Get the Diagnosis Correct: Acknowledge Israel's Nuclear Weapons Program
Get the Diagnosis Correct: Acknowledge Israel's Nuclear Weapons Program
Monumentally, for the first time in US history, 30 members of congress publicly acknowledged the possession of nuclear weapons by Israel. This has been quietly hidden in plain sight for decades and US and international leaders have been overtly and covertly strongly discouraged from recognizing the existence of Israel’s nuclear capability. And now, as the war in Iran is justified on the basis that Iran possesses (or could possess) nuclear weapons, the reality of Israel’s arsenal sees the light of day. How can we demand the Iranians halt their pursuit of nuclear weapons without admitting the reason they want them: that their neighbor and sworn enemy has them.
It is difficult to overstate the consequences of nuclear war from a human and planetary health perspective. Thus, it is our opinion at Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility that we as a medical community are compelled to endeavor diligently toward the prevention of nuclear war and the eventual elimination of nuclear weapons. As such, we regard the letter from Congressman Castro, at al, as part of the larger movement toward this end objective.
Physicians rely on accurate diagnoses to guide treatment plans. Medical school, residency, and practice guide us through development of diagnoses and each stage shows us that fundamentally when our treatment is not working, the answer is rarely (if ever) to simply treat with the same method, just more aggressively. When the treatment is not working, we likely have the incorrect diagnosis! In fact, I think that most patients would become rather skeptical if their doctor simply told them to increase the dose of the one medication they were taking no matter what new symptom arose.
Unfortunately, and dangerously, the administration is acting in just this way. The symptom we are experiencing is the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Most directly in our current war with Iran, the symptom is the proliferation (or accusation of proliferation) of nuclear weapons by Iran. But, as the letter from Congressman Castro, et al, points out, the diagnosis is very likely incorrect! This is a fundamental attribution error and will never lead us to the correct treatment! The current prescription for the symptom given "Dr. USA" is to aggressively attack Iran. However, as also highlighted and suggested in the letter, could the diagnosis actually be that Iran has credible evidence (supported by publicly available information from international officials including of the US and Israel) that Iran is surrounded by countries that possess nuclear weapons? And could this diagnosis also include that an appropriate reaction on the part of Iran to a sworn enemy having and threatening use of nuclear weapons is to develop nuclear weapons of its own? We'll call it "nuclear shock", analogous to septic shock when the immune system goes into full attack mode based on the threat of a bacteria in the circulation.
What, then, would be a reasonable treatment plan based on this diagnosis? In our opinion, first the acknowledgement of the justifiable fear and defensiveness on the part of Iran to Israel possessing and threatening to use nuclear weapons. Next, the acknowledgement on the part of the United States that sharing nuclear weapons technologies with Israel is a violation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, of which the United States is a signatory. Then, the actual diagnosis could be addressed by the international community. Much like doctors are a self-governing profession and make peer review part of our daily lives, the international community must govern itself and hold itself to account. Lastly, we could then move toward the collective solution of the total elimination of the threat of nuclear war--a diagnosis that keeps our world under constant unnecessary stress.
Thank you to Pramilla Jayapal and Emily Randall and all of the representatives who signed on to the letter asking Secretary Rubio to bring forth the truth about Israel's nuclear weapons. We support those tangible requests to move toward the accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment of nuclear shock.
Dr. Karl Riecken, DO, MA, FMCP-M is a family and functional medicine physician in SeaTac, WA. He is a member of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility and focuses his advocacy work on health-related realities of nuclear weapons and technologies.
One in a Million: Remembering the Largest Nuclear Disarmament Rally in American History
One in a Million: Remembering the Largest Nuclear Disarmament Rally in American History
As we age, certain memories grow sharper rather than dimmer. One memory has stayed vivid with me for more than four decades: standing among a million people in New York City on June 12, 1982, calling for a halt to the nuclear arms race.
My husband, Jim, and I traveled to Manhattan to participate in what became the largest political demonstration in American history. The rally coincided with the United Nations Second Special Session on Disarmament and focused on support for the Nuclear Freeze movement, which sought to stop the testing, production, and deployment of nuclear weapons.
I have recalled that day many times over the years while teaching classes on peace and disarmament, more recently those organized by Olympia Peacemaker, Glen Anderson.. Each time, I could still feel the same rush of excitement and hope.
It is one thing to join a crowd and enjoy the companionship of like-minded people. It is something entirely different to emerge from Grand Central Station and walk toward the United Nations on First Avenue, only to discover that every avenue of the five en route was filled with
people as far as the eye could see. Looking north and south, there were human beings everywhere.
The crowd reflected the diversity of the world we hoped to protect. There were families pushing baby carriages, elderly participants using walkers and wheelchairs, people carrying banners and signs, and visitors wearing traditional clothing from countries around the globe. The atmosphere was remarkably friendly. Police officers smiled and helped direct the flow of people. Strangers greeted one another as friends.
What struck me most was the overwhelming sense of shared purpose. Despite our many differences, we were united by a simple conviction: the world would be safer without the constant threat of nuclear war.
At the time, the world's nuclear powers possessed an estimated 80,000 nuclear weapons. The United States and the Soviet Union held the vast majority, while the United Kingdom, France, and China also maintained arsenals. The possibility of nuclear conflict hung
heavily over everyday life. School children no longer practiced "duck and cover" drills as I remember doing in elementary school, but some were still bilding bomb shelters.. Families wondered whether a misunderstanding, accident, or miscalculation could end civilization.
On that June day, speakers gathered on a stage near the United Nations and called for a different future. Politicians, faith leaders, activists, artists, and ordinary citizens urged world leaders to pursue arms control and disarmament. Among them were Japanese Hibakusha , survivors of
the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, whose testimony reminded us of the human consequences of nuclear weapons. A large number of Japanese citizens supported them..
My connection to the event was personal as well. A mentor of mine had volunteered with Homer Jack and the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office, which helped support nongovernmental participation in the special disarmament session and overalll administration . Through my work with the Westchester Council for the Social Studies, I joined other educators in helping students understand nuclear weapons, the arms race, and the goals of the Nuclear Freeze movement.
Looking back, I realize that many people today may not remember how powerful that movement became. Public pressure helped create the political climate that over the course of the decade contributed to major arms control agreements and dramatic reductions in global nuclear stockpiles.
Yet the work remains unfinished. My friend Glen Anderson understood this. For over 30 years, he maintained a weekly vigil for peace in Olympia, a tradition that continues to draw supporters to this day. I understand this, which is why I have visited nuclear victims in Kiribati, joined the proceedings on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons at the United Nations, and write to you now to recall the day.
Although the number of nuclear weapons has declined since the Cold War peak, thousands remain on high alert. Tensions among nuclear-armed nations continue. Modernization programs are expanding nuclear capabilities around the world. Here in Washington state, where many residents live near military installations connected to the nation's nuclear deterrent, these issues are not distant abstractions. They remain deeply relevant to our collective future.
The million-person rally of 1982 did not eliminate nuclear weapons. But it demonstrated something equally important: ordinary citizens can influence public debate and encourage leaders to choose cooperation over confrontation.
When I think back to that extraordinary day, I remember the sea of faces stretching across Manhattan, the sense of common purpose, and the belief that citizens had both the right and the responsibility to speak out about humanity's survival.
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade may draw large crowds, but what happened on June 12, 1982, was something different. It was a gathering dedicated not to celebration or entertainment, but to the hope of a safer world.
For one unforgettable day, a million people stood together and demanded that humanity step back from the nuclear brink.
I was fortunate to be one of them.
Warm regards,
Joanne Dufour
Lacey, Washington
The Iran War is a Disaster for Health and Nuclear Safety
The Iran War is a Disaster for Health and Nuclear Safety
Today, the war with Iran has claimed thousands of lives, including the lives of more than 150 school children and 13 U.S. service members, among them Capt. Ariana Savino, an airforce pilot from here in South King County. Attacks on oil facilities have caused plumes of toxic smoke in cities like Tehran, and it's estimated that the war is costing American taxpayers over 1 billion dollars a day, enough to cover the costs of every low income patient who has struggled to afford medication that I saw in my three years of residency in Tacoma many times over.
