Guided by the values and expertise of health care professionals, PSR Colorado members and allies offer evidence-based education and advocacy, elevating the voices of health professionals to protect current and future generations from the health impacts of hydraulic fracturing, the climate crisis, and exposure to radionuclides and other toxic substances. PSR Colorado advocates for alternatives to reliance on fossil fuels and nuclear energy.

We won’t give up!

Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) national was founded in 1961 with the motto “Prevention is the only cure.” This has led us to educate and advocate for nuclear weapons reductions and the prevention of nuclear war and more recently to rise to the challenge of the climate crisis.

PSR Colorado, a chapter of PSR national, believes in prevention and works at the state and local levels to support policies that will protect the public and our precious environment that supports life on the planet.

Our members are health care and public health professionals, concerned scientists, parents and students, and impacted community members. We always base our work on reliable medical and scientific data and follow the principle of "do no harm".

Last year, with help from donors, we worked at the local and state levels to educate and support communities in their efforts to mitigate production and use of fossil fuels and its harmful health impacts through lobbying, educating decision-makers, letters to the editor, testimonies and seminars. 

We supported policies that promote renewable energy sources such as wind and solar instead of false solutions like carbon credits and carbon capture that prolong our reliance of fossil fuels and harm our health.

We lobbied for legislation that would raise the standards for new air conditioning systems and provide financial support for adoption of heat pumps that reduce consumer dependence on gas.

We engaged health professionals and allies in advocacy for measures that will reduce harms to those people in the communities suffering from the cumulative impacts of  exposures to toxic chemical emissions from oil and gas, big industry, and highway pollution. We participated in rulemaking at the Energy and Carbon Management Commission to push for protections from these exposures. 

We promoted policies that would provide wide-scale funding for transitioning from gas to high efficiency electric heat pumps for heating and cooling and for high efficiency stoves and electric appliances in homes. 

Along with the Colorado Renewable Energy Society, we successfully intervened at the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to stop Xcel's plans to bring dangerous hydrogen into homes. 

Our members work to educate and advocate for legal and policy action to reduce public exposure to plutonium and other radioactive contaminants in the Rocky Flats Wildlife Refuge. Recently, we joined allies to educate and testify at Westminster City Council hearings and were successful in urging their withdrawal from the Rocky Mountain Greenway that would run through the area surrounding the former nuclear weapons plant.

And we will be speaking out to make sure that when the Comanche 3 coal fired plant in Pueblo is closed, it will be replaced by safe renewable energy and not unproven small nuclear reactors.

Read about PSR Colorado’s News and Achievements in our Recent Newsletters

July 2024

November 2023

March 2023

Learn More & Take Action

PSR Colorado works at the local, state, and federal level to support communities in their efforts to mitigate fracking and its harmful impacts through lobbying, educating decision-makers, letters to the editor, testimonies, and seminars.

Our Building Electrification project engages the public and our allies in support of legislation, regulations, and other efforts that reduce consumer dependence on fossil fuels and promotes widescale adoption of high-efficiency electric appliances in homes.

PSR Colorado works through community advocacy and legal action to reduce public exposure to plutonium and other radioactive contaminants in the buffer zone around the former Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant site.

Locally, nationally, and globally the climate crisis disproportionately impacts the lives and health of those who are most vulnerable. Across the board, communities of color, indigenous people, and those who are socio-economically disadvantaged pay the price of poor environmental quality and are least able to adapt to climate change.

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September 3 Joint Webinar Recording

Health Impacts of Natural Gas in the Home: Children and Health Equity

Our first Healthy Electric Homes webinar, "Health Impacts of Natural Gas in the Home: Focus on Children and Health Equity"  was held on September 3.

Burning gas in homes releases carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and small particulate matter. This increases the risks for asthma, heart attacks, strokes, emergency room visits, carbon monoxide poisoning, and deaths.

Studies show that those who suffer the most from indoor air pollution are those in low-income communities. Children are also among the most vulnerable groups.  Learn what you can do as a health professional to best advise your patients, and as an activist to change policy!

Our presenters were Yadira Caraveo, MD, pediatrician and Colorado State Representative; Cory Carroll, MD, family practice physician; and Jessica Miller, MD, general pediatrician.

Want more info?  Please contact PSR CO board member and webinar host Barbara Donachy, MPH, at barbaradonachy@gmail.com

September 9 Joint Webinar Recording

Colorado Parents & Experts Speak Out - Oil and Gas Methane Pollution Harms our Health & Climate

PSR Colorado co-hosted a webinar on September 9 to present information about the health harms associated with methane pollution and what you can do to help protect the air our kids breathe.

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas responsible for 25 percent of the climate change we're already experiencing in Colorado. Wherever oil and gas is being extracted, compressed, or processed, you can find methane and harmful air pollutants such as benzene, which can cause cancer and contribute to ozone pollution or smog.

We ask you to raise your voice to tell Colorado's public officials to strengthen methane and toxic air pollution rules to protect our communities.

Colorado’s regulators will be making critical decisions about methane emissions from oil and gas operations in our state. This is our chance to have stronger protections put in place. State officials will be hearing from the oil and gas industry, so they must hear from us as well.