everyone: Please call your state senator and urge them to support the bills.
CALL 1-512-402-8385 today!
You will be asked to provide your zip code and then connected with your state senator’s office. Leave a message if no one is available to take your call. Here’s what to say:
“Hello my name is ___, and I am a resident of ____ [If you are a health professional, let them know.] I am calling to urge my senator to vote YES on AB 3233 and AB 1866. AB 3233 will protect local democracy and affirm the rights of cities and counties to defend their communities from oil and gas pollution without costing the state any money. AB 1866 will make the big polluters clean up their idle oil wells much faster. It will protect public health and our climate, save California money, AND create thousands of jobs. Please support AB 3233 & AB 1866. Thank you.”
Once you’ve made a call, please forward this email to your friends and family and ask them to call as well.
MORE INFO:
THANK YOU!
Protect Californians’ Health & Safety from Toxic Oil Drilling
Supported by SF Bay PSR, PSR-LA, and many other organizations across California
Let’s Celebrate! And an update!
The Campaign for a Safe and Healthy California organized, fought back, and won against Big Oil’s efforts to unravel a health and safety buffer zone law (SB 1137 – Lena Gonzalez) that prohibits new oil drilling within 3,200 feet of where nearly 3 million Californians live, while also requiring existing wells to meet higher safety standards. We celebrate the dedication and hard work of so many environmental justice communities across California who led the Campaign, and we thank all of the health professionals who signed letters and made calls.
But we know that Big Oil is not going to give up and will probably turn to the courts to try to dismantle health protective laws.
We are in this for the long run, and we are pleased to report that the Campaign for a Safe and Healthy California has evolved to become a general purpose committee with nearly $20 million to protect communities.
As health professionals, we have an important role to play in stopping the fossil fuel industry’s shameless attempts to stop and overturn health protective laws, and to gain permits for new oil wells near communities. Research shows that living near an oil well increases the risk of asthma, birth defects, high risk pregnancy, respiratory illnesses and cancer, and that the risks are greatest within half a mile. Today, more than 2 million Californians are exposed to the most toxic emissions and communities of color are the most harmed by neighborhood drilling.
“We cannot let the oil industry, with their billions in shameful profits, continue to pollute our communities and damage our health with impunity. We will continue to build a strong alliance of brave environmental justice leaders, doctors, and nurses who stand up to the oil industry. We built a powerful coalition of more than 420 organizations, public health experts, political leaders, philanthropists, artists, and labor unions, united to expose Big Oil’s greed and manipulation,” said Martha Dina Argüello, CSHC Steering Committee Member and Executive Director of Physicians for Social Responsibility Los Angeles (PSR-LA)
READ the FULL PRESS RELEASE
Save Rooftop Solar in CA, an ongoing battle!
Sponsored by Solar Rights Alliance
BACKGROUND
Rooftop solar has been jeopardized in California because of a string of reckless decisions made by the CA Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) at the behest of the utilities. They are working to end net metering, charge solar taxes and other penalties for having solar panels, and even take control of your panels and the electricity they generate. The new solar-user rules, net metering 3 (NEM 3.0), went into effect in April of 2023, and by December, year-over-year sales were down 77-85% and 17,000 solar workers lost their jobs.
- Before NEM 3.0, rooftop solar was growing fastest in middle and working class neighborhoods.
- Now, everyday people have fewer options to control skyrocketing utility bills. And rooftop solar is no longer financially viable for most apartment buildings, farmers, schools, hospitals, etc.
- Also, the state says rooftop solar must triple in order to meet the CA’s goal of getting 100% of our electricity from clean energy. That won’t happen unless rooftop solar becomes more affordable.
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WHAT IS THIS ABOUT? Utility profits!
- Utilities make profits by spending more money – your money – building and maintaining long-distance power lines.
- Because rooftop solar reduces the need to spend as much money on giant wind farms and power lines, utilities make less profit if rooftop solar keeps growing.
- However, utilities still stand to make tons of profit in the years to come, even with rooftop solar. Yet, they are still trying to kill rooftop solar.
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Thankfully, a group of state legislators have proposed a series of bills to fix the situation and get rooftop solar growing again.