Public disgust is growing, with even the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives now trying to halt the war. Still, we appear stuck in a war started for reasons that run deep in our domestic and international politics, but most crucially, we are here because of the United States’ unilateral decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. While this deal was never considered to be perfect, it was a stabilizing agreement that kept us as a global community from moving closer to an all-out nuclear conflict. President Trump’s justifications for pursuing a war with Iran are false and only bring us closer to nuclear war that would be the United States’ own doing.
And the consequences of an all-out nuclear conflict are horrifying for the health of those close to any potential explosion, but also to the health of the world. I’ve learned through my work with Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility and Veterans for Peace organizations that we as a public have slowly been led to believe that exposure to radioactivity isn't all that bad; it's survivable. Nuclear exposure has been normalized to the point that we, as the American public, seem to be unconcerned about the possibility of nuclear war breaking out between Israel and Iran. I think a few things are at play here, but the bottom line is that the possibility of nuclear detonations is horrifying and cannot be thought of as necessary or permissible. As a physician, a professional charged with taking care of others and working with them toward health, the use of nuclear weapons is not and will never be part of anyone's good health.
The threat of nuclear war is just as real as it was in the "history books" during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Just because we are not practicing drills or building fallout shelters does not mean that nuclear war is any less devastating than it would have been at the height of the Cold War. Research published as recently as 2022 showed that it would only take a few weapons (less than 50) to cause catastrophic climate change (severe global cooling that would make growing food very difficult and impossible in some areas of the world). And even if that many weapons are not used, the fallout from even one weapon can travel all around the world and there is little reason to believe that it could not cause cancer in someone on the other side of the world. Pay attention; the possible effects are devastatingly real.
As we watch this war between the U.S., Israel and Iran and by proxy other regional and international powers, we see multiple simultaneous threats to the health of everyone around the globe. First, it is already happening that the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz will keep oil from passing through. And while we need to curtail our global dependence on oil, this is not the way to accomplish this. Second, much of the world's trade goes through this waterway and that includes nitrogen bases for fertilizer so that countries, including the United States, can grow food. And third, most dangerously, we could see nuclear strikes, which cause suffering throughout the entire world. Such a scenario can't be ruled out when any party possesses nuclear weapons, as is the case for both the U.S. and Israel, or in the Ukraine war, where Russia has nuclear weapons that could be used.
Now, it's important to highlight that any strikes are likely to come from Israel, not from Iran, in spite of propaganda from the Trump administration painting Iran as the nuclear threat. Even before Iran’s infrastructure was damaged by U.S. and Israeli strikes, international experts and even U.S. officials stated that Iran was not close to building a nuclear weapon. Therefore Iran was not the threat that the U.S. and Israel portrayed.
I am a physician and not currently an expert on international relations, but I do find this escalation in conflict to be antithetical to everything that we say we stand for in the "Free World." This immature, careless, and imminently dangerous action on the part of the United States and Israel needs to be called off. Diplomacy and conversations are the way to move forward in a civilized world.
We must raise our voices higher and make our elected officials increasingly uncomfortable over their acquiescence to this accelerating U.S. interventionism. Ring the phones off the hook at the offices of your congressional representative and the offices of Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell to build on the recent House vote and actually block President Trump’s unauthorized war. We must stop this before nuclear weapons are used.
Dr. Karl Riecken, DO, MA, FMCP-M is a family and functional medicine physician in SeaTac, WA. He is a member of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility and focuses his advocacy work on health-related realities of nuclear weapons and technologies.
Nuclearism and Middle East
By Steve Overman, MD MPH
What we are witnessing in the Middle East can easily be seen as the result of militarism, involving all sides in the war. But there is another, perhaps less obvious way to look at the root problem: nuclearism.
Dr. Carlos Umaña, who has served as a co-president of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), identifies “nuclearism” as a behavior that is a pathological, collective addiction to a nuclear suicide strategy.
As possessors of nuclear weapons, the United States and Israel certainly are prime candidates for succumbing to this addiction. However one judges Iran’s ultimate intentions, the country’s decades of work on nuclear development suggest an obsession on its part as well with the ultimate weapons of indiscriminate mass destruction.
The problem of nuclearism will remain with us and need to be addressed no matter what course the war launched by the United States and Israel takes, So, let's take a quick look at the elements of the nuclearism addiction.
The Psychology of the Addiction
Nuclear weapons serve as the “substance of abuse” while the craving for them manifests as a symptom of a deep-seated psychological condition. This addiction distorts the perception of leaders who profit in the billions of dollars from the myth of deterrence while creating annihilation plans that target millions of civilians.
In The Denial of Death (1973), Ernest Becker argued that human behavior is driven by a terror of mortality. We build symbols of power—nations and weapons—to quiet the anxiety of impermanence. Nuclear weapons are the ultimate “death-denial technology,” claiming to protect us by threatening everyone with extinction. Modern Terror Management Theory supports this, showing that reminders of death intensify tribalism, attraction to authoritarian leaders, and addictive behaviors.
The Dopamine of Deterrence
Any form of addiction hijacks the brain’s reward pathways, producing short-term comfort at the cost of long-term harm. Nuclearism operates similarly at a societal level and involves classic elements of addiction:
The High: The feeling of safety through deterrence, the prestige of great power status, and the pride of technological supremacy.
Escalating Doses: In 2025, U.S. taxpayers funded $110 billion dollars toward a nuclear program that can never be used without risking the destruction of all humanity, more than doubling in the past decade.
Relapse: While the end of the Cold War saw global stockpiles drop from 73,000 to 12,100, a worsening relapse is underway. China is adding roughly 100 new warheads per year, and global warhead counts are rising for the first time since 1985.
The Military-Industrial Supply Chain
Like the illicit drug trade, nuclearism sustains a destructive supply chain. It enriches defense contractors and weapons laboratories while outsourcing the damage to the public.
Northrop Grumman’s initial $13.3 billion contract for the Sentinel ICBM program has ballooned to $140.9 billion.
Combined with an $80 billion contract for the B-21 bomber, corporate leadership oversees the transfer of tens of millions in taxpayer dollars into personal wealth, while the citizens footing the bill remain the primary targets of nuclear war plans.
As Daniel Ellsberg revealed in The Doomsday Machine (2017), the longstanding “ethic” of nuclear planning centers on targeting families, schools, and hospitals—not just military assets. (Of course, as the threats to Iran’s entire civilian infrastructure underline, modern militarism operates with a similarly perverted concept of ethics.)
The Risk of a Terminal Overdose
Nuclearism is an addiction that threatens to end civilization itself. A “limited” regional conflict (e.g., between India and Pakistan) involving 100 nuclear weapons would:
Launch 6 million metric tons of black carbon into the upper atmosphere.
Trigger the coldest global temperatures in 1,000 years.
Cause catastrophic crop loss, threatening the lives of billions through famine.
Even without such a “terminal overdose” or the ultimate indulgence in all-out nuclear war, the mere production of these weapons creates severe “comorbidities”: nuclear colonialism (uranium poisoning of indigenous lands), environmental degradation (20,000 inactive uranium mines in the U.S.), and the massive diversion of public wealth away from health care, education and social services.
The Path to Recovery: The TPNW
Recovery requires social intervention and truth-telling. While international treaties successfully made biological weapons (1975), chemical weapons (1997), and landmines (1997) taboo, nuclear weapons have been harder to relinquish, in part due to the massive financial windfalls they provide to the “addicted” institutions.
However, a breakthrough has emerged: The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). It was negotiated over five years, adopted at a United Nations conference in 2017, and entered into force in 2021 for the states that have adopted it.
The treaty has global support. Currently 99 U.N. members have signed and 74 states have fully adopted it. The nine countries with nuclear weapons are not among them.
The TPNW is a mandate for change: It is the first global agreement to name nuclear weapons as incompatible with life and dignity. It prohibits possession, development, testing, and the threat of use.
