Dear Friends of PSR Philadelphia / Pennsylvania,

We thank you for your long-standing and dedicated support !

October 2019
PSR Philadelphia / PA Events
#1: Final PA Health Check-Up
When: Monday, November 18, 9:00AM-12:00PM

Save the date! We are planning our 3rd and final event of the year in our speed-learning series, PA Health Check-Up. Join us for an informative and innovative morning regarding the health impacts of the unconventional gas development industry! The morning event will be followed by lunch and an afternoon of educational visits with legislators. 

We will reserve a block of hotel rooms for Sunday night, November 17th and have a film-screening of the Human Element for presenters and participants joining us at the hotel. Click here for more information and to register!
#2: APHA 2019 - PSR PA at Booth #1001
When: November 2 - 6, 2019
Where: PA Convention Center, 1101 Arch St, Philadelphia, PA 19107

Come visit us at the American Public Health Association meeting in Philadelphia! PSR will be at booth #1001. For more information, visit www.apha.org!
#3: PSR Celebrates our 40th Anniversary-Join Us
When: Sunday, December 8, 4:30 - 7:00 PM

Please RSVP Here to attend our 40th Anniversary Celebration! Space is limited to this unique dinner and event. Please contact grant@psrphila.org for more information.
Community Events
Speed Networking with Clean Energy Experts
When: Tuesday October 29, 2019, 5:30PM - 8:00PM

Join WRISE (Women of Renewable Industries and Sustainable Energy) Philadelphia at their career speed networking event at Philly's first wind-powered brewery! It's a chance to learn, in quick time-slots, about a variety of careers, get career wisdom from some of Philadelphia's most impressive mover-and-shaker women in clean energy! Click here for more information and registration.
Clean up Philadelphia Energy Solutions Community Meeting
When: Thursday , November 7, 6:00-8:00PM

Clean up of the refinery land is a critical part of ensuring no refinery ever reopens and that the land has a healthy, vibrant future where everyone has a #RightToBreathe. Former refinery owner Sunoco has not held a public meeting on their clean up plans in OVER A DECADE. The one meeting Sunoco had in 2007 was attended by eight residents, and now they plan to dump 1,000 pages of documents on us on November 7th. Click here for more information!
Updates on PSR
Mariner East Pipeline Webinar
The Mariner East project pipeline threatens 17 counties across Pennsylvania. This 350 mile cross state project includes up to four hazardous highly volatile liquids pipelines (ethane, propane, butane) and has a blast zone up to a mile wide or more!

This webinar presentation will cover:
  • Nuts and bolts of Mariner East
  • Safety Concerns: why this is Pennsylvania’s most dangerous pipeline
  • Risk Assessments & what they show
  • Cases before the PUC: do we have the pipeline regulations we need?
  • What you can do to protect your family and community

Click here to watch a recording of this event!

Attention All Health Care Providers! - PSR-PA invites you to join CODE RED PA for Gun Violence Policy. This coalition of healthcare providers, organizations and individuals has formed to address gun violence in Pennsylvania and advocate for sensible firearm policy. Please email info@psrphila.org for more information on how to participate!
Current News
Close Call with Mass Casualties ~ Letter to the Editor, By Danial Wolk MD

The Chemical Safety Board’s report on June’s explosion at Philadelphia Energy Solutions was alarming: We clearly narrowly avoided a “mass casualty event.” We should be outraged that our Public Health Department’s findings of hydrofluoric acid release were dismissed. Worse, the CSB executive’s statement, “There were no people in the vicinity, or we have not heard of any reports of human exposure,” is an affront to “fence line” communities like South Philadelphia that live with the threat of disaster every day.

Philadelphia is no place for fossil fuel plants, whether LNG, petroleum, or SEPTA’s proposed Nicetown power plant. Let’s clean this place up and leave our kids a great, healthy city!
Click here for the digital edition of this Letter to the Editor!
May your next car be an electric!

On local radio show Philly Talks Climate's episode titled "May your next car be an electric!" , they discuss the motivation on the switch to electric vehicles and energy goals that need to be met by 2050. Also, they answer important questions that prevent many people from switching to electric cars, such how long the batteries typically last and where the convenient charging stations in Philly are. Click here to view this episode and more!
Will a push for plastics turn Appalachia into next ‘Cancer Alley’?

As the global demand for plastics grows, the ethane-to-plastics industry threatens US progress on climate crisis and clean air. Critics believe this ethane expansion will not only prolong fracking but could also trigger a public health disaster, especially in and around the Appalachian mountains. An example of this is the Royal Dutch Shell's 386-acre ethane facility, currently under construction, which would make 1.6m tons of plastic and 2.2m tons of globe-heating carbon dioxide annually – roughly the same amount the city of Pittsburgh is trying to eliminate. Click here to read an in-depth report on the current state of this industry!
Kids First ~ The Pedia Blog post, Ned Ketyer, MD

Despite the many successes and advancements in the field of children’s environmental health (CEH) over the past few decades, today’s children face an epidemic of illnesses and chronic diseases – linked to environmental exposures, and our changing climate. There is an urgent need to put children and their families into the forefront of our nation’s public health and environmental health related actions. Click here to learn more and read about the vision of Children's Environmental Health Network!
PSR Blogs
Public Health Impacts of a Just Transition

How can a just transition to renewable energy save lives and improve health? Click here to watch a webinar in which PSR's Pouné Saberi and POWER's Anthony Giancatarino discuss the many health benefits, for individuals & communities, of switching to renewables!
Clean Energy for a Healthy Planet Symposium

With a great line up of speakers and a full spread of food, over seventy people joined us for an engaging and rewarding day, learning about the health benefits of renewable energy and how each of us can help make these benefits a reality. Our speakers and discussions ranged far, from making improvements in our own homes, to advocating for larger policy changes, to ensuring that these benefits are felt by everyone in society and not just the wealthy. Click here to read more about the event. Click here to view the morning session!
Support our work and reduce the use of wasteful plastic.

Become a monthly donor and receive a bamboo utensil set as our gift to you.

Publis hed: October 2019