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Final University of East Anglia Report Clears Scientists

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Union of Concerned Scientists - Jul. 07 (News) - The so-called “Climategate” scandal is over, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), and it really wasn’t a scandal after all.

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Anticipated nuclear power loans would put taxpayers on the hook

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Union of Concerned Scientists - Jan. 29 (News Analysis) - The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) today leveled criticism at an expected Obama administration announcement that it will significantly boost federal loan guarantees for new nuclear power plants

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Nuclear Power: A Resurgence We Can't Afford

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Union of Concerned Scientists - Aug. 01 (Opinion) - advocates are calling for a nationwide investment in at least 100 new nuclear reactors, backed by greatly expanded federal loan guarantees. However, the industry must resolve major economic, safety, security, and waste disposal challenges before new nuclear reactors could make a significant contribution to reducing carbon emissions.

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Failure to Yield: Evaluating the Performance of Genetically Engineered Crops (2009)

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Union of Concerned Scientists - Jul. 15 (Special Report) - For years the biotechnology industry has trumpeted that it will feed the world, promising that its genetically engineered crops will produce higher yields. That promise has proven to be empty, according to Failure to Yield, a report by UCS expert Doug Gurian-Sherman released in March 2009. Despite 20 years of research and 13 years of commercialization, genetic engineering has failed to significantly increase U.S. crop yields.

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Climate 2030: A National Blueprint for a Clean Energy Economy (2009)

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Union of Concerned Scientists - Jul. 01 (Statement) - Reducing oil dependence. Strengthening energy security. Creating jobs. Tackling global warming. Addressing air pollution. Improving our health. The United States has many reasons to make the transition to a clean energy economy. What we need is a comprehensive set of smart policies to jump-start this transition without delay and maximize the benefits to our environment and economy. Climate 2030: A National Blueprint for a Clean Energy Economy (“the Blueprint”) answers that need.

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Nuclear Loan Guarantees - Another Taxpayer Bailout Ahead?

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Union of Concerned Scientists - By David Schlissel, Michael Mullett, Robert Alvarez - Mar. 03 (Special Report) - Originally conceived as providing power that would be “too cheap to meter,” nuclear energy was seen as the future of the electric industry. Reality quickly overtook this utopian vision in what has been called “the largest managerial disaster in business history,” leading to two bailouts of the industry in the 1980s and 1990s.

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Science and Environmental Organizations Present Obama Transition Team With Prescription for First 100 Days and Beyond

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Common Dreams - By Kevin Knobloch - Nov. 25 (Statement) - he Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), the nation's leading science-based policy organization, joined with more than two dozen environmental groups to produce a 340-page prescription detailing the steps the new Obama administration should take to jumpstart the economy, protect the environment, and enhance national security.

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Weapons Plutonium Fuel Test Fails

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Union of Concerned Scientists - Aug. 04 (Press Release) - Citing the recent failure of an experimental plutonium fuel assembly test at a South Carolina nuclear plant, two watchdog groups today called on the Department of Energy (DOE) to suspend a risky, multibillion dollar program that would use 37 tons of surplus nuclear weapons plutonium for U.S. nuclear reactor fuel.

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US Attempt to Shoot Down Satellite Undermines Efforts to Ban Space Weapons, Reduces US Security

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Union of Concerned Scientists - Feb. 20 (Press Release) - "The potential political cost of shooting down this satellite is high," said Laura Grego, an astrophysicist with UCS's Global Security Program. "Whatever the motivation for it, demonstrating an anti-satellite weapon is counterproductive to U.S. long-term interests, given that the United States has the most to gain from an international space weapons ban. Instead, it should be taking the lead in negotiating a treaty."

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US Automakers Misleading the Public about Benefits of Stronger Fuel Economy Standards

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 23:17:32 -0700

Union of Concerned Scientists - By (no author named) - Aug. 16 (Press Release) - "U.S. automakers are continuing to mislead the public about the very real benefits of a strong federal fuel economy standard and the fact that they have the technology to meet it," said David Friedman, research director in UCS's Clean Vehicle Program. "The National Academy of Sciences says existing and emerging conventional technology can boost the fuel economy of all vehicles, from two-seaters to four-by-fours. Detroit can produce 34-mile-per-gallon SUVs, 37-mile-per-gallon minivans and 41-mile-per-gallon family cars. Our own research shows that the auto companies can do even better than that."