Conclusion: Choosing Life
The TPNW reframes strength. It centers the lived realities of bombing survivors and indigenous communities over the abstractions of deterrence. Like any recovery process, it does not pretend that fear isn’t real; instead, it refuses to allow the addiction compulsion to mask that fear by endangering the entire planet.
Nuclearism thrives in drugged silence and the inevitability of compulsion. By breaking that silence, the TPNW offers an intervention path to regain control. As the cognitive distortions of addiction lift, the desire to live returns and the necessity of eliminating the nuclear weapons becomes clear.
Dr. Steve Overman, MD, MPH is a member of the Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility’s board of directors. You can follow him on Substack at Rheum to Improve.
Yakima County Lifts Solar Moratorium, Opening Door to Clean Energy Development
Yakima County has lifted its solar moratorium, allowing renewable energy projects to move forward while balancing agriculture, land use, and community priorities.
What This Means for Climate and Health in Washington
By Alee Perkins, MD
In 2022, Yakima County initiated a freeze on the development of new solar facilities in the area. In the years since, the Yakima community has been debating whether to lift the moratorium as a part of a long running debate over land use, energy development, and the direction of the county’s agriculture. The moratorium was initially supposed to last 6 months, but was finally lifted just this past week. After months of deliberation, the Board of County Commissioners has adopted a new solar ordinance, effectively reopening the door to utility-scale solar projects while attempting to balance competing priorities.
Yakima County’s moratorium on new solar development had stalled projects and created uncertainty for landowners, developers, and policymakers alike. With its repeal, the county replaced a blanket restriction with a framework intended to guide where and how solar can move forward. According to the Yakima Herald-Republic, the newly approved ordinance introduces a structured approach to siting solar facilities, with an emphasis on agricultural preservation and long-term land stewardship.
At the heart of the discussion was the tension between protecting high-value agricultural land while expanding renewable energy infrastructure. Out of three county commissioners, two voted in support of lifting the moratorium. Commissioners Curtis and Linde were in support, largely because of the economic flexibility installation of solar energy would provide to farmers in the region. Commissioner McKinney voted against, citing legal interpretations of Washington’s Growth Management Act and concern that the proposal could violate the GMA.
Local level advocacy was pivotal in bringing this vote forward. Yakima residents, members of the Yakima County 350 Advocacy group, local physicians, and local landowners worked together to provide testimony, attend commissioner hearings, write petitions, and engage volunteers in helping lift the moratorium. With the ordinance now in place, project proposals will be put forward starting in 9 weeks.
By lifting the moratorium and adopting a detailed ordinance, Yakima County has positioned itself to take advantage of the benefits solar energy can bring when placed on agricultural land. This may prove a lucrative move for farmers as climatic conditions become more unstable and the demand for clean energy increases. This is undeniably a great step forward in our state’s ability to transition away from carbon intensive energy sources and towards clean electricity.
Why Working People are Struggling (Hint: It has Nothing to do with Government Waste)
Working people don’t get these breaks. They are instead dealing with unexpected medical bills, choosing between diapers and food, rent increases, and all the cuts from Trump’s HR1, which, by the way, is giving about $90K back to the top 1%.
EDITOR’S NOTE: SB 6346 (The Millionaires Tax) was signed into law on March 30th, 2026
Wealthy opponents of SB 6346, the proposed millionaires tax on extremely high earners, focus on government waste.
Fact: when adjusted for economic growth, Washington annual state spending was actually LOWER in 2023-2025 compared to 1995-1997 ($69.8 billion versus $79.8 billion, https://budgetandpolicy.org/state-budget-analysis/).
A functioning government needs adequate tax revenue to provide essential services and a solid safety net to protect the poorest who are paying more than their fair share. Our economy tilts the scale in favor of those who already have money by giving exemptions to wealthy corporations and allowing Wall Street profiteers to grow their stock portfolios without paying taxes.
Working people don’t get these breaks. They are instead dealing with unexpected medical bills, choosing between diapers and food, rent increases, and all the cuts from Trump’s HR1, which, by the way, is giving about $90K back to the top 1%.
This tax will not impact the safety or well-being of those who are fortunate enough to pay it.
It’s hard to feel sorry for someone who might have to choose a Maserati rather than a Lamborghini.
Author: Marisa D’Angeli
Marisa is a Retired Pediatrician & Epidemiologist who serves on WPSR’s Economic Inequity & Health Task Force. She submitted this letter to the editors of the Seattle Times.
Washington's 2026 Legislative Session: Climate and Health Wins, Setbacks, and the Fight Ahead
WPSR members mobilized across air quality, extreme heat, and climate investment protections. Here's what passed, what didn't, and what it means for our climate and our health.
Washington's 2026 legislative session tested our state's commitment to protecting public health through climate action. Against a challenging budget landscape and organized opposition from fossil fuel interests, Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility (WPSR) mobilized health professionals to defend critical climate investments and advance policies that directly protect patients from air pollution, extreme heat, and environmental health threats.
In February, over 30 WPSR members joined our annual Lobby Day, meeting with more than 25 legislative offices to discuss how climate policies save lives. We emphasized that climate action is preventive medicine. From reducing asthma-triggering diesel pollution to ensuring renters can cool their homes during deadly heat waves, the bills we advocated for would deliver tangible health benefits to Washington communities.
This session also marked a major milestone for WPSR’s climate program. Working alongside partners, WPSR helped lead and steer SB 6200—protecting tenants’ ability to install cooling in their homes—through the legislative process and across the finish line.
The session delivered important victories, including passage of our renter cooling bill and advancement of clean energy programs. We also witnessed troubling diversions of Climate Commitment Act funds away from health-protective programs.
Here's what happened across our priority areas.
Extreme Heat: Protecting Renters and Building Statewide Preparedness
Extreme heat is the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the United States. Washington's 2021 Heat Dome killed an average of 18 people per day, making it the deadliest weather event in state history. Heat exposure increases risk of heart attacks, kidney failure, respiratory illness, and long-term neurological damage, while worsening mental health stress and anxiety.
This session, WPSR advanced a coordinated policy approach to treat cooling as basic health protection.
What Passed
SB 6200 – Right to Install Cooling
Ensures renters can install portable cooling devices without unreasonable barriers. This is a critical step toward preventing indoor heat-related illness and death.
What Didn’t Pass
HB 2265 – Protecting tenants from extreme heat
A more comprehensive bill addressing cooling standards and tenant protections.HB 2183 – County-Level Heat Response Plans
Would have improved coordination and preparedness during extreme heat events.
Health professionals testified that these bills would prevent heat-related deaths and hospitalizations by empowering renters to protect themselves when temperatures spike. SB 6200 passed with bipartisan support, recognizing that access to cooling is a basic health necessity, not a luxury
What it means
SB 6200 represents a shift in how Washington discusses extreme heat, but is not the finish line. Future work will need to build toward broader protections, including housing standards and coordinated public health response.
Air Quality: Reducing Pollution That Drives Disease
Air pollution is a major driver of heart disease, lung disease, stroke, and premature death. These harms fall disproportionately on communities already overburdened by pollution. Indoor air quality is also a critical but under-addressed driver of health outcomes, particularly in housing, healthcare, and school settings. The healthcare sector itself contributes approximately 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, underscoring both the responsibility and opportunity for health systems to lead in pollution reduction.
WPSR prioritized policies that reduce harmful emissions, improve indoor air quality, and center health in environmental decision-making.
What Passed
HB 2338 – Community-Scaled Weatherization
This bill expands weatherization pathways to improve indoor air quality, reduce energy burden, and deliver health benefits at scale. Better-sealed homes mean fewer asthma triggers from outdoor pollution infiltration, lower exposure to indoor combustion pollutants, and reduced energy costs for vulnerable households.
What Didn’t Pass
CURB Pollution Act (HB 1303)
At-Berth Regulations (HB 1689)
Low Sulfur Shipping Fuels (HB 1652 / SB 5519)
Anesthesia Emissions Reduction (SB 5236)
What it means
Despite strong health and equity arguments, many of the most impactful air quality policies did not advance this session. Fiscal constraints and competing priorities limited progress, but these remain core areas for continued advocacy.
