Most recent 40 articles: Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy
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Congressman Tonko talks Scientific Integrity at AGU - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Dec 20, 2021) |
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Dec 20, 2021 · This week, at the American Geophysical Union meeting in New Orleans (and virtually), my colleague Jacob Carter, research director for the Center for Science and Democracy at UCS led a session entitled, “How Is Science Doing in Washington? The State of U.S. Science Policy One Year Into the Biden Administration and Where We Go From Here”. The session was very fortunate to have Congressman Paul Tonko (D. – NY) as one of the panelists. I thought many who could not attend the meeting would be interested in what Rep. Tonko had to say. Below, with his permission, are his remarks, slightly edited for length: “Thank you to the Union of Concerned Scientists and the American ... Read more ... |
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Scientists Engaging the Public: 6 Steps to Make Participatory Science Policy More Effective - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Nov 29, 2021) |
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Nov 29, 2021 · Several years ago I led a team of scientists working with residents in several polluted towns in an industrial region in France to collect health and related environmental data. The participatory science project collected self-reported data by surveying door-to-door using a random sampling of addresses. The project lead led to extensive policy impacts driven by the local residents. These included stopping a local incinerator expansion and ending “excess pollution” permits given to industry. Eventually the local residents’ actions led to a much larger national impact–an unprecedented lawsuit filed by the residents against the polluting industries. While participatory science (i.e. ... Read more ... |
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Achieving Multi-Racial, Multi-Party Democracy: An Alternative Model for Reform - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Nov 18, 2021) |
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Nov 18, 2021 · On September 27, the American Political Science Association, the Electoral Integrity Project, and the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Center for Science and Democracy brought together a unique group of scholars, organizers, activists, and analysts. Their task was to consider challenges facing American democracy, work through the implications of potential reform coalitions, and propose new democracy-reform activities. The three sessions from the day-long course are now available to view. We welcome feedback, additional conversations, and further analysis - all of which will be taken seriously in our approach, which emphasizes listening to, rather than lecturing to, those ... Read more ... |
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The Clock is Running Out to Protect Voting Rights - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Nov 01, 2021) |
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Nov 01, 2021 · President Biden and the Democratic leadership have spent months focusing their energy on getting infrastructure legislation passed. The time has come to pivot to focus the nation’s attention on our constitutional infrastructure and protecting our right to vote. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is currently setting the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act for a floor vote, in a final attempt to garner bipartisan support for a suite of voting rights infrastructure bills that have included the For the People Act and most recently, the Freedom to Vote Act. The act, named after the late congressmember and civil rights activist John Lewis, would update and restore ... Read more ... |
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The Clock is Running Out on Voting Rights - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Nov 01, 2021) |
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Nov 01, 2021 · President Biden and the Democratic leadership have spent months focusing their energy on getting infrastructure legislation passed. The time has come to pivot the nation’s focus onto our constitutional infrastructure and protection of the right to vote. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is setting the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (JLVRAA) for a floor vote, in a final attempt to garner bipartisan support for a suite of voting rights infrastructure bills that have included the For the People Act and most recently, the Freedom to Vote Act. The JLVRAA would update and restore protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA), arguably the most significant civil ... Read more ... |
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EPA Plans to Take Bold Action on PFAS. Will it Be Enough? - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Oct 19, 2021) |
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Oct 19, 2021 · Yesterday, EPA Administrator Michael Regan announced a “strategic roadmap” for regulating PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), a class of chemicals with known health impacts. The roadmap is an important set of commitments by the current administration that shows how it will implement actionable and enforceable measures to regulate PFAS. Especially encouraging are the administration’s commitment to: These all represent a good start, and Administrator Regan has rightly called it a “bold strategy that starts with immediate action.” The open question, however, is whether the EPA’s roadmap is strong enough to safeguard the health of communities across the nation from current ... Read more ... |
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Top US Chemical Weapons Company Selling Lethal Smoke as Non-Hazardous - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Oct 14, 2021) |