ACTIONS
Tell Governor Newsom and your state legislators to support the series of bills to protect rooftop solar in CA.
EMAIL them here using Solar Rights Alliance’s easy tool.
READ MORE about the series of bills HERE.
In short, the bills would do the following:
- Reduce fees and taxes on residential solar projects in California.
- Repeal NEM 3.0, restore incentives for solar panels
- Require the CPUC to develop new rules aligned with the state’s clean energy goals.
- Address the negative impacts of NEM 3.0 on the solar industry, including job losses and reduced solar sales
- Aim to ensure California remains on track to achieve 100% clean energy by 2045.
Thank you!
MORE READING
Solar Rights Alliance Blog: CPUC blocks rooftop solar for farms, schools, and many renters. Will state lawmakers overrule them?
KQED CA Morning Report: Solar Industry Battered by New California Rule
LA Times: California needs to get its act together on rooftop solar
READ MORE at Solar Rights Alliance
Health Care and Public Health Professionals Call to Immediate Action to Address the Violence in Israel and Gaza and Its Health Consequences
Initiated by the Peace Caucus in affiliation with the American Public Health Association (APHA)
As health care and public health professionals, we unequivocally condemn terrorist attacks against civilians and violence during war against civilians. International law recognizes attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure as crimes against humanity and, when committed during war, as war crimes. The medical and public health consequences of this violence against civilians in Israel and Gaza have been and continue to be horrendous and catastrophic.
The health harms of violence to civilians extend well beyond morbidity and mortality from explosives and other weapons. Forced displacement and restriction of access to food, water, shelter, health care, and medicine lead to widespread suffering, illness, and death. When people live in crowded conditions during war, they are at increased risk of tuberculosis and other respiratory disorders. When they are denied access to safe water, they develop dehydration and potentially fatal diarrheal diseases, such as cholera.
Malnutrition makes people vulnerable to infectious diseases and causes long-term consequences on health and development. When people with diabetes, epilepsy, or chronic heart or lung disease cannot get their basic medications, they are at increased risk of serious complications and death. When pregnant women do not receive medical care and adequate nutrition, they are at increased risk of potentially fatal complications and delivering premature or low-birthweight infants. During war and terrorist attacks, exposure to violence and the threat of violence also causes mental health problems, which can persist for years afterward.
In addition, war violates human rights, damages critical infrastructure and housing, and diverts resources that support people’s health. It also contributes to environmental contamination, pollution, and degradation as well as climate change.
We call on all parties directly and indirectly involved in the violence in Israel and Gaza and its consequences to immediately:
1. End the violence against all civilians and ensure their security;
2. Free all hostages;
3. Protect all health care workers and health care facilities;
4. Ensure that humanitarian assistance is promptly provided; and
5. Begin to build sustainable peace by ensuring human rights and justice for all.
We also call on health care and public health professionals, as well as their employers and professional organizations, to promote and support these actions.
Robert M. Gould, MD, chair, Peace Caucus and SF Bay PSR president
Patrice Sutton, MPH, co-program chair, Peace Caucus and SF Bay PSR Environmental Health Committee co-chair
Barry S. Levy, MD, MPH, Peace Caucus member, and past president of the American Public Health Association
ACTION
We invite you to sign the call above, strongly supported by the Board of SF Bay PSR, which we hope to use to advance broader efforts to cease the violence and begin to build peace and justice for all people in the region.
SIGN HERE
THANK YOU for taking action.
READING
- PSR National: Statement on Gaza Healthcare Crisis and Demands for Immediate Humanitarian Intervention
- World Health Organization and UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, WFP: Joint statement on humanitarian supplies crossing into Gaza
- IPPNW: Our goal must be peace, health, and the security of all people
- NY Times: We Must Not Kill Gazan Children to Try to Protect Israel’s Children
- NY Times: I’m Crying for All the Victims Who Are Going to Suffer
UPDATED: Tell Mayor Breed and Supervisors to Fund San Francisco’s Climate Plan
Sponsored by SF Climate Emergency Coalition, including SF Bay PSR
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.
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 every aspect of city planning and to ensure the Climate Plan is fully funded.
1. CALL: Please call your Supervisors
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 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.
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.
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.
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.”