Climate Commitment Act: Defending Health-Protective Investments
The Climate Commitment Act (CCA) is one of Washington's most powerful tools for improving public health. CCA-funded programs reduce air pollution, support climate resilience, lower energy costs, and direct investments to overburdened communities experiencing the greatest health harms from diesel pollution and industrial emissions.
The 2026 budget cycle brought troubling news for climate and health advocates. As detailed in a coalition analysis led by Washington Conservation Action, lawmakers diverted significant Climate Commitment Act funds away from their intended climate and health purposes.
What Happened
Approximately $500+ million in CCA funds were diverted to address the state budget shortfall.
Lawmakers committed to paying these funds back in the future.
Key Diversions:
$200 million swept from CCA into the general fund rather than invested in pollution-reduction programs
Transportation project funding shifted from climate-focused programs to conventional highway spending
Clean energy incentive programs saw reduced allocations despite strong demand
Health professionals testified repeatedly that CCA funds deliver measurable health benefits: fewer asthma attacks, reduced cardiovascular disease, lower healthcare costs, and lives saved. Diverting these resources undermines both immediate health protections and our state's ability to prevent worsening climate-driven health impacts.
WPSR-Supported Legislation: Building a Healthier Washington
In addition to core priorities, WPSR supported a broader set of policies that contribute to climate mitigation, environmental health, and community resilience.
What Passed
HB 1903 – Energy Assistance Program
Expands support for low-income households struggling with energy costs, helping prevent dangerous trade-offs between heating, cooling, food, and medicine.
What Didn’t Pass
Passenger Rail Advisory Committee (HB 2092)
Washington Coal Act (SB 5439)
Bottle Bill (HB 1607 / SB 5502)
Plastic Bag Legislation (HB 2233 / SB 5965)
Microplastics in Washing Machines
Data Center Energy Accountability (HB 2515 / SB 6171)
What it means
Many of these policies represent upstream, long-term solutions for reducing emissions, improving waste systems, and shifting infrastructure. While they did not pass this year, they remain important components of a comprehensive climate and health strategy.
Looking Ahead
This session demonstrated both what is possible and what remains to be done.
WPSR helped lead the passage of a landmark cooling policy, strengthened energy assistance for vulnerable households, and brought a health voice to legislative debates across issue areas. At the same time, major opportunities to reduce pollution and strengthen climate investments were left on the table.
As climate impacts intensify, the role of health professionals in policy advocacy will only grow more important. WPSR will continue working to ensure that Washington’s climate policies are grounded in science, centered on equity, and designed to protect health.
The Millionaires Tax - A Monumental Win for Health in Washington
“In my 35 years practicing medicine in Washington, I have seen nothing that compares to the Millionaires Tax in its ability to improve the health of my patients. A fairer tax system and the resources to build a robust social safety net is by far the most impactful health intervention.”
-Dr. Charles Mayer, practicing family physician and Co-Chair of the WPSR Economic Inequity & Health Task Force
“In my 35 years practicing medicine in Washington, I have seen nothing that compares to the Millionaires Tax in its ability to improve the health of my patients. A fairer tax system and the resources to build a robust social safety net is by far the most impactful health intervention.”
-Dr. Charles Mayer, practicing family physician and Co-Chair of the WPSR Economic Inequity & Health Task Force
This week, members of WPSR’s Economic Inequity & Health Task Force joined Governor Ferguson at the Capitol as he signed the Millionaires Tax into law. This marks a historic step towards balancing the unjust tax code which keeps health out of reach for many Washingtonians. The tax applies to less than 0.5% of the state’s working population and will generate $3 billionannually for critical social services that will directly improve health.
Research consistently demonstrates that more equitable societies experience lower mortality rates, longer lives, and greater overall well-being. Recent data from the Institute of Health Metrics & Evaluation shows that Washington State has fallen even further behind in life expectancy globally. There are stark disparities in health and life expectancy across Washington counties, mainly due to economic inequity.
Psychologist Josie Tracy underscored these disparities in her testimony to the House Finance Committee in support of the Millionaires Tax, stating that residents of San Juan County, one of the state’s wealthiest counties, are expected to live nearly 15 years longer than those in her birth county of Pend Oreille, a lower-income county.
Fourth-year medical student Gleb Sych also delivered a powerful testimony in Olympia:
“Again and again, I watch patients struggle not with medical advice, but with affordability itself. Medications are skipped to save money, appointments are missed while arranging childcare, and daily stress makes prevention nearly impossible.”
The final legislation, achieved through the hard work of lawmakers in the House and Senate, includes funding for education, childcare, early learning, food assistance, health care, and a critical expansion of the Working Families Tax Credit. Amidst federal attacks on our health, it is more critical than ever to prioritize our state’s social safety net.
The Millionaires Tax represents a monumental step towards building a Washington where all communities, regardless of income, can thrive and experience long and healthy lives.
Click here to learn more about why progressive revenue is health policy
Click here to learn more about why progressive revenue is health polic
Stopping the Deployment of New ICBMs
The United States is in the midst of a sweeping effort to replace and upgrade its entire nuclear arsenal. Among these efforts, the plan to replace the land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) stands out as the most indefensible—strategically unnecessary, fiscally reckless, and morally alarming.
ICBMs are long-range nuclear missiles housed in underground silos, designed to be launched within minutes and capable of traveling thousands of miles to deliver thermonuclear warheads. The proposed new system will deploy modernized warheads with destructive power many times greater than the bombs used in World War II. These are not weapons of deterrence alone—they are instruments of mass annihilation on an unimaginable scale.
The projected cost of replacing the ICBM force has already surged dramatically, now estimated in the hundreds of billions of dollars over its lifecycle—an increase of roughly 80% over earlier projections. At a time of urgent human and environmental needs, this represents a profound misallocation of national resources.
Currently, 400 ICBMs are deployed across five states—Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Colorado. They are concentrated in relatively small geographic clusters within these states, posing an extreme risk to these communities that have come to be referred to as "nuclear sponges". These communities are not only primary targets in the event of nuclear conflict, but residents allready face ongoing environmental and health risks associated with missile maintenance, modernization, and potential accidents - risks that will only worsen with the plans to replace the existing ICBMs.
WPSR's long-standing mission and commitment to a nuclear-free future compels us to actively oppose the replacement of the ICBM arsenal force. Here's why:
They are uniquely dangerous. ICBMs are on high-alert status, requiring rapid launch decisions that increase the risk of accidental or mistaken nuclear war.
They are strategically unnecessary. The United States does not need to maintain a robust nuclear triad; submarine- and bomber-based systems provide more than sufficient deterrence without the risks posed by land-based missiles.
They are economically unjustifiable. The escalating cost diverts critical resources from healthcare, climate response, and other pressing national priorities.
They disproportionately endanger rural communities. The people living near missile fields bear the greatest risk without meaningful input or consent.
Deterrence strategy has changed. With the entrance of AI into nuclear command & control, deterrence based on fear and restraint is being replaced by machine-driven early detection and rapid response automation.
In response, WPSR's board has unanimously approved the launch of an early-stage strategy to build awareness and mobilization where it matters most. To do this, we are hiring a regional community organizer who will work directly in ICBM-affected areas—helping to mobilize residents, amplify local voices, and support grassroots organizing. The goal is to empower those living closest, and most exposed, to the immediate risk and long-term health impacts of these weapons systems.
At the same time, we are working to build a strong, coordinated national network of partner organizations committed to this effort. This will be a multi-year campaign requiring persistence, collaboration, and sustained engagement. Stay tuned for more as this project progresses.