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Oct 14, 2021 · Safariland - a chemical weapons company that boasts annual sales of over $850 million - has removed vital safety information from its hexachloroethane (HC) smoke grenades, each of which is capable of killing 10 people. The company is now selling HC grenades labeled with a health rating of 0, meaning “no risk to human health” - a dangerous falsehood about a deadly chemical. Clearly, we cannot take Safariland’s word for it. In light of the US Congressional inquiry into health impacts of chemical weapons, lawmakers have an obligation to the public to seek independent scientific expertise on the dangers of these weapons. Hexachloroethane-based (HC; C2Cl6) munitions smoke was ... Read more ... |
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Critical Protections Restored for NEPA, the Nation’s Bedrock Environmental Law - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Oct 08, 2021) |
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Oct 08, 2021 · Some good news. Score one for climate justice! Earlier this week, the Biden administration restored some critical protections to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), our nation’s bedrock environmental law - provisions that had been eliminated by the previous administration. (For a refresher on NEPA and the previous assault on this critical environmental safeguard, see here.) And just in time, as Congress deliberates and hopefully approves a once-in-a-generation investment in our nation’s infrastructure and passes a budget reconciliation bill that modernizes our electrical grid, invests in clean electricity and clean transportation, and helps ensure that we build for ... Read more ... |
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IN: Arctic Experts and Scientists - OUT: Unqualified Political Operatives - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Oct 07, 2021) |
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Oct 07, 2021 · If there is one part of the world where science must inform policy during rapid climate change, it is the Arctic region. Warming three times faster than the rest of the planet, the Arctic is transforming from a region of ice and snow into a greener, wetter, warmer environment that is testing the resilience of communities, ecosystems, and economies while impacting the rest of the world with sea level rise and atmospheric uncertainty. The region’s vulnerability, however, did not stop the previous administration from purging Arctic experts, denying the climate crisis, and debasing the role of research in the region. The damage to Arctic research, resilience, and the American ... Read more ... |
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As Extreme Heat Challenges Our Outdoor Workers, White House Announcement Will Save Lives - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Sep 23, 2021) |
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Sep 23, 2021 · Asunción Valdivia did not need to die from exposure to extreme heat at work in 2004. Neither did Sebastián Francisco Pérez, Cruz Urías Beltrán, or countless other outdoor workers who tragically perished after being exposed to extreme heat. In addition to our essential outdoor workers, millions of elderly and young people, those who are healthy as well as those with pre-existing conditions, all are at risk from extreme heat as climate change continues unabated. The hundreds of heat-attributable deaths across many parts of the U.S. this summer (mostly in Oregon and Washington) were a tragic reminder of the toll that extreme heat and climate change are taking on our lives - and ... Read more ... |
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How to Apply for a Federal Job: A Toolkit for Scientists - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Sep 21, 2021) |
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Sep 21, 2021 · Today we released a toolkit to help early- and mid-career scientists navigate the application process for federal jobs. The Biden administration has signaled an increase in job opportunities across the federal government, many of which we hope fill the thousands of scientific positions lost during the past four years. We also hope that the administration sticks to its commitment to create a workforce more closely resembling the US as many from underrepresented communities have historically been left out of federal science positions. I must admit that I am personally happy to see this toolkit available. As a graduate student, a career in the federal government was not discussed ... Read more ... |
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Houston We Have a Problem: An Environmental Justice Analysis of Harmful Air Pollution from Industrial Fires - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Sep 20, 2021) |
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Sep 20, 2021 · It is heart wrenching to learn just how much exposure to industrial toxic chemicals and pollution that low-income communities, communities of color, and Indigenous communities experience on a daily basis. Even more criminal is how fenceline communities are regularly forced to endure the added risk of emergency situations from the fallout of violent explosions, fires, and other disasters from industrial facilities. A devastating industrial fire The industrial fire we examined occurred on March 17, 2019 at the International Terminals Company (ITC) chemical plant in Deer Park, Texas, just outside Houston, and mostly affected communities with high percentages (53 percent) of ... Read more ... |
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Science Carries Weight in Decision-Making. Be Heard. - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Sep 02, 2021) |
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Sep 02, 2021 · The link between science and policy has never been clearer. Science continues to help shape the government’s response to COVID-19, its current and future decisions regarding the climate crisis, and standards for education, nutrition, and wages. When the government needs to know how to tackle our toughest challenges, it should reliably look to science. More still, when it comes to the federal rulemaking process used to regulate countless aspects of our society, the perspective of scientists is invaluable! Now, as a science advocate or scientist yourself, you may be wondering how to weigh in on that process. In 1946, Congress enacted the Administrative Procedures Act, which ... Read more ... |
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3 Tips for Getting Started in Science Advocacy as an Early Career Scientist - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Aug 26, 2021) |
