Dear Friends of PSR Philadelphia,

We hope you are enjoying your summer and taking time to relax. PSR Philadelphia has been busy this summer. To highlight a few recent and upcoming things:

• Dr. Walter Tsou was a guest on Planet Philadelphia discussing the health impacts of the recent landmark Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling which upheld the Environmental Rights Amendment, Article 1, Section 27 of the constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania which establishes the Commonwealth as a trustee (rather than a proprietor) of the state's public natural resources and guarantees the 'right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment.' In other words, neither the Governor nor the legislature can make decisions that are in opposition to this amendment.
  
  
• Natasha Bagwe, PSR Philadelphia’s talented, dedicated, hard-working intern has graduated from Thomas Jefferson University’s Jefferson College of Population Health with a Master of Public Health (MPH)! We offer our most sincere congratulations and deep appreciation to Natasha! At the upcoming American Public Health Association (APHA) 2017 Annual Meeting & Expo in Atlanta, Natasha Bagwe will present her scientific research, entitled "Climate change and resulting floods: Using social capital to strengthen community resilience among Eastwick, Philadelphia a known floodplain.” Registration and housing are now open. Take advantage of the early-bird discount and register by August 10th.
  
  
• On behalf of  Partnership for Policy Integrity (PFPI), who is partnering with Concerned Health Professionals of New York to urge health professionals and scientists from across the country to sign a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The letter asks the agency to reveal the confidential identities of 41 potentially toxic chemicals in use at oil and gas drilling sites, including hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") sites. The chemicals are listed here. The EPA is allowing chemical manufacturers to claim confidentiality and hide the identities of these chemicals from public view -- when EPA is on record expressing concerns about these very chemicals. This puts citizens at risk, and is unacceptable. The federal Toxic Substances Control Act requires EPA to reveal confidential chemical identities when it is necessary to protect health and the environment from unreasonable risk of injury.  EPA must act under this provision. If you are a health professional (including physicians, veterinarians, nurses, first responders, and public health professionals) or scientist working on oil or gas drilling (conventional or fracking), we invite you to add your name to this letter to EPA. Click here to read the letter and sign on. (Click here to download the letter with citations; Return to this email to sign on.) Please reply by Friday, July 21. Feel free to share with colleagues or others who may be interested. For more information: - Read PFPI's full report, Toxic Secrets: Companies Exploit Weak US Chemical Rules to Hide Fracking Risks and contact Joy Bergey, Clean Energy Outreach Manager with the Partnership for Policy Integrity (PFPI) at [email protected] or 215-313-1311.
  
  

Thank you always for all of your support!

Sincerely,

PSR Philadelphia