Remembering Castle Bravo Means Fighting the Return of Nuclear Testing
by Robin Narruhn
74 years ago today on March, 1st, 1954, the United States detonated the largest nuclear bomb in its entire testing history at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The Castle Bravo hydrogen bomb test caused widespread radioactive fallout that still affects generations of Marshallese people to this day. A 15-megaton thermonuclear detonation, it was 1,000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb, creating a 4.5-mile-wide mushroom cloud, and a 6,510-foot-wide crater. A radioactive plume extended over seven thousand miles from the test, contaminating the inhabited islands of Rongelap, Rongerik, and Utrik, as well as the crew of the Lucky Dragon, a Japanese fishing vessel. It was one of 67 nuclear bombs detonated in the islands, and one of 2,056 nuclear explosions worldwide. Nuclear Victims Remembrance Day, a national holiday in the Marshall Islands, is observed to commemorate the victims and survivors of U.S. nuclear testing.
My father fled the brutality of Japanese colonization of the Marshall and Kiribati Islands. Like life under occupation, my father never spoke of the nuclear testing he knew was occurring in our homeland. It was as if he wanted to protect me, or if it was just too terrible to bear. Growing up in Seattle on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, I spent many years isolated from the Marshallese community, this disconnection is what war does after all, but over the years, more and more of my community members have immigrated to Washington state. As a nurse, professor, and researcher, I studied healthcare access in the Marshallese
community. In my paper "I've Never Been to the Doctor, Healthcare Access in the Marshallese Community", I saw firsthand how my people, having been poisoned by US testing, were denied the medical care they were promised. As an advocate with Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility's Nuclear Weapons Abolition Task Force, my advocacy has taken me to the offices of members of Congress, to the gates of the Bangor Base, to Hiroshima, Japan with these stories in my heart. I do not take threats to resume nuclear
testing lightly.
This history should prompt urgent diplomacy to avoid repeating past mistakes on a larger scale. There is a difficult truth we rarely discuss: our community does not openly talk about the horrors of our nuclear past. Like many survivors, our elders often avoid burdening their children with these memories. This silence can make it easier for American politicians to ignore our stories, exclude them from history books, or dismiss them in court when we seek justice. Sometimes, this avoidance seems strategic, allowing accountability to be deferred. To highlight the risks of nuclear armament, it is important to examine what is happening in the world of nuclear weapons today.
Russia, China, and the United States, along with other major countries, have become increasingly aggressive, adversarial, and nationalistic. Global understanding disintegrates, fostering a winner-takes-all mentality in great power competitions. Furthermore, the breakdown of international dialogue is manifest in the failure to reach consensus on updated nuclear non-proliferation treaties during recent summits. This undermines international cooperation, critical to reducing the risks of nuclear war, climate change, and the misuse of biotechnology. The Nuclear Doomsday clock is at 85 seconds to midnight in
2026, and with the increase in bellicose behavior, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has cited the collapse of nuclear norms as a key driver.
In late 2025, President Donald Trump suggested restarting U.S. nuclear explosive testing to match efforts by Russia and China, challenging a voluntary moratorium in place since 1992. While the U.S. maintains the capacity to test at the Nevada National Security Site, such a move would violate decades of policy and exacerbate a global arms race. Experts generally agree that the current Science-Based Stockpile Stewardship program keeps the arsenal safe and effective without testing. Furthering this risky proposition is the New START treaty, which capped U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear arsenals at 1,550 deployed warheads and 700 launchers and expired on February 5, 2026. Following its expiration, President Trump opted against extending the pact, calling for a "modernized" treaty to be negotiated instead, while Russia indicated it is no longer bound by its obligations. As global understanding unravels, a winner-takes-all mentality is taking hold in great power competitions. We are
perilously close to global disaster, and any delay in reversing course increases the probability of catastrophe. The proposal to increase nuclear testing and creation in the US by the current administration is a harrowing prospect. We at Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility are prioritizing urgent diplomacy to de-escalate nuclear tensions before history repeats itself on a global scale. Explosive nuclear testing is an existential threat to health. It's time for leaders like Senator Murray, Senator Cantwell, and Representative Jayapal to move to block funding for the resumption of nuclear testing, so that more communities don't suffer this terrible legacy.
Health Professionals Advocate for Climate and Housing Policy at Washington’s 2026 Lobby Day
Washington health professionals traveled to Olympia for WPSR’s 2026 Lobby Day to advocate for climate policy, housing stability, and public health protections.
At its second annual WPSR Lobby Day, health professionals traveled across the state to Olympia to make one message clear: legislators must consider the health impacts of the policies they introduce, support, and vote on.
29 members of WPSR’s three Task Forces joined staff in meeting with legislators from 12 districts to discuss our policy priorities for this year. From extreme heat to housing stability to climate funding, our members made the case that prevention must guide policymaking.
Why WPSR Lobby Day Is Different
“I was really looking forward to lobby day after such a meaningful experience last year. This year exceeded my expectations. Conversations with Rep Parshley and Po Leapai were inspirational, leaving me with a renewed sense of hope as I joined my fellow advocates for a day of meetings with legislators. As health professionals, when we talk with legislators, our voices represent not only our expertise but also the lived realities of the communities we serve. To me, that is our greatest purpose - to support policies that center community needs and health for all. ”
It’s common for legislators to hear from health professionals on issues like Medicare, clinical practice, and insurance. But it’s different when they hear from WPSR health advocates, who urge them to address the upstream, root-cause, social determinants of health, and to prioritize policy solutions to the existential threats to our survival and well-being. We advocate for policies that prevent people from getting sick in the first place, to prevent what can’t be cured.
What We Asked For
Lobby Day is a time for legislators (and their staff) to hear from WPSR members about our policy priorities, and to ensure they understand how these policies impact health. This year, we met with Representatives and Senators to garner support for:
Addressing extreme heat and providing access to cooling in bills like SB 6200
Generating state revenue through bills like the Millionaire’s Tax and Well Washington Fund
Decriminalizing Homelessness
Passing bills that create affordable and stable housing
Preserving funding for the state’s Climate Commitment Act
During meetings, WPSR members help make sure legislators understand the health impacts of these and other bills moving through the legislative process. We ask for their support not just for these bills, but for things they might not have considered, like the downstream impacts on one’s health that come with stable housing, or how investments in air quality monitoring can improve the cardiovascular health for generations to come.
““It was so wonderful connecting with like-minded members and combining our strengths and knowledge when meeting with lawmakers. I was excited to see that WPSR has name recognition with lawmakers and they really care what we have to say. I can’t wait to do this again next year! ”
Highlights of the Day
Representative Lisa Parshley of the 22nd District (and a veterinary oncologist) spoke to WPSR’s Lobby Day group on the Capitol steps, highlighting the importance of the work that we do. She also called us to action to get more health professionals into elected roles, and highlighted the need for awareness among policymakers about the many ways that health is and can be impacted by legislation. (Get involved!)
WPSR also heard from Po Leapai of the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance, who provided important insights into the work they are doing to preserve people’s health via addressing the housing crisis and homelessness.
One thing was abundantly clear - our members make an impact when they show up to talk about these issues.
“Lobby day demystified the legislative process for me and brought confidence in talking to legislators and their staff about environmental health issues. I enjoyed the community spirit of working alongside other PSR members and was delighted to see our state’s diversity and civic activism on parade with all the myriad other groups who were roaming the capitol campus, having their own lobby day.” Lobby Day attendee Martha Hyde, MD, said.
What Comes Next
The legislative session is far from over. Legislators will continue to consider bills, and several of WPSR’s priorities remain alive and under consideration this year. They will also consider a supplemental budget, which will require crucial decisions on the future of the Climate Commitment Act, state revenue, and aim to address the state’s budget shortfall.
If you weren’t able to join us this year, there are still opportunities to get involved. Whether through legislative advocacy, task force participation, or public education, your voice matters.
Because when health professionals show up, prevention becomes policy.
It’s time for Washington to save lives and act on extreme heat
Extreme heat is already killing Washingtonians. Physicians urge lawmakers to act now with proven public health protections that prevent heat-related deaths.
Washington is facing a clear, growing, and silent public health threat. Extreme heat is already the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the United States. In Washington, the 2021 Heat Dome was the deadliest weather event in state history, resulting in an average of 18 heat-related deaths per day. Those deaths were not inevitable. They were the result of systems that failed to protect people inside their own homes.
This legislative session, lawmakers have an opportunity to respond.