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Aug 26, 2021 · September is Early Career Scientist Month, a time to celebrate the contributions that students, post-docs, and early career scientists and researchers make not only to the STEM community, but to our broader society as well. I have heard from many early career scientists that they do not always have the support, training, or resources to engage in science advocacy, even when they recognize that it is important for scientists to embrace their role as advocates. That’s part of the reason that here at UCS, we go all out for Early Career Scientist month, to help build a sense of community and support for everyone who identifies as an early career scientist, especially those who want to ... Read more ... |
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Political Jeopardy! Disinformation Campaigns for $400 - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Aug 23, 2021) |
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Aug 23, 2021 · Misinformation and disinformation are everywhere, it seems. The former is information that is inaccurate or flat-out wrong on established facts, such as claims that vaccines or face masks don’t work as preventative measures against respiratory viruses like COVID-19. The latter, disinformation, is an intentional programmatic campaign to confuse or obscure the facts for political or financial advantage. For example, it is well established that the tobacco industry carried out a campaign of disinformation for years to keep selling products they knew to be deadly, to stave off public health and safety protections. Similarly, while fossil fuel companies knew for decades that their ... Read more ... |
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Loved to Death? The Risks of Simplistic Campaigning for Wildlife Conservation - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Aug 05, 2021) |
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Aug 05, 2021 · Blood soaked the grass. Sunlight glinted off lethally sharp spears. Violence and danger hung heavy in the air, making fear crawl up my throat. I was on village land beside a National Park, facing the hostility of a group of young warriors butchering a cow that had been terribly injured by lions. As the director of a local carnivore conservation project, I was trying to persuade the men not to kill lions in retaliation. Their fury–both towards lions and towards me as a conservationist–was completely understandable. Lions, as hugely valued as they are internationally, posed an existential threat locally. Attacks on livestock regularly destroyed people’s livelihoods, and on occasions, ... Read more ... |
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EPA Breathes New Life Into Science Advisory Committees At Pivotal Time - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Aug 03, 2021) |
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Aug 03, 2021 · Yesterday, EPA announced a new roster of 47 Science Advisory Board (SAB) members which includes qualified experts, including a third who identify as people of color, with a rich assortment of backgrounds. The majority of members (roughly three-quarters) are university researchers, with three affiliated with consulting firms, five from government agencies or Tribes, and four from nonprofit organizations. After four years of watching the norms of science advisory structures eroded and undermined, especially at the EPA, it is especially encouraging to see this roster that will serve as the scientific and technical compass that EPA needs. This committee has a very important role ... Read more ... |
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Protecting Our Families’ Health, Protecting Our Future: The LUCIR study - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Jul 26, 2021) |
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Jul 26, 2021 · What is really in our cleaning products? Who is most affected? What habits can we change to reduce our exposures to harmful chemicals? These questions and more are answered by the LUCIR study, conducted by youth in Salinas, CA, a predominantly Latinx farmworker community, in collaboration with researchers from UC Berkeley and La Clinica de Salud del Valle de Salinas. James Earl Schier Nolan: Can you tell me about why you wanted to engage in this project? What motivated you the most? Andrea Alonzo: Ever since I can remember, our families have taught us how to care for ourselves. One of the most important lessons is cleanliness. We clean when we wake up, before we sleep, ... Read more ... |
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Strong Scientific Integrity Policies Can Protect the Nation’s Most Disenfranchised Communities - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Jul 26, 2021) |
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Jul 26, 2021 · Science is at the heart of all our public health and environmental laws in the United States. Therefore, if we are serious about supporting the rights of underserved communities to live, work, and play in an environment free of pollution and other hazards, we must also advocate for strong scientific integrity policies at federal agencies. President Biden appears to be keen on this approach. The president issued an executive order calling on a “whole-of-government” approach to advance racial equity and justice for communities, and his memorandum on restoring trust in government through scientific integrity repeatedly mentions the need to have an “equitable delivery of policies, ... Read more ... |
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The White House Wants Your Advice on Improving Scientific Integrity - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Jul 16, 2021) |
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Jul 16, 2021 · On January 27, the newly inaugurated president, Joe Biden, signed a historic memorandum outlining a bold vision for the future of science in government. Among other things, the memo created a task force within the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to review scientific integrity policies - in other words, the rules that keep federal science independent, accessible to the public, and safe from political interference. These rules are vital, especially for agencies that rely on science to protect public health and the environment, like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Now, the task force ... Read more ... |
