SEHN & The BoldReThink

Dear Friends, We live in tumultuous times. I write to tell you how our work at the Science and Environmental Health Network dovetails with some of the headlines you have been seeing in the news. Whether it is the pandemic, recent court decisions on pipelines, racial injustice in Minneapolis or threats to public goods like the Post Office, SEHN has played a part in working to create a healthy and just world. Of course there is a punchline: we need your financial support to do this. Let me run through four issues that give you a taste of what we’ve been up to. The Bold ReThink, a project of SEHN, is a collaboration co-led by myself (Carolyn Raffensperger) and Lisa Graves of True North Research, along with many allied groups and individuals. This initiative works to expose the radical right-wing agenda to undermine public faith in democratic government and to lift up bold ideas that champion a robust democracy that assures the health and well-being of the American people and our planet. You may recognize some of the key ideas behind redefining the role of government coming from another one of SEHN’s projects, the Women’s Congress for Future Generations. You are right! We are delighted to announce that Bold ReThink and the Women’s Congress for Future Generations will convene several virtual events late this summer and fall. For those of you, men and women, who attended past Women’s Congresses, these gatherings will be as artistically, intellectually and spiritually rich as those were. In addition to the critical conversations hosted by Bold ReThink and the Women’s Congress, we are developing multiple outlets for public conversations. For instance, SEHN’s fellow, Peter Montague is writing a weekly column for Truthout. Check out one of his first columns here. Bold ReThink is collaborating on reports, briefings and exposes of the right wing agenda to sabotage our common good. Our first report was about the Koch brothers’ role in gutting the Post Office, one of our oldest and most treasured public institutions. And that is just the beginning. We have big plans for the coming year. Will you donate to support the Bold ReThink initiative? The pandemic has raised all sorts of public health and environmental questions and problems. What happens to all the disposable masks and gloves? Are anti-microbials safe and effective? How should health care facilities best protect staff, patients and visitors? Ted Schettler, SEHN’s science director has presented on several webinars addressing these questions and has just written a report on anti-microbials in furnishings and building materials for one of SEHN’s partner organizations, Health Care Without Harm. The week that George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis, both Ted and I were working with the Philips community in Minneapolis on an environmental justice issue that illustrates the point that racism is systemic and pervasive. Years ago, we assisted our colleagues in passing a law on cumulative impacts that specifically addressed the Philips community's existing disproportionate burden of toxics. The law said that before any polluting business could be sited there, the regulators had to make sure it didn’t add to the already extensive toxic burden the community bore. Well, the city decided to take over an abandoned building and adjacent acreage in order to locate the entire city works storage and equipment repair there along with a training facility. The community had designed a plan for that building that included an indoor farm, other businesses that would add to the beauty and well-being of their neighborhood. The city disregarded the community and is moving forward with its plan that includes demolishing the building, increasing truck traffic and other noxious activities anticipated to increase noise and pollution. But that pesky law on cumulative impacts? They ignored it. So the community is bringing a lawsuit to make sure the law is enforced and they are not harmed any further. SEHN has been providing technical assistance to the community for years, both in helping with the design of the cumulative impacts law and now with the lawsuit. You will read more about this in the next issue of the Networker. Last, but certainly not least, the week of June 6th was a landmark for court decisions on pipelines. Two pipelines that we worked with our Indigenous friends to stop, Keystone XL and Dakota Access, were blocked by courts. Dakota Access was built and running by June 2017 but a federal judge ruled that the pipeline must be shutdown because a key permit to cross the Missouri River just north of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe was invalid. SEHN supported our Indigenous colleagues in that struggle with legal services. Carolyn was one of the lawyers that staffed the legal tent during the Standing Rock camp in 2016. SEHN was the sponsor, and one of the organizers, of the Iowa resistance to that pipeline. In addition, were intervenors on the Iowa permit where we represented the interests of future generations. The Keystone XL pipeline which is supposed to carry tar sands crude oil from Canada was denied a fast track permit by none other than the US Supreme Court. SEHN has been working with Indigenous allies to stop that pipeline and the sex trafficking that goes along with pipeline construction. Our many friends have been fighting that pipeline for a decade. This win is a credit to their tireless work. We have been fortunate to work side by side with them and provide legal technical assistance over the years. One of our key contributions to pipeline struggles is designing pipeline construction monitoring programs that empower local communities and activists to hold pipeline corporations accountable. Permit conditions are almost never enforced by state or federal agencies and these monitoring programs equip activists with the legal and organizing tools they need to protect their waters and land. There are other pipelines that are still in the works (including Keystone XL) and we are bringing our specialized knowledge of pipeline construction issues to those struggles. Of course there are many other stories we could tell about the work we have before us. We are grateful for your support over the years—the kind words, the ideas and the money you have shared with us. Will you share in this work and make a gift to support SEHN? Many thanks, Carolyn Raffensperger Executive Director PS We are seeking to raise $40,000 this summer to support community groups with scientific and legal assistance as well as to advance the big ideas through Bold ReThink and the Women’s Congress. We are grateful for any contribution you can make to this work.

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