As climate change drives more frequent and severe heat events, WPSR is working to help Washington’s legislature decide whether it will treat extreme heat as a predictable, preventable public health emergency or continue to accept avoidable illness, displacement, and death.
Heat Is a Climate and Health Emergency - and a Housing Problem
From a medical perspective, extreme heat is dangerous even over short periods. Heat exposure increases the risk of heart attacks, kidney failure, respiratory illness, and long-term neurological damage, and it worsens mental health stress and anxiety. These risks fall hardest on renters, low-income households, youth, outdoor workers, older adults, and people with chronic medical conditions.
Critically, most heat-related illness and death occurs indoors. During the 2021 Heat Dome, an overwhelming majority of people who died were inside their homes, often in buildings that trapped heat, with no safe way to cool down.
Yet many Washington renters are prohibited from installing cooling devices, even portable ones they already own. Others fear eviction or retaliation if they attempt to protect themselves. In practice, this means that during extreme heat, some people are left with a dangerous choice: break the rules of their lease — or risk their health.
That is not a personal failure. It is a policy failure.
As clinicians, these impacts are not abstract.
“During extreme heat events, I see patients come in with symptoms that are entirely preventable. Patients in the emergency room are treated in tubs full of ice.” More than once, I’ve had a patient tell me they didn’t use the air conditioner they had because they were afraid their landlord would penalize them. No one should have to make that choice.”
Dehydration can progress to kidney injury, heart conditions worsened by heat stress, and anxiety can spiraling because people can’t escape the heat in their own homes. Stories like this happen too often in Washington. They reflect a basic truth: cooling is not a luxury. It is a critical health protection, one that our housing and emergency response systems have failed to provide equitably.
What WPSR Is Working on This Legislative Session
Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility is advancing a coordinated, evidence-based policy approach to extreme heat — one that improves access to cooling, protects renters’ health, and strengthens statewide preparedness.
The Right to Install Cooling (SB 6200)
SB 6200 ensures that renters and mobile home residents can install portable cooling devices without unreasonable barriers. For many households, this is the difference between safety and serious risk.
Preventing someone from installing a basic cooling device during a heat wave does nothing to protect buildings, but it does put lives at risk.
Protecting Tenants from Extreme Heat (HB 2265)
HB 2265 recognizes extreme heat as the public health emergency it is. This legislation:
Improves renter access to cooling
Establishes protections from eviction during periods of extreme heat
Moves Washington toward a future where homes are safer as temperatures rise
Simply put, no one should lose their housing, or their life, because their home becomes dangerously hot.
County-Level Heat Response Plans (HB 2183)
Extreme heat requires coordination. HB 2183 would require counties to develop and implement heat response plans, improving emergency preparedness, communication, and public health response before temperatures reach dangerous levels.
Planning saves lives and reduces strain on emergency departments, first responders, and local health systems.
Why This Matters Now
Extreme heat is becoming more common, more intense, and more dangerous. Relying on cooling centers alone is not enough, and assuming people can protect themselves without structural support ignores the realities of housing insecurity and health inequity.
Health professionals across Washington are calling for policies grounded in evidence and lived experience, that reflect what we see every summer: most heat-related illness and death is preventable.
This legislative session is a critical opportunity to act.
Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility Condemns Trump’s Call to Resume Nuclear Weapons Testing
WPSR condemns Trump’s call to renew nuclear testing
Health experts warn of catastrophic human and environmental consequences
Seattle, WA — Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility (WPSR) expressed grave alarm today following former President Donald Trump’s statement on Truth Social announcing plans to resume U.S. nuclear weapons testing — a move that, if acted upon, would shatter a decades-long international taboo and unleash devastating harm on people and the planet.
“Every nuclear test is an act of mass poisoning,” said Dr. Joseph Berkson, board member of WPSR. “The fallout from past tests killed thousands, contaminated communities from Nevada to the Marshall Islands, and continues to cause cancers and birth defects generations later. To knowingly resume that suffering is unconscionable.”
While Trump claimed that other countries are conducting nuclear tests, in reality only North Korea has tested nuclear weapons this century. The United States has observed a moratorium on explosive nuclear testing since 1992, maintaining global stability and leadership in nonproliferation.
Until Trump’s statement is clarified or retracted, the presumption must be that he is referring to a return to atmospheric nuclear testing — the same kind that blanketed wide swaths of the world with radioactive fallout during the Cold War.
WPSR joins medical and scientific experts worldwide in emphasizing that there is no military or technical justification for renewed nuclear testing. Existing stockpiles are maintained safely through modern verification and computer simulation. The only certain outcome of resuming tests would be catastrophic human and ecological damage.
“Radiation doesn’t respect borders or timelines,” said Sean Arent, WPSR's Nuclear Weapons Abolition Program manager. “We’d be repeating history’s worst mistakes on purpose — condemning new generations to cancers, contaminated lands, and poisoned air and water.”
Resuming nuclear testing would also isolate the United States diplomatically and could trigger a global chain reaction. Russia and other nuclear powers have already signaled they would follow suit if the U.S. breaks the moratorium — collapsing three decades of progress toward reducing the nuclear threat.
“Trump’s reckless statement risks undoing decades of careful restraint,” said Dr. Joseph Berkson. “If America tests again, the world will too — and that would take us back to a far more dangerous age.”
Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility urges Congress, the administration, and the American public to speak out unequivocally against any return to nuclear testing and to reaffirm U.S. commitment to arms control, nonproliferation, and the protection of human life and the environment.
About WPSR:
Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility is a statewide organization of health professionals and allies advocating for policies that protect human health from the gravest threats — including nuclear weapons and climate change. WPSR is the Washington state chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility, recipient of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize.
Opinion: The EPA Endangerment Finding Must Not Be Repealed
In a move as reckless as it is shortsighted, the Environmental Protection Agency is attempting to roll back one of the most important public health protections in existence: the 2009 Endangerment Finding. This landmark determination—based on careful study and decades of scientific evidence—recognizes that greenhouse gas emissions pose a serious danger to human health. Reversing it would not only be a betrayal of science but would cause a direct and major escalation of the climate-driven health impacts that are already harming our community.
The Endangerment Finding has served as the legal foundation for federal efforts to reduce climate pollution from vehicles, power plants, and other industrial sources. Without it, the EPA would lose its authority to regulate carbon emissions under the Clean Air Act, leaving our communities even more vulnerable to the heatwaves, wildfires, floods, and air pollution that are already making people sick and costing lives.
Here in Washington state, we are already experiencing the consequences of climate change. A 2020 Washington State Department of Health (DOH) report found that climate change is “amplifying existing health disparities” and increasing the risk of heat-related illness, respiratory disease, and vector-borne illnesses. In a single week during the 2021 “heat dome” event, Washington state saw more than 100 excess deaths due to extreme heat. Events like these are no longer outliers —they’re harbingers of what’s to come if we fail to act swiftly. Between 2009 and 2020, the number of “smoke days” in Washington more than quadrupled. According to the University of Washington, exposure to wildfire smoke is now the primary driver of air pollution in our state, especially during the summer months. In 2020 alone, particulate matter from smoke caused an estimated 92 deaths in King County and over 400 statewide. Children, older adults, and people with underlying health conditions are especially at risk.
Climate change also increases the spread of diseases like West Nile virus and Lyme disease, which are appearing in parts of Washington where they were previously rare or nonexistent. And the mental health toll—from climate anxiety to the trauma of displacement due to wildfires or floods—remains vastly under-addressed. A full discussion of the health impacts of climate change in Washington can be found in Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility’s 2022 report on Climate & Health.
Congress has an opportunity to act right now. A resolution—H. Res. 568 in the House, sponsored by Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-CA), and S. Res. 318 in the Senate, sponsored by Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA)—affirm that climate change is a threat to public health and call on the Department of Health and Human Services to lead efforts to protect communities from its worst impacts.
WPSR, where we serve as Executive Director and board President, has urged our state’s congressional delegation to co-sponsor these resolutions. Now they need to hear from the people they represent. We urge all Washingtonians to speak out.