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New Nuclear Facility Undermines International Security

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 21:18:53 -0700

Union of Concerned Scientists - By Carrie Hibbard - Aug. 01 (Press Release) - The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) today condemned the Department of Energy for proceeding with construction of a $5 billion South Carolina plant designed to turn plutonium into mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel for U.S. nuclear reactors without honoring its commitment to make the plant available for inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

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Handful of Senators Block Clean Energy Vote

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 11:47:41 -0700

Union of Concerned Scientists - By Marchant Wentworth - Jun. 21 (Statement) - A handful of senators blocked a vote on a national renewable electricity standard last night, but the House of Representatives will consider a similar standard as early as next week. The standard killed last night would have required utilities to produce 15 percent of their electricity from clean, renewable sources such as wind, solar and biomass by 2022. Because the Senate has invoked cloture on the Energy Bill, lawmakers cannot introduce an amendment to create a renewable electricity standard because it would not be germane to the base bill.

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Automaker Rankings 2007: The Environmental Performance of Car Companies

Sat, 21 Apr 2007 09:47:11 -0700

Union of Concerned Scientists - Apr. 21 (Special Report) - The product planning decisions of a handful of powerful companies have an immense influence on the environmental health of the United States and the world. Automaker Rankings 2007: The Environmental Performance of Car Companies analyzes the bottom-line environmental performance of eight companies, which together account for 96 percent of cars and trucks sold in the United States--the world's largest vehicle market. The analysis uses sales and emissions data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation for model year 2005. Overall scores are based on a 50/50 weighting of average per-mile emissions of smog-forming and global warming pollutants from each manufacturer's vehicles. The average across all eight automakers is defined as a score of 100 and lower scores indicate less pollution.

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Global Warming FAQ

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 08:37:12 -0700

Union of Concerned Scientists - Mar. 13 (Special Report) - Q. Is there anything we can do about global warming? A: Yes! The most important action we can take to slow global warming is to reduce emissions of heat-trapping gases. Governments, individuals, and businesses can all help. (...) Individuals can reduce the need for fossil fuels and often save money by: * driving less and driving more fuel-efficient and less-polluting cars * using energy-efficient appliances * insulating homes * using less electricity in general

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Smoke, Mirrors, and Hot Air

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0800

Union of Concerned Scientists - Jan. 15 (Investigative Report) - In an effort to deceive the public about the reality of global warming, ExxonMobil has underwritten the most sophisticated and most successful disinformation campaign since the tobacco industry misled the public about the scientific evidence linking smoking to lung cancer and heart disease.

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Smoke, Mirrors, and Hot Air

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0800

Union of Concerned Scientists - By Seth Shulman - Jan. 01 (Special Report) - In an effort to deceive the public about the real- ity of global warming, ExxonMobil has under- written the most sophisticated and most successful disinformation campaign since the tobacco indus- try misled the public about the scientific evidence linking smoking to lung cancer and heart disease. As this report documents, the two disinformation campaigns are strikingly similar. ExxonMobil has drawn upon the tactics and even some of the organizations and actors involved in the callous disinformation campaign the tobacco industry waged for 40 years. Like the tobacco industry, ExxonMobil has: • Manufactured uncertainty by raising doubts about even the most indisputable scientific evidence. • Adopted a strategy of information laundering by using seemingly independent front organi- zations to publicly further its desired message and thereby confuse the public. • Promoted scientific spokespeople who mis- represent peer-reviewed scientific findings or cherry-pick facts in their attempts to persuade the media and the public that there is still serious debate among scientists that burning fossil fuels has contributed to global warming and that human-caused warming will have serious consequences. • Attempted to shift the focus away from mean- ingful action on global warming with mislead- ing charges about the need for “sound science.”

