March E-News

Included in this edition:

• Texas PSR Condemns US Strikes on Iran
• In-Person Opportunity: Nuclear War Expert Dr. Ira Helfand Visits Austin
• Registration Now Live! TX PSR's First Annual Heat Summit
• Recording Now Available: New Tools to Protect Communities from Air Pollution and Heat
• EPA Repeals MATS Standards
• Good Read: The Power of Physicians in Dangerous Times
• Focus on the Healing Power of Nutrition and Nature with My Green Doctor Experts

Texas PSR Condemns US Strikes on Iran

Texas PSR stands in firm solidarity with PSR National and the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) in their unequivocal condemnation of the recent U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and in calling for an immediate return to diplomacy. PSR National identified these attacks as a dangerous escalation that threatens civilian lives and heightens the risk of nuclear weapons use. IPPNW similarly warned that military action against nuclear facilities could trigger widespread devastation, radioactive release, and even broader regional war. We echo their clear conclusion: there is no military solution to nuclear proliferation.

The human toll of this escalation is already devastating. We mourn the loss of six U.S. service members whose lives have been cut short in this widening conflict. We grieve for the children and educators killed when a school for young girls was struck amid the violence. These are not strategic abstractions; they are sons and daughters, parents and teachers. As physicians and health professionals, we are trained to prevent harm — not rationalize it after the fact. Escalation invites retaliation, widens suffering, and moves the world closer to catastrophic outcomes that would endanger global health for generations.

Here at home in Texas, we are again confronting violence in our own communities. In the wake of yet another mass shooting in our state, we are reminded that no one is safe when this kind of America shows up — when political extremism, militarized rhetoric, and easy access to deadly weapons converge. The same commitment to prevention that compels us to oppose nuclear brinkmanship also demands action on gun violence. Whether the threat is international escalation or a firearm in a Texas community, the principle is the same: health professionals stand for life, evidence, and accountability.

We need y'all to Take Action:

Call your Senators and Representative at (202) 224-3121 and urge them to:

Invoke their authority under the War Powers Act

Demand an immediate ceasefire

Push for a return to diplomacy

Hold this administration accountable

In-Person Opportunity: Nuclear War Expert

Dr. Ira Helfand Visits Austin

He has published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Lancet, the British Medical Journal, and the World Medical Journal on the medical consequences of nuclear war and chaired the session on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons at the UN Open-Ended Working Group in 2016 that led to the negotiation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. You can listen to his 2025 speech at the UN Human Rights Summit here.

He will be giving three talks on March 11 and March 12. In the two events at UT Austin, he will provide his perspective as a longtime activist and member of the medical community working to publicize information about the threat of nuclear war, with his second (lunchtime) talk specifically geared toward students.

Register here for his general public event on March 11, 5:30PM

Register here if you are a UT Austin student for his lunch hour event on March 12, 12PM

Find information here for Dr. Helfand's session at SXSW EDU on March 12, 10AM

Registration Now Live! TX PSR's First Annual Heat Summit

Extreme heat is the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the US, and Texas is at the epicenter.

This Summit will bring clinicians, public health professionals, advocates, and policymakers together to address extreme heat as the urgent public health crisis it is—and to advance practical, prevention-focused solutions that save lives.

The Summit will feature:

• Clinical perspectives across the lifespan, including impacts during pregnancy, among student athletes, vulnerable adults, and older Texans
• A midday keynote by Dr. Rose Jones, medical anthropologist, presenting ethnographic research with Texans who have survived extreme heat exposure
• Afternoon panels with nonprofit advocates, municipal officials, and public health leaders focused on policy and community-level strategies to reduce heat-related illness and deaths

Recording Now Available: New Tools to Protect Communities from Air Pollution and Heat

Thank you to everyone who joined us on February 23 for our first webinar in our spring series, "New Tools to Protect Communities from Air Pollution and Heat." If you were unable to attend, the recording of this engaging webinar can be accessed here.

EPA Repeals MATS Standards

US EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin released a final rule that weakens an air pollution safeguard designed to limit mercury, arsenic, and other toxic pollution from power plants. These standards were created to reduce health risks for pregnant women, infants, and other vulnerable people.

The change affects the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), a major federal protection that has been in place for more than a decade. Weakening the standard will make people sicker, increasing dangerous pollution that causes brain damage in babies, cancer, and other cardiovascular and lung diseases. Zeldin is sending a clear message: our lives are expendable, and polluters – and their profits – come first.

This decision comes on the heels of Zeldin’s outlandish decision to repeal the Endangerment Finding, eliminating the EPA’s requirement to protect people from the pollution that causes climate change. Both decisions ignore science and trade our health and safety for polluter profits. Neither decision does anything to reduce our dependence on dangerous and expensive fossil fuel energy like coal, which is driving up electricity bills for everyone.

Voice your opinion! Find a sample letter to the editor here.

Good Read: The Power of Physicians in Dangerous Times

Published last year in the New England Journal of Medicine, this piece, written by Alice T Chen, MD, and Vivek H Murthy, MD, MBA, encourages physicians to harness their power and act in the face of unprecedented times.

"As physicians, we have sworn an oath to reduce human suffering and protect the dignity and well-being of our community. These values are at the heart of medicine. What do we do when this moral code is under threat?"

Focus on the Healing Power of Nutrition and Nature with My Green Doctor Experts

My Green Doctor is a money-saving membership benefit provided by Physicians for Social Responsibility. With the help of the MGD team, practice managers and clinicians find it easy to save resources, address the health threats of climate change, and help create healthier communities. Everyone in your practice can register at https://www.MyGreenDoctor.org as Partner Society members with the discount code MGDPSR for free access to My Green Doctor.

Join a Committee!

Environmental Health Committee (EHC)

Next meeting Wednesday, March 11, 5pm CT, online.

Join Us! We are currently seeking health professionals across disciplines — physicians, nurses, public health experts, and others — to join the EHC and help shape its priorities and actions. Are you committed to addressing the health impacts of environmental threats across Texas? Fill out this form — we’d love to hear from you!

Texans Ending Nuclear Dangers (TEND)

Next meeting, Thursday, March 19, 3pm CT, online

To learn more about joining TEND, please contact Executive Director Marj Plumb at director@texaspsr.org

Join the discussion or just listen! The TEND Committee members are health professionals, advocates, community members, researchers, and others working state-wide to influence public awareness, civic engagement, and national policy toward a nuclear-weapons-free world.

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