The EPA is accepting public comments on its proposal to reverse the Endangerment Finding. Washingtonians concerned about the dire ramifications of reversing the Endangerment Finding can express their opposition by writing to EPA-MobileSource-Hearings@epa.gov. If we stay silent, we risk losing one of the most important tools that protects public health and addresses the worsening climate crisis.
Max Savishinsky, EdD, MAIS, MPA
Executive Director
Ken Lans, MD, MBA
President
Cruise ships: Reduce health harms by Chris Covert-Bowlds, MD, and Breck Lebegue, MD, MPH
Cruise ships: Reduce health harms by Chris Covert-Bowlds, MD, and Breck Lebegue, MD, MPH
Sep. 5, 2025 at 9:27 am
This letter was originally published in the Seattle Times. https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/cruise-ships-reduce-health-harms/
Re: “Despite all the cruise ships, Seattle residents prefer other vacations” (Aug. 31, FYI Guy):
Congrats — Seattle is the No. 1 cruise-ship port on the West Coast! But while few locals benefit, many are harmed.
Why? Ships in Puget Sound or idling at berth produce 20% of our diesel particulate matter, elevating disease risk in port communities. DPM exposure is linked to cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory hospitalizations and premature death. But in 2025, an expected 298 cruises will bring approximately 1 million passengers, most flying here to cruise. Half the total emissions of a cruise vacation are caused by those flights, shifting the health risks to port workers and nearby residents.
We must reduce cruise health harms. The Council on Clean Transportation estimates that shore power for ships at the Port of Seattle could reduce DPM 2.5 emissions by 29%. The Washington State Medical Association House of Delegates will consider resolutions urging all oceangoing vessels to use shore power while at berth. The resolutions would also oppose expansion of cruise sailings via the Port of Seattle and cap flights at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport at current levels.
Let Florida keep the cruise ships and airplanes. We’ll keep our clean air and good health.
Chris Covert-Bowlds, MD, and Breck Lebegue, MD, MPH, co-chairs, Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility Climate and Health Task Force
80 Years from the US Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by Sean Arent, WPSR Nuclear Weapons Abolition Program Manager
80 years ago this week after a successful test in the New Mexico desert, the United States chose to detonate two atomic weapons over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The detonation of the “Fat Man” and “Little Boy” nuclear bombs resulted in the murder of hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians, tens of thousands of indentured Koreans, and twelve American prisoners of war from the direct blast and ensuing radiation. This disaster is beyond human comprehension. To paraphrase one atomic bomb victim, Hiromu Morishita, “when I woke from the blast, everything was burning, and I heard the sound of a swarm of mosquitos in my ear. This was the sound of thousands of other victims crying out in pain.”
The atomic bomb survivors, the Hibakusha, carry with them the memory of this calamity, and the lifelong suffering brought on by exposure to high levels of radiation. Exposure to high level radiation, which tears apart human DNA, multiplies a person’s risk of cancer, thyroid disease and other maladies, a risk that is passed down to survivors' children and grandchildren.
As an organization dedicated to protecting human health, nuclear weapons are blasphemous to our mission not just when used, but when mined, produced, tested, and flaunted. The nuclear weapons production chain is a roadmap of poor health and human suffering.
As advocates in Washington state, we remember that the “Fat Man” nuclear bomb was loaded with Hanford plutonium. And we are working to wake up our community to the fact that bombs a hundred times larger than this slip beneath the waves of Hood Canal, loaded on to submarines at the Kitsap-Bangor base.
We see the United States continuing to develop new nuclear weapons, choose violence over peace, and run out the clock on treaties like NewStart, set to expire in February.
80 years after the devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the world stands to forget the unforgettable and repeat mistakes that should not be repeated. WPSR is committed to remembering. We are committed to action. We are committed to waking up our elected leaders.
But we can’t do it alone. Help us make never again a reality and abolish nuclear weapons for health, peace, and sanity.
Don’t Let the EPA Endanger Our Health
In a move as reckless as it is shortsighted, the Environmental Protection Agency is attempting to roll back one of the most important public health protections in existence: the 2009 Endangerment Finding. This landmark determination—based on careful study and decades of scientific evidence—recognizes that greenhouse gas emissions pose a serious danger to human health. Reversing it would not only be a betrayal of science but would cause a direct and major escalation of the climate-driven health impacts that are already harming our community.
The Endangerment Finding has served as the legal foundation for federal efforts to reduce climate pollution from vehicles, power plants, and other industrial sources. Without it, the EPA would lose its authority to regulate carbon emissions under the Clean Air Act, leaving our communities even more vulnerable to the heatwaves, wildfires, floods, and air pollution that are already making people sick and costing lives.
Here in Washington state, we are already experiencing the consequences of climate change. A 2020 Washington State Department of Health (DOH) report found that climate change is “amplifying existing health disparities” and increasing the risk of heat-related illness, respiratory disease, and vector-borne illnesses. In a single week during the 2021 “heat dome” event, Washington state saw more than 100 excess deaths due to extreme heat. Events like these are no longer outliers —they’re harbingers of what’s to come if we fail to act swiftly. Between 2009 and 2020, the number of “smoke days” in Washington more than quadrupled. According to the University of Washington, exposure to wildfire smoke is now the primary driver of air pollution in our state, especially during the summer months. In 2020 alone, particulate matter from smoke caused an estimated 92 deaths in King County and over 400 statewide. Children, older adults, and people with underlying health conditions are especially at risk.
Climate change also increases the spread of diseases like West Nile virus and Lyme disease, which are appearing in parts of Washington where they were previously rare or nonexistent. And the mental health toll—from climate anxiety to the trauma of displacement due to wildfires or floods—remains vastly under-addressed. A full discussion of the health impacts of climate change in Washington can be found in Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility’s 2022 report on Climate & Health.
Congress has an opportunity to act right now. A resolution—H. Res. 568 in the House, sponsored by Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-CA), and S. Res. 318 in the Senate, sponsored by Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA)—affirm that climate change is a threat to public health and call on the Department of Health and Human Services to lead efforts to protect communities from its worst impacts.
WPSR, where we serve as Executive Director and board President, has urged our state’s congressional delegation to co-sponsor these resolutions. Now they need to hear from the people they represent. We urge all Washingtonians to speak out.
The EPA is accepting public comments on its proposal to reverse the Endangerment Finding. Washingtonians concerned about the dire ramifications of reversing the Endangerment Finding can express their opposition by writing to EPA-MobileSource-Hearings@epa.gov. If we stay silent, we risk losing one of the most important tools that protects public health and addresses the worsening climate crisis.
Max Savishinsky, EdD, MAIS, MPA
Executive Director
Ken Lans, MD, MBA
President
Polluting our Air: WPSR joins Airshow Climate Action Coalition in calling on Seafair - no more Blue Angels!
Washington health professionals join coalition opposing Blue Angels at Seattle Seafair due to air pollution, noise damage, and PTSD triggers for veterans.
Image courtesy of 350 Seattle.
Seattle’s Sefair can be a fun, enjoyable and safe time for all.
However, the environmental and health impacts of the Blue Angels is something our community can no longer ignore.
Military airshows burn massive amounts of jet fuel during test flights and performances, spewing air pollution directly into our communities. The aircraft produce 110-decibel noise that can permanently damage hearing, especially in children. For some combat veterans and refugees, the sounds and sights of military jets can trigger PTSD and traumatic memories.
The financial costs run into the millions, using taxpayer dollars that could support community health, instead of an endless war machine that promotes militarism.
Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility has a long history of anti-militaristic and pro-health organizing. That’s why we’ve joined the Airshow Climate Action Coalition and its members to contribute to the campaign to Say No to Blue Angels and push for a calmer, quieter, safer and healthier Seattle Seafair.
On August 2nd, health professionals joined the coalition for a day of organizing and show of support for this campaign, marching to Genesee Park in Seattle, offering earplugs to protect attendees’ hearing while educating the public about the health impacts of military airshows.