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The Little Chemical Agency That Could…and Should Do More to Prevent Chemical Disasters - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Jul 15, 2021) |
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Jul 15, 2021 · We think it can. We think it can. We think it can. That’s why UCS joined Earthjustice, United Steelworkers, National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (COSH) and 19 additional organizations last week to send a letter advocating for reforms to the Chemical Safety and Hazards Investigation Board (CSB) that would ensure the agency is doing everything in its power to prevent chemical disasters and protect the lives of workers and communities living near hazardous facilities. Many people are aware that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have a statutory responsibility to protect the health of workers and ... Read more ... |
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Stop the Burn, Save Lives: The case for a community-led zero waste model in Baltimore - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Jul 15, 2021) |
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Jul 15, 2021 · The Baltimore region ranks among the worst in the U.S. for air pollution. Baltimore has two active trash incinerators and decades of pollution from both active and decommissioned industrial factories. A study by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in 2017 found air quality in the region was ranked moderate or worse one of every three days, according to the EPA’s Air Quality Index. The same study notes poor air quality triggers asthma and can cause other health issues. Little wonder then that children in Baltimore City have asthma at twice the rate of the rest of the country, and the hospitalization rate for pediatric asthma is one of the highest in the nation, as a 2017 report by the ... Read more ... |
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How a Powerful and Secretive White House Office Can Become a Force for Equity and Justice - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Jul 13, 2021) |
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Jul 13, 2021 · In accordance with President Biden’s executive order on racial equity, The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently opened a public comment period requesting information on how it can help advance equity and support underserved communities in government decisionmaking. We at UCS jumped at the opportunity and submitted our public comment last week. OMB has historically had an outsized role in influencing (or hindering) the enactment of public health and environmental protections. It is a small office in the White House that, among other things, plays a powerful role in every major rulemaking process at agencies and therefore plays a powerful role in determining whether ... Read more ... |
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COVID-19 and Eco-Pandemic Injustice - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Jul 12, 2021) |
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Jul 12, 2021 · Across the United States, COVID-19 has made multiple social and economic crises more visible than ever before: the dire precarity of most workers, the chronic underfunding of public health infrastructure, the inhumane conditions of incarceration and detention systems, and the unequal impacts of environmental racism. Prior to COVID-19, these problems were widely discussed by scholars and activists but often overlooked by corporate media outlets and the broader public. In our recent commentary published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, we described the ways in which already-existing environmental injustices are typically exacerbated under conditions of extreme global ... Read more ... |
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How One Science Nerd Became Involved in Movement Building - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Jul 06, 2021) |
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Jul 06, 2021 · What does it mean to help build a movement? For more than seven years, I’ve been working at the Union of Concerned Scientists to help build and engage not just the Science Network, but the broader science advocacy movement. Scientists have power, privilege, and skills that can build community capacity and push for equitable, science-based solutions, but they need training and opportunity to transform their interest into action. In my role, I help provide resources and connect scientists with opportunities to advocate and organize. But I also want to shift the narrative around how scientists see advocacy - as a responsibility to use their power, privilege, and skills for the ... Read more ... |
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From Bach to Bull****: How Facebook Mismanages Disinformation (and What to Do About It) - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Jun 28, 2021) |
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Jun 28, 2021 · I’m an amateur classical pianist, and sometimes I share a video of my playing with my Facebook friends. Usually I post something, a couple of people listen and are nice about it, life goes on. But in April, I posted a J.S. Bach fugue, and within 15 minutes I was advised that the Universal Music Group owned the copyright… on music performed by me and written by a guy who’s been dead for 270 years. Facebook “partially muted” my version, which was obviously recorded in my living room, and I had to contest it to get that limitation removed. Nearly two weeks later, UMG implicitly acknowledged that there is no copyright on music written that long ago and that my playing was mine, ... Read more ... |
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Using Science for Equitable Policies: A framework for climate scientists - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Jun 23, 2021) |
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Jun 23, 2021 · Climate science is having its moment. With the recent administration changes, climate change is getting attention at the national level through much-needed bold and ambitious federal policy developments. “We must listen to science - and act,” the Biden administration wrote in an Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, signed by President Biden within a month of his inauguration. More recently, the $2 trillion infrastructure plan proposes billions of dollars dedicated towards building climate resilience and environmental justice in impacted communities. Before I go any further, I want to pause and reflect what equity means to me. As a first-generation ... Read more ... |
