We Depend on You December 7, 2022

We Need You to Help Us Protect Human Life

As we anticipate what’s to come in 2023, let’s take time to consider what PSR and PSR-Arizona accomplished in 2022 toward our unwavering goal to protect human life “from the gravest threats to health and survival” — crucial community outreach that is possible only because of your generous contributions and shared activism.

Please consider a tax-deductible end-of-the-year donation — and please remember to renew your membership. Our ability to make the world safer depends on your continued support.

PLEASE DONATE TODAY

What We Accomplished in 2022

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Every day members of PSR-Arizona are working in their personal lives and their interactions with friends and neighbors to support a safer, more just, and healthier world. Together, members of PSR-Arizona participate in the many national PSR initiatives. Locally, PSR-Arizona members write letters to the editor and opinion pieces. They make their feelings known to the mayor and city council and to the state’s elected officials. They are dedicated to PSR’s mission to “prevent what we cannot cure.”

HELP US BUILD A SAFER WORLD

Ever-Vigilant Against the Nuclear Threat

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Nuclear war and the threat posed by nuclear power facilities continue to be of grave concern to PSR and its members. This year the two deadly realities collided in Ukraine as the Russian army occupied the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, where shelling and fires from bombs are still disrupting operations. Putin’s “saber rattling” with his nuclear arsenal is equally disconcerting.

Throughout the year, PSR never rested in its mission to rally members and raise the needed voices of dissent, against the war, nuclear proliferation, and nuclear accidents. We kept abreast of the news in our chapter’s newsletters. Read a sampling here:

PLEASE HELP US END THE NUCLEAR NIGHTMARE

Climate and Health

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The rush to decarbonize is on and not a minute too soon, if we hope to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees F) over the next half-century. Renewables would put us on the right path immediately, but for now natural gas, a carbon-spewing fuel, is the energy resource of choice — worse, the fossil fuel industry is doing its best to “green” (or, more precisely, “greenwash”) natural gas to keep it at the forefront by diluting it with hydrogen, which emits practically no greenhouse gases.

The target market for the blend of hydrogen and natural gas — which is made up primarily of methane — includes heaters and gas stoves, which brings hydrogen directly into the home. PSR and others concerned about human health and the environment strongly object.

Throughout the year, PSR and PSR-Arizona have spread the word about hydrogen blending and the additional dangers that poses for our indoor environments. Using the hydrogen blend in gas stoves, for example, greatly increases the release of nitrogen oxides (NOx), which can exacerbate asthma and respiratory illnesses. It is also associated with higher rates of dementia in seniors.

Download the following booklet from PSR to learn more about the dangers of hydrogen blending.

Hydrogen Pipe Dreams, a PDF report from PSR

Climate and Energy

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Activism on behalf of the climate was underscored by PSR this year when chapters including PSR-Arizona joined the many hundreds of signees on a petition for an “unprecedented” worldwide call to action: a legally binding, global Fossil Fuel Non-proliferation Treaty.

“The modern addiction to fossil fuels is not just an act of environmental vandalism,” said WHO president, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “From the health perspective, it is an act of self-sabotage.”

Locally, climate actions by PSR-Arizona include keeping tabs on the city of Tucson’s EV charging infrastructure and supporting the efforts of two renewable energy providers: Solar United Neighbors, a national nonprofit that arranges solar co-ops, and Arizonans for Community Choice, a group that is promoting development of independent “community choice energy” entities that can source and buy renewable fuels for delivery through the local electric utility’s infrastructure.

Learn more about the non-proliferation treaty:

Call to Action Against Climate Change

Watch a video on Community Choice Energy, from a meeting co-sponsored by PSR-Arizona:

We Could Have Clean Energy Now with Community Choice Energy

THE PLANET NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT. DONATE TODAY!

If you would prefer to donate by check, please mail to:

PSR c/o Barbara Warren
3653 N Prince Village Place
Tucson, AZ 85719