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A to Z Guide to Political Interference in Science

Thu, 28 Dec 2006 19:27:35 -0800

Union of Concerned Scientists - Dec. 28 (Advocacy) - In recent years, scientists who work for and advise the federal government have seen their work manipulated, suppressed, distorted, while agencies have systematically limited public and policy maker access to critical scientific information. To document this abuse, the Union of Concerned Scientists has created the A to Z Guide to Political Interference in Science.

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Tabling Science

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 19:44:45 -0800

Union of Concerned Scientists - By Jenna Fisher - Dec. 21 (News Report) - Imagine a world where the current administration actually takes the advice of its leading scholars and scientists. We might have an effective plan for tackling global warming. The drugs our sick take might be safer. The air we breathe might be cleaner. But those ideas seem almost unfathomable in the midst of the Bush administration's systematic manipulation of scientific analyses generated by agencies such as the National Academy of Sciences and the Food and Drug Administration.

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Systematic Interference with Science at Interior Department Exposed

Sun, 10 Dec 2006 23:09:41 -0800

Union of Concerned Scientists - Dec. 10 (Special Report) - Recently obtained documents demonstrate that Deputy Assistant Secretary Julie MacDonald and other high-ranking political appointees within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) at the Department of the Interior have systematically distorted, manipulated, and misused the scientific process prescribed by the Endangered Species Act. In several notable cases, this interference resulted in changing a "positive" finding--in favor of protecting species under the Endangered Species Act--to a "negative" finding. In making these changes, MacDonald, whose training is in engineering, overrode the recommendations of the agency's own biologists. These examples of the manipulation and distortion of scientific information at the Interior Department are the tip of the iceberg. A Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) survey of scientists at the FWS, released in February 2005, demonstrated pervasive political interference in science at the agency. Unfortunately, the significant editing of scientific documents described below shows that the misuse of science at the FWS has continued.

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Climate Choices for the Northeast

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 04:03:24 -0700

Union of Concerned Scientists - Oct. 12 (Special Report) - The pulse of life and economic activity across the Northeast is marked by the region’s dramatic seasonal cycle, changeable weather, and extreme events such as floods and nor’easters. This familiar climate is already changing in noticeable ways. Temperatures have been rising, particularly in winter, and the number of extremely hot days in summer has been increasing. Snow cover is decreasing and spring is arriving earlier in the year. Recent changes in our climate in the Northeast are consistent with those expected due to increasing levels of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere. These gases are released by the burning of fossil fuels and other human activities. This study draws on recent advances in climate modeling to assess how global warming may further affect the Northeast’s climate. Using projections from three state-of-the-art global climate models, we compare the types and magnitude of climate changes that will result from higher emissions of heat-trapping gases versus lower emissions. The first scenario is a future where people— individuals, communities, businesses, states, and nations—allow emissions to continue growing rapidly, and the second is one in which society transitions onto a pathway of economic development with substantially lower emissions. Over the next few decades, similar changes in climate are expected under either emissions scenario. For example, temperatures across the region are likely to rise by 2.5 to 4 degrees Fahrenheit (°F) in winter and 1 to 3°F in summer, regardless of the emissions during that period. These changes have already been set in motion by our emissions over the past few decades, but it takes years or decades for the climate to respond in noticeable ways. By mid-century and later, however, most changes projected to occur depend strongly on the emissions choices we make in the near future and carry through the rest of the century. Specifically, under the higher-emissions scenario, in which the world remains on a pathway of highly fossil fuel-intensive economic growth (with heat-trapping emissions from automobiles, power plants, and industries continuing to increase through the end of the century), new projections for the Northeast show that: • By the end of this century, winters could warm by 8 to 12°F and summers by 6 to 14°F. • Historically, major cities in the Northeast experience 10 to 15 days per year when temperatures exceed 90oF. By mid-century, cities such as Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston could experience 30 to 60 days of temperatures over 90°F each summer. By late in the century, most cities in the region are likely to experience more than 60 days with temperatures over 90oF, including 14 to 28 days with temperatures over 100°F (compared with one or two days per year historically). • As winter temperatures rise, more precipitation will fall as rain and less as snow. By the end of the century, the length of the winter snow season could be cut in half.