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Keystone Cancellation Is a Hard-Won Victory for a Social Movement That Must Keep Pushing for More - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Jun 21, 2021) |
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Jun 21, 2021 · When TC Energy announced that it was cancelling its planned Keystone XL pipeline on June 9, management didn’t congratulate or even credit the tens of thousands of activists who’d battled against it for more than a decade. Instead, the death blow to the near 1200 mile pipeline came when Joe Biden, on the first day of his presidency, proclaimed that the United States would rejoin the Paris Climate Accords and - in an Executive Order - revoked the Keystone construction permit. But focusing a close-up on President Biden’s signature misses most of the story leading up to it, and obscures the impact of a series of campaigns that ultimately made the Executive Order happen and killed the ... Read more ... |
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Science Activism After Trump - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Jun 15, 2021) |
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Jun 15, 2021 · Roughly three years ago, Scott Frickel and I wrote about science activism during the Age of Trump. The piece focused on the ways that Americans – many of whom were scientists themselves – were turning out in support of science. We concluded our piece by noting “the power of getting scientists out of their labs. Keeping them engaged in politics can only heighten their influence on issues from climate change to space exploration and beyond.” Since Joe Biden took office in January, the new Administration has substantially changed how the US government is engaging with science. Instead of rejecting scientific consensus around wearing masks, getting vaccinated, or addressing the ... Read more ... |
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Public Comment: EPA Must Consider Climate Change When Reforming Chemical Disaster Rule - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Jun 15, 2021) |
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Jun 15, 2021 · The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has scheduled a series of two Virtual Public Listening Sessions - June 16th and July 8th - for the public to provide input on the EPAs Risk Management Plan (RMP) rule also known as the ‘Chemical Disaster Rule’. Along with members from various other environmental nonprofits, union labor organizations, and community organizations, UCS will be providing comments tomorrow, June 16th, on how the new rule can be improved. Here’s what I plan to say during the public comment on Wednesday: Good Afternoon My name is Casey Kalman and I am a Geospatial Researcher at the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of ... Read more ... |
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New Legislation Addresses Legacies of Pollution in Environmental Justice Communities - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Jun 11, 2021) |
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Jun 11, 2021 · The Environmental Justice Legacy Pollution Cleanup Act of 2021 was introduced today by Senator Cory Booker and Congressman Donald McEachin. The legislation will help address pollution that has been haunting environmental justice communities for decades. If passed, the bill would invest $200 billion to clean up legacy pollution across the country. The Environmental Justice Legacy Pollution Cleanup Act of 2021 is a step in the right direction, particularly during a time when environmental justice communities are not only dealing with legacies of pollution but also inequities surrounding the novel coronavirus and climate change. Environmental justice communities (Black, ... Read more ... |
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In Armourdale, Kansas, CleanAirNow Envisions a More Equitable and Just Future - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Jun 08, 2021) |
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Jun 08, 2021 · Para leer esta entrevista en español, pinchar aquí. Community general plans are opportunities to envision changes that would address longstanding issues and bring healthier, safer environments for people and their families to live in. In the environmental justice community of Armourdale, Kansas, Beto Lugo-Martínez and his organization CleanAirNow (CAN) are working to ensure that the voices of the people who live and work in the community have a say in what that picture looks like, using data and information they have helped collect and that they understand. This is critical because Kansas City is facing cumulative impacts from multiple environmental health and safety ... Read more ... |
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The Myth of Diversity and Inclusion in Science - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (Jun 01, 2021) |
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Jun 01, 2021 · “Diversity and inclusion” has become a slogan for corporations and institutions to hide the exploitation of their workers by putting Black and brown faces into high leadership positions. As a Black worker in science, this weaponization of “diversity and inclusion” without a substantial systemic change about the global systems of oppression is problematic. What does this have to do with scientific research? The US scientific research enterprise is completely intertwined with US global hegemony. The materials that universities purchase, the missions of national laboratories, the grants that scientists write and who funds us (and how), and the equipment that institutions use is ... Read more ... |
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Climate Denialism Has No Place at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (May 27, 2021) |
