Jill Stein - Career

Career

Dr. Stein has practiced Internal Medicine in private practice.

She became increasingly concerned about the connection between people's health and the quality of their local environment. Since 1998, she has served on the boards of Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility and help found the Massachusetts Coalition for Healthy Communities. Politically active, Dr. Stein also serves on the board of MassVoters for Fair Elections. Dr. Stein founded and served as co-chair of a local recycling committee in Lexington that was approved by the Board of Selectmen. She also developed a "Healthy People, Healthy Planet" teaching program.

Dr. Stein has also co-authored two published reports on health and the environment, In Harm's Way: Toxic Threats to Child Development (published in 2000) and Environmental Threats to Healthy Aging (published in 2009).

Dr. Stein has testified before numerous legislative panels as well as local and state governmental bodies. She was active in the effort to get the Massachusetts fish advisories updated to better protect women and children from mercury contamination. She helped lead the successful campaign to clean up the "Filthy Five" coal plants in Massachusetts, an effort that resulted in getting coal plant regulations signed into law. Her testimony on the effects of mercury and dioxin contamination from the burning of waste helped preserve the Massachusetts moratorium on new trash incinerator construction in the state.

In 2008, she helped formulate a "Secure Green Future" ballot initiative that called upon legislators to accelerate efforts to move the Massachusetts economy to renewable energy and make development of green jobs a priority.

In addition, Dr. Stein is an advocate for campaign finance reform. She worked to help pass the Clean Election Law (which later repealed by the Massachusetts Legislature on an unrecorded voice vote).

Her environmental work has won her many awards, including Clean Water Action's Not in Anyone's Backyard Award, Children's Health Hero Award, and the Toxic Action Center's Citizen Award.