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Global Warming 101 - Human Fingerprints

Sat, 30 Sep 2006 00:47:16 -0700

Union of Concerned Scientists - By Melanie Fitzpatrick - Sep. 30 (Special Report) - Earth's surface has undergone unprecedented warming over the last century, particularly over the last two decades. Astonishingly, every single year since 1992 is in the current list of the 20 warmest years on record. The natural patterns of climate have been altered. Like detectives, science sleuths seek the answer to "Whodunnit?" ï¿½ are humans part of the cause? To answer this question, patterns observed by meteorologists and oceanographers are compared with patterns developed using sophisticated models of Earth's atmosphere and ocean. By matching the observed and modeled patterns, scientists can now positively identify the "human fingerprints" associated with the changes. The fingerprints that humans have left on Earth's climate are turning up in a diverse range of records and can be seen in the ocean, in the atmosphere, and at the surface. In its 2001 report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated, "There is new and stronger evidence that most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities." [3] Carbon dioxide from fossil fuel burning and land clearing has been accumulating in the atmosphere, where it acts like a blanket keeping Earth warm and heating up the surface, ocean, and atmosphere. As a result, current levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are higher than at any time during the last 650,000 years.

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Political Interference in Science at the FDA

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 03:00:08 -0700

Union of Concerned Scientists - Sep. 27 (Poll) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), now in its hundredth year, is responsible for protecting and advancing public health through the regulation of drugs, food, medical devices, cosmetics, and the blood supply—including products that, according to the FDA, account for 25 cents of every American consumer dollar spent. In 2006, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) distributed a 38-question survey to 5,918 FDA scientists to examine the state of science at the FDA. The results paint a picture of a troubled agency: hundreds of scientists reported significant interference with the FDA’s scientific work, compromising the agency’s ability to fulfill its mission of protecting public health and safety.

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Ethanol: Frequently Asked Questions

Fri, 22 Sep 2006 22:13:17 -0700

Union of Concerned Scientists - Sep. 22 (Special Report) - Ethanol is a promising alternative fuel that, along with improvements in fuel economy and reductions in travel demand, has the potential to help solve many of the problems associated with gasoline use. Though the current form of ethanol made from corn offers limited environmental benefits and limited potential for large-scale displacement of petroleum, it will be a key to the transition to cellulosic ethanol in the future. Cellulosic ethanol is more energy-efficient than corn ethanol and uses more abundant and diverse feedstocks that, unlike corn, are not used for food production. Unfortunately, cellulosic ethanol is not yet ready for commercial deployment. In the near term, the largest potential for oil savings comes from improvements in the fuel economy of new vehicles, and greater fuel efficiency will help lower the costs of an ethanol future. For this reason, government should continue to support research into cellulosic ethanol and other alternative fuels, but not at the expense of concrete steps to implement proven, cost-effective, near-term solutions such as improving fuel economy over the next 10 years.

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A nuclear tightrope

Thu, 21 Sep 2006 05:13:02 -0700

Union of Concerned Scientists - Sep. 21 (Special Report) - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) seems to be following the script of the movie Groundhog Day, reliving the same bad event again and again. This event—an outage at a nuclear power plant that lasts more than a year—has happened 51 times at 41 different reactors around the United States and shows no signs of stopping. Each such occurrence results from a violation of federal regulations that require plant owners to find and fix safety problems in a timely, effective manner, coupled with the NRC's inability to detect those violations (allowing problems to multiply and worsen as a result). The accident at Three Mile Island might have been prevented had the NRC broken this cycle.

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Nuclear attack on Iran would be a deadly mistake

Fri, 28 Apr 2006 03:39:03 -0700

Union of Concerned Scientists - Apr. 28 (Special Report) - (Animation) Nuclear attack on Iran would be a deadly mistake The Bush administration has reportedly considered using a nuclear "bunker buster" against Iran's underground uranium enrichment facility at Natanz. Based on UCS analysis of the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (a similar but canceled weapon), thousands of innocent civilians could be killed—even though Natanz is more isolated than the target in our simulation. Watch the animation

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