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May 27, 2021 · Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has invited Professor Steven Koonin to give a seminar on May 27, 2021. Professor Koonin’s seminar will cover material contained in a book he published on May 4. His book is entitled “Unsettled”. Its basic thesis is that climate science is not trustworthy. Professor Koonin is not a climate scientist. I am. I have worked at LLNL since 1992. My primary job is to evaluate computer models of the climate system. I also seek to improve understanding of human and natural influences on climate. In collaboration with scientific colleagues around the world, our research group at LLNL has identified human “fingerprints” in temperature ... Read more ... |
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There’s No Compromising on Science When it Comes to Protecting Water Quality in the Nation’s Rivers and Streams - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (May 27, 2021) |
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May 27, 2021 · With its “Waters of the United States” rule, President Obama’s administration enacted unprecedented protections of rivers and streams. The Trump administration, ignoring science and the importance of wetlands, tried to return many of those waterways back to polluters by rolling back the Waters of the US rule. Now Michael Regan, President Biden’s EPA administrator, says he wants to forge a compromise. “We don’t have any intention of going back to the original Obama 'Waters of the U.S.’ [rule] verbatim and we don’t necessarily agree with everything that was in the Trump administration’s version as well,” Regan told a House Appropriations Committee last month. “We’ve ... Read more ... |
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For Effective Science Advocacy, Focus on Shared Values, and Speak Up Often - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (May 25, 2021) |
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May 25, 2021 · Let’s face it, it’s not possible to replace everyone in Congress with scientists and doctors (though, thinking about it, wouldn’t that be such a different world?). Nor need we - the depth of experience from our policymakers is what helps get stuff done in all facets of policy. The best way to hold the government accountable to its mission to protect the public good is for scientists to guide lawmakers to understand the importance of science research. As someone who’s worked in Congress, I can tell you that legislative advocacy is surprisingly simple and even fun. It can take very little time. It’s also super effective! Not convinced? In 2020, Congress broke a 20-year drought ... Read more ... |
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Photo: Alena Brozova/Shutterstock - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (May 25, 2021) |
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May 25, 2021 · With its “Waters of the United States” rule, President Obama’s administration enacted unprecedented protections of rivers and streams. The Trump administration, ignoring science and the importance of wetlands, tried to return many of those waterways back to polluters by rolling back the Waters of the US rule. Now Michael Regan, President Biden’s EPA administrator, says he wants to forge a compromise. “We don’t have any intention of going back to the original Obama 'Waters of the U.S.’ [rule] verbatim and we don’t necessarily agree with everything that was in the Trump administration’s version as well,” Regan told a House Appropriations Committee last month. “We’ve ... Read more ... |
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Roundup: Signs of Hope for Scientific Integrity and Public Health - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (May 25, 2021) |
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May 25, 2021 · This post is part of a series of quarterly roundups on scientific integrity. The first quarter of 2021 began with a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and ended with both the Biden administration and Congress having taken important steps to safeguard scientific integrity and speed COVID-19 vaccinations. Executive orders and presidential memoranda directed agencies to create scientific integrity infrastructure and regulate based on evidence, while House committees considered the Scientific Integrity Act and held hearings on the federal workforce. Agencies moved quickly to undo Trump administration actions that sidelined science, while advocates used Sunshine Week to ... Read more ... |
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Indigenous and Western Scientists and Knowledge Holders Partnering for the Public Good - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (May 20, 2021) |
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May 20, 2021 · We are two conservationists: a First Nations Yukoner and Canadian, and a first generation immigrant-settler with dual Poland-U.S. nationality. Our paths crossed through mutual interest in Indigenous-led stewardship, Two-Eyed Seeing, and holistic approaches like One Health. We are proponents of two-eyed seeing which means, “To see from one eye with the strengths of Indigenous ways of knowing, and to see from the other eye with the strengths of Western ways of knowing, and to use both of these eyes together”. With two-eyed seeing, it becomes easier to see, for example that the health of people, wildlife and our shared environments is so intertwined as to be one (“One ... Read more ... |
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A National Academy of Sciences Conversation on Rebuilding Federal Science Workforce - Union of Concerned Scientists - Science and Democracy  (May 04, 2021) |
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May 04, 2021 · Last month, I had the honor of participating in the National Academy of Sciences’ 158th Annual Meeting in a session led by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), entitled “Rebuilding the Federal Science Workforce.” The session focused on key priority of the Union of Concerned Scientists’ advocacy to the Biden White House: Building federal science capacity. Many federal scientific staff left since 2016, and the Biden White House now must carry out the critical public health and safety missions of federal science agencies with a deficit of scientific staff in some areas. This federal brain drain must be addressed, and there are many strategies that can ... Read more ... |
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