Union of Concerned Scientists
@ucs.org
The Union of Concerned Scientists puts rigorous, independent science to work to solve our planet's most pressing problems. ucs.org
This August, our partners from Scientist Network for Advancing Policy (SNAP) are organizing meetings with local congressional offices to advocate against proposed OMB grant rule changes that could reshape federally funded research. Join this effort here: bit.ly/4cmxxzl
🚌Members of Congress are currently crafting the Surface Transportation Reauthorization—STR for short—and this bill will impact the options we have for getting around, our future climate and air quality, and even our wallets.🧵👇
Unusually hot & dry conditions worldwide have fueled a deadly wildfire season, costing lives and destroying communities. “If these infernos don’t bring policymakers to their senses and force necessary changes to grapple with the fossil fueled climate crisis, what will?” writes UCS's Rachel Cleetus:
A World Ablaze: The Climate Future We Feared is Here - Union of Concerned Scientists
Unusually hot, dry conditions across many parts of the world—including in Algeria, Canada, France, Greece, Morocco, Spain, Tunisia, and the western United States—have set the stage for the catastrophic wildfire season underway now. Just over this weekend, rapidly spreading wildfires have exploded around Spokane, Washington, forcing nearly 65,000 people to evacuate thus far. Unrelenting hot dry weather, supercharged by climate change, is contributing to the dangerous conditions causing these fires.
blog.ucs.org
Today @ucs.org, along with colleagues @naomioreskes.bsky.social, @rbrulle.bsky.social, @geoffreysupran.bsky.social, @lewan.uk, filed an amicus brief with #SCOTUS in support of a climate deception lawsuit against #BigOil brought by the city and county of Boulder, CO.
Experts File Friend-of-the-Court Brief in Suncor v Boulder Documenting Companies’ Climate Deception
Experts File Friend-of-the-Court Brief in Supreme Court Case Documenting Suncor Energy and ExxonMobil Decades of Climate Deception
ucs.org
Join us, with @350-wisconsin.bsky.social, on Wednesday, August 5, for Your Power, Your Voice: a community conversation about energy affordability and public input in the decision-making process that shapes our future! RSVP here: tinyurl.com/pscengage
@ucs.org senior scientist Dr. Carly Phillips said fights over who will pay for climate damages could have been avoided if the fossil fuel industry had been honest in decades past with the public and politicians about the dangers of burning fossil fuels.
Republicans Are Trying to Give Big Oil Immunity for Causing Climate Chaos
A new report further links fossil fuel emissions to extreme weather events. States are trying to make polluters pay.
truthout.org
Why is the EPA attacking clean air standards that predate the iPhone and have already been fully implemented? UCS’s David Reichmuth explores that question and explains why strong standards are key to slowing climate change. Read his blog: act.ucs.org/3TT1twB
With energy prices climbing, it’s no shock that folks across the country are amped up for solar. Plug-in solar—AKA balcony solar—holds great promise for making solar available for people who can’t necessarily do rooftop solar, including renters and condo owners.
Plug-In Solar Panels Are Starting to Sprout in U.S. Backyards (Gift Article)
Ten U.S. states have legalized systems that can be plugged into standard wall outlets. The technology typically does not require permits or electricians.
nytimes.com
🚜🎮 The people of Townsville need your help! Put your gaming skills to work and explore cropland transition projects in a fictional California Central Valley community. Check out the new game created in collaboration with @hmc.edu and learn more from UCS’s Erin Wooley:
Common Ground Video Game Lets Players Manage Cropland Transition in California’s Central Valley - Union of Concerned Scientists
Welcome to Townsville, a community located in California’s Central Valley. You have been tasked with working with a few of your fellow residents to implement cropland transition projects around Townsville. There are opportunities to protect the town’s drinking water, develop renewable energy, restore the environment, and encourage your neighbors to adopt more sustainable farming practices to benefit Townsville. Along the way, you must collaborate with your fellow residents to decide which projects to pursue and negotiate with the neighboring landowners to implement a vision for the future of Townsville while facing additional hurdles from extreme weather brought on by Climate Change. You also have to consider the side effects of the current land uses that often seem invisible but have real and ongoing consequences for your community.
blog.ucs.org
UCS is a proud member of the Energize Coalition, which just launched its new website, showcasing the coalition’s critical work to unleash EV charging across the US, so that American drivers and businesses have easy access to reliable, affordable charging. Check out the site!
Energize Coalition
The Energize Coalition works with policymakers and utilities to make EV charging infrastructure more shovel-ready. widespread. affordable. reliable. scalable. shovel-ready. accessible. connected.
energizecoalition.org
"I love this chart, because it shows what offshore wind can do for the price of electricity." Those are the words of former UCS energy analyst Susan Muller, who studies the impacts of offshore wind on electricity costs. Check out episode 2 of Chart Talk!
How Offshore Wind Lowers Prices (Dispatch Curve Explained) | Chart Talk #2
"I love this chart, because it shows what offshore wind can do for the price of electricity." Those are the words of former UCS energy analyst Susan Muller, ...
youtube.com
I'm honored to be the inaugural guest on the new alpha podcast by Dr. Catharine Young, focused on telling the stories of the women whose ideas are changing how we understand ourselves, our planet, and what comes next. We had a lovely wide-ranging chat: www.alphapodcast.studio/gretchen-gol...
