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Revision as of 20:16, 25 March 2006 by Gamaliel (talk | contribs) (Reverted edits by Capitalister (talk) to last version by Rich Farmbrough)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)| Logo of Union of Concerned Scientists | |
| Established | 1969 |
| Exec. Dir. | Katherine Rest |
| President | Kevin Knobloch |
| Headquarters | Cambridge, MA, USA |
| Membership | over 100,000 |
| Founder | Kurt Gottfried |
| Homepage | http://www.ucsusa.org |
The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) is a non-profit advocacy organization based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Some of the policies that the UCS endorses include controls on pollution, reduction of nuclear weapons, a ban on weapons in space, federal regulation of some biotechnologies, the protection of endangered species and action against global warming. The Union also encourages research on renewable energy, low-pollution vehicles, and sustainable agriculture. The Union does not oppose the use of nuclear energy, but is a proponent of strict safety guidelines.
The UCS was founded in 1969 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology by faculty and students. The UCS membership includes many private citizens in addition to professional scientists.
In 1997, the UCS circulated a petition entitled "A Call to Action". The petition called for the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. The petition was signed by 110 Nobel Prize laureates, including 104 Nobel Prize-winning scientists.
In February, 2004, the Union received a good deal of attention from the mass media by publishing a report titled "Scientific Integrity in Policymaking". This report criticized the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush for "politicizing" science. Some of the allegations include altering reports by the Environmental Protection Agency on global warming and choosing members of scientific advisory panels based on their political views rather than scientific experience. In July 2004, the Union released an addendum to the report in which they criticize the Bush administration and allege that reports on West Virginia strip mining had been improperly altered, and that nominees for government posts, such as Nobel laureate Torsten Wiesel, that the Union considered well-qualified, were rejected because they were openly critical of the Bush Administration and its policies.
On April 2, 2004, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy issued a statement by John H. Marburger, III, the director of OSTP, that claims the descriptions of the incidents in the UCS report are all "false," "wrong," or "a distortion." A UCS analysis of the particulars in the White House document stated them to be unjustified. Since that time, the administration has been virtually silent on the issue.
On 15 October 2005, the UCS announced the creation of a new "Scientific Integrity Program," in response to what it termed a "changing political climate," to analyse and advocate on behalf of scientific integrity and against politically motivated interference in the scientific process.