The movement is gaining momentum. Climate and Health Task Force Co-Chair Dr. Breck Lebegue, authored an op-ed in the Seattle Times in 2024 on the issue, "Let’s honor the past but bid farewell to the Blue Angels". Since then, thousands have signed a petition calling on for a reimagined Seafair-doubling in just one year.
It’s time for Seattle to align its values with its actions. We encourage mode shift of transportation away from planes and lanes toward rail, bikes, and walking, we cannot simultaneously celebrate fossil-fueled military spectacles.
WPSR advocates for transitioning away from practices that perpetuate the fossil fuel industry, while reminding our community that growing military budgets fund the nuclear weapons that threaten our survival.
Join the thousands calling for a sustainable, healthy Seafair that celebrates our community without harming it. Sign the petition below!
Health Groups Urge Governor Ferguson to Address Microplastics Health Crisis
WPSR joined a coalition of 50+ Washington health and environmental groups calling on Governor Ferguson to petition the EPA for microplastics monitoring in drinking water. The initiative would leverage a rarely-used Safe Drinking Water Act provision requiring federal action when seven governors petition for contaminant monitoring.
July 22, 2025 - Seattle, WA
Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility (WPSR) joined over 50 Washington environmental, climate, and public health groups in calling on Governor Ferguson to petition the federal government to monitor microplastics in our drinking water. The coalition, led by Food & Water Watch, is urging the Governor to leverage a provision in the Safe Drinking Water Act that requires EPA action when seven governors petition for monitoring of a specific contaminant.
Growing Health Evidence Demands Action
Emerging research reveals that microplastics pose serious threats to human health. These tiny plastic particles - smaller than 5 millimeters - have been detected throughout the human body, including in vital organs.
"Microplastics are contributing to an increased burden of disease in our state and across the country," said Adam Lough, MHA, of WPSR’s Climate and Health Task Force. "That increase in disease burden drives up the cost of healthcare for all players in the industry. Tracking microplastic contamination in our water is a necessary first step in limiting exposure. Governor Ferguson can help us lead the nation in doing so with this effort."
Recent scientific studies have linked microplastics exposure to multiple health concerns:
Cardiovascular damage: Research published in the New England Journal of Medicine found microplastics in arterial plaques and linked their presence to increased risk of heart attacks and strokes
Organ infiltration: Studies have detected microplastics in the kidney, liver, brain, and placental tissue
Systemic inflammation: Laboratory studies show microplastics can trigger oxidative stress and inflammatory responses throughout the body
Endocrine disruption: The chemical additives in microplastics may interfere with hormone function
Climate and Health Connection
The microplastics crisis is intrinsically linked to climate change. Approximately 98% of single-use plastic is made from petrochemicals derived from oil and gas, making plastic production a significant driver of greenhouse gas emissions. As plastic waste accumulates in the environment, it breaks down into microplastics that contaminate water, air, and food systems.
"This is both a public health emergency and a climate crisis," Lough noted. "By addressing microplastics, we're tackling two of the most pressing challenges facing our generation."
Washington Waters Already Contaminated
Local research confirms widespread microplastic contamination in Washington's waterways:
Puget Soundkeeper found microplastics in all 69 water samples collected across Puget Sound between 2019-2020, with an average of 13 particles per sample
University of Washington research documented plastic microfibers as common on Puget Sound beaches
Seattle Aquarium studies revealed microplastics pollution along Seattle's waterfront
What is WPSR doing to address microplastics?
We're seeing the early warning signs of a public health crisis. Microplastics represent a new class of environmental health threat that requires immediate attention. We cannot wait for the health consequences to fully manifest before taking action.
We’re working with our partners at Food and Water Watch on letters like this, to ensure that Washington leads the way on calling for federal action in monitoring microplastics in our drinking water. Currently, microplastics remain unregulated and unmonitored at the federal level, despite their ubiquitous presence in drinking water systems nationwide. California recently became the first state to require microplastics testing, but comprehensive federal oversight is essential to protect public health.
The petition leverages a rarely-used provision in the Safe Drinking Water Act: when seven governors petition the EPA to monitor a specific contaminant, the agency must add it to the national monitoring list. This would be the first step toward eventual federal regulation of microplastics in drinking water.
WPSR is also conducting its own learning and work. Interested in helping us tackle the health and climate impacts of microplastics? Sign-up for WPSR’s climate updates and consider joining our microplastics and waste working group, which meets monthly to discuss these issues.
For more information about WPSR's work on environmental health issues, visit wpsr.org/climate.
Why heatwaves are a mental health emergency we must address
Mental health and members of WPSR professionals reveal how extreme heat drives psychiatric emergencies, climate anxiety, and depression. Learn why heat preparedness must include mental health support.
Larry Freeman, MD, McKenna Parnes PhD, and Robert Berley, PhD, are mental health professionals who have been concerned about the emotional and psychological toll of climate change, and members of the Climate and Health Task Force at Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility.
With summer upon us, heat and smoke are once again looming threats. Among these threats is a quieter, equally as serious crisis: the mental and emotional impacts of our changing climate.
Climate change is driving a wave of emotional distress, especially among young people. A 2023 global survey found that over 85% of people around the world report some form of anxiety about climate change and their futures. The severity of distress increases as respondents indicate that they do not feel governments have addressed this problem effectively. Roughly two thirds of young adults report climate distress, but less than half of that group believes others share their fears - worsening feelings of helpless concern and isolation. A majority of adults over 30 worry about the emotional effects the younger generations will face. Chronic worry and feelings of isolation and powerlessness have not only psychological harms: physical health and interpersonal relationships suffer as well.
Even here in the Pacific Northwest where many don’t consider it to be “too hot”, excessive heat has specific mental health effects: irritability, anger and conflict; domestic violence and resultant PTSD incidents; apprehension and feeling trapped; sleep loss which undermines physical and psychological well-being. The groups most at risk, i.e., young people, outdoor workers, the elderly, and people without air conditioning deserve particular concern.
We see elderly patients who become housebound during heatwaves, developing depression from isolation. We hear stories of workers, of whom mom or dad is one, at risk in the hot weather. Children share their concerns about the future, seeing an orange sky and worrying that the apocalypse is happening. Outdoor workers wrestle with the decisions between safety and a paycheck.
A 2022 study in Environment International shows for every 1 degree celsius increase in temperature, emergency psychiatric visits increase and heat-related mental health deaths increase by 2.2%. Domestic violence incidents spike during these times.
For those already struggling with climate anxiety, extreme heat becomes confirmation that their fears are materializing. The combination creates a dangerous spiral: heat worsens mental health, while climate anxiety makes each heat event more traumatic. People taking psychiatric medicines frequently have even greater susceptibility to heat related physical health complications.
The “heat dome” we experienced in 2021 will happen again. How will we react? Or most importantly, how will we prepare? We cannot let another summer pass without acknowledging this emergency. The mental health impacts of climate emergencies need more attention.
We must treat this like the public health crisis it is. Mental health considerations must be built into every layer of our emergency response.
Ensuring mental health considerations in emergency preparedness is no longer a “nice to have”, but a necessity. We call upon physicians, hospitals, counselors, schools, governments, religious leaders, and businesses to accept their responsibility and lead us through this crisis. When communities prepare for heat emergencies together, they build physical safety and psychological resilience.
We’re obliged to consider things we might not have considered. For example, cooling schools isn’t just about keeping a school cool, but reducing the emotional burden on children, teachers, and caregivers. Employers must adjust the expectations of workers during heatwaves.
Governments have a significant role to play. Expanding urban tree canopy keeps those in public spaces cool, and increasing access to greenspace has significant benefits for children’s mental health. Developing heat mitigations plans will equip hospitals and emergency department with the funding and processes they need to save lives during heat crises. Buildings - both new and old - must equip the cooling infrastructure they need to protect those most vulnerable.
Being upset about the climate means one has the courage to pay attention and care appropriately. Having these concerns isn’t so-called “climate hypochondriasis”. We are facing a real crisis that needs action. The good news is that action itself heals. Community efforts to address climate change provide us the sense of agency and connection that counters climate anxiety.