Join us, with @350-wisconsin.bsky.social, on Tuesday, August 4, for Your Power, Your Voice: a community conversation about energy affordability and public input in the decision-making process that shapes our future! RSVP here: tinyurl.com/pscengage
Trump's "Make America Healthy Again" administration is weakening the review of toxic chemicals by undermining the federal advisory committee that provides independent, unbiased, and up-to-date scientific expertise to inform EPA decisions that keep us safe. 🧵 ⬇️
UCS President @gretchentg.bsky.social was honored to be the first guest on the Alpha Podcast with Dr. Catharine Young. They discussed what happens when science comes under attack and facts become inconvenient to those in power. 🎧Listen here: alphapodcast.studio/gretchen-goldman
New Oxfam analysis finds that emissions from 5 major fossil fuel corporations were enough to cause 1 in 4 heatwaves between 2000 and 2023. Heatwaves that would have been virtually impossible without climate change. It’s time to #MakeRichPollutersPay More: bit.ly/BigOilQ2prof...
Meta “got everything it wanted” in its data center deal with Louisiana utility company Entergy. It’s an alarming outcome and a warning for communities across the country. We’ve been involved in the case for over a year—here’s what else you should know 🧵⬇️
nytimes.com
nytimes.com
By rethinking how land is used, multibenefit cropland repurposing creates solutions that protect natural resources and support communities, delivering lasting environmental benefits.
Common Ground: The Indie Strategy Game Tackling Real-World Land & Water Challenges
YouTube video by Union of Concerned Scientists
youtube.com
Check out the article from @us.theguardian.com to learn how to protect yourself and your children from harmful emissions: act.ucs.org/4fiJo3p
In her new blog, UCS President @gretchentg.bsky.social breaks down the impact of the Trump administration's attacks on the federal science advisory system and explains how the scientific community is fighting back.
Update: Attacks on Independent Science and How We’re Fighting Back - Union of Concerned Scientists
Since President Trump took office last year, nearly 95,000 science employees and over 10,000 PhD scientists have been laid off or left their jobs.
blog.ucs.org
"As extreme heat becomes more common, the challenge is not only whether households have access to cooling—but critically, whether they can afford to use it," writes UCS's Sital Sathia.
Extreme Heat, Extreme Costs: How Danger Season Exacerbates the Affordability Crisis - Union of Concerned Scientists
In recent weeks, millions of people across the United States have faced the harsh extremes of Danger Season. A prolonged heat wave pushed ‘feels-like’ temperatures well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit in parts of the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast, while roughly half of the country was under heat alerts or warnings. Grid operators took emergency steps to maintain reliability as electricity demand surged and severe holiday-weekend storms left hundreds of thousands of households without power.
blog.ucs.org
In this @theguardian.com feature, Dr. Laura Grego, Senior Research Director of the Global Security Program at UCS, dives deep into the competing powers fighting for control of outer space. Read the profile: act.ucs.org/3RB9MfI
"To counter the Trump administration’s erosion of independent science and build the nation’s capacity to use science for the public good, scientists from several committees that were disbanded have independently convened to offer policy recommendations on important issues."— @gretchentg.bsky.social
E&E News: Dismissed EPA science advisers reconvene under nonprofits
The Trump administration fired and replaced the agency's panel of clean air experts, while the children's health committee has been inactive since all of its members' terms expired in February.
subscriber.politicopro.com
Today marks 1 year since the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued its landmark advisory opinion affirming that governments have legal obligations to address climate change under international law, including regulating private actors - like fossil fuel companies - within their jurisdictions.
International Court of Justice Ruling Clarifies Global Climate Obligations, Opens Door to Accountability
International Court of Justice Ruling Clarifies Global Climate Obligations, Opens Door to Accountability
ucs.org
A devastating but lesser known part of federal science attacks is on the federal science advisory system. In a new post, I discuss the state of play on federal advisory committees and how the scientific community is pushing back through independent science efforts. blog.ucs.org/gretchen-gol...
Ready to talk with your members of Congress while they’re home during August Recess? Join us for an Action Hour on July 28 to learn about how to engage at public town halls: Info + RSVP: act.ucs.org/44NTC5R
We sit down with John Rogers to talk renewable energy growth. Find this and future episodes on our YouTube channel:
When Renewables Passed 25% | Chart Talk #1
Renewable energy has grown from a minor player to a major contributor to the US power grid. It has taken more than 2 decades of advocacy and hard work, but s...
youtu.be
Our national forests are a treasure. The Trump admin's gutting of the US Forest Service & threats to sell off national forests to states or even corporations puts these ecosystems at risk & can contribute to elevating wildfire dangers. It's an attack on science-based stewardship of public lands.
Smokey’s Last Stand: What We Lose When President Trump Guts the Forest Service - Union of Concerned Scientists
Smokey Bear isn’t just a symbol. He’s a reminder that protecting against wildfires relies on all of us, including supporting wildfire science, which is being taken from us. And President Trump’s plan to diminish our knowledge about wildfires—especially going into a super El Niño year with significant drought risk—isn’t smart.
blog.ucs.org
Yesterday, the Trump administration released a report titled ‘Science: A New Golden Age.’ “The potential outcome is a loss of knowledge and expertise and the destruction of opportunities for that expertise to benefit the public good,” said UCS’s Jennifer Jones. Read her statement:
New Trump Administration Report Sets the Stage for Further Political Interference in Science
Trump Administration’s New Science Plan Threatens Independent Research and Scientific Integrity
ucs.org
7 years ago, The Platform for a Just Climate was launched to ensure communities harmed by climate change and pollution can participate in developing, winning, and implementing policies that put communities first. 🎂Happy Anniversary! ✊ Join the movement:
Platform for a Just Climate —
Across the country, communities on the frontlines of climate change and toxic pollution are leading the way toward a cleaner and healthier future for all.
ajustclimate.org