Today, the Virginia Supreme Court rejected Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s Civil Investigative Demands (CID) -- essentially subpoenas -- that would have required the University of Virginia (UVA) to turn over emails and other private correspondence among former university cl...
Scientists Who Had Emails Stolen Ask Heartland Institute to End Attack on Climate Science UCS President Kevin Knobloch Calls Heartland Institute's Strategy 'Disturbing' WASHINGTON (Feb. 17, 2012) – Seven leading climate researchers who themselves were the victims of an email theft whi...
How Corporations Corrupt Science at the Public's Expense Report looks at methods of corporate abuse, suggests steps toward reform Download: Heads They Win, Tails We Lose: Full Report | Heads They Win, Tails We Lose: Executive Summary Federal decision makers need access to the best ava...
But we don’t have $120 million to spend on lobbying and PR efforts like Monsanto does to help us get attention to this critical issue—and that’s where YOU come in! We need your help to set the record straight on Monsanto and its products’ shortcomings, and give sustainable agriculture...
But we don’t have $120 million to spend on lobbying and PR efforts like Monsanto does to help us get attention to this critical issue—and that’s where YOU come in! We need your help to set the record straight on Monsanto and its products’ shortcomings, and give sustainable agriculture...
A corn plant shows stem borer damage. (Photo: CIMMYT/Flickr) Push-Pull: An Ingenious (and GE-free) Solution to a Devastating Pest Problem Stem borers are a major insect pest across much of Africa. These moth larvae can substantially reduce corn yields. In the 1990s, scientists in Keny...
Monsanto's focus on GE crops is marginalizing public breeding programs, like this North Carolina research station that tests soybean breeding lines for drought tolerance. (USDA photo) Dominating the Marketplace Despite the continuing achievements of publicly-funded breeding programs, ...
A study about the effect of Bt corn in caddisfly diet brought a response that "went through the jugular," according to one of its authors. The GE Research "Battlefield"—and the Need to Keep It Open Research about biotechnology arouses passions on both sides of the issue. A September 2...
Like many other corporations and organizations, Monsanto engages in a variety of activities to influence policy makers and opinion leaders. From lobbying members of Congress and other federal officials and contributing to their election campaigns, to advertising aimed at reaching thos...
A farm using crop rotation, which can greatly reduce the need for fertilizers and insecticides. (USDA photo) What's the Alternative? If Monsanto-style monocultural farming isn't sustainable, what is? Research has shown that biologically diverse farms can be productive and profitable. ...
A Pre-Emptive Strike from Organic Farmers Monsanto has often taken farmers to court for growing its patented GE crop varieties in alleged violation of (or in the absence of) an agreement with the company. While it's reasonable for the company to expect to be paid for its products, the...
A monarch butterfly on a milkweed flower. Increased glyphosate use has been tied to loss of milkweed plants—and possibly to reduced monarch numbers. A Butterfly Effect? It is not only older, more volatile herbicides that can cause sustainability problems—widespread use of glyphosate c...
The western corn rootworm, a GE success story under threat. Deja Vu All Over Again? Bt Resistance in the Western Corn Rootworm In August 2011, a scientist at Iowa State University published a peer-reviewed paper showing that at some locations in Iowa, rootworms (a major corn pest) had...
Union of Concerned Scientists Gives Monsanto an ‘F’ in Sustainable Agriculture Science Group’s New Web Feature Documents Eight Ways Monsanto is Taking Agriculture in the Wrong Direction WASHINGTON (February 7, 2012) – The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) today published a new web f...
Why are we singling out Monsanto? It's true that Monsanto isn't the only company promoting products and practices that impede the progress of sustainable agriculture. But none of Monsanto's competitors come close to matching its impact on U.S. agriculture—or, thanks to its huge invest...
UCS "Curious for Life" Ad Campaign Showcases Scientists as Public Servants For centuries science has made our world a better place. But recently, organized interests are attempting to turn science, especially climate science, into a political football. The Union of Concerned Scientist...
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) today released a new scientific integrity policy that accomplishes as much as it can to ensure the agency’s actions are fully informed by the best available science, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). The gr...
Over thirty professors from the University of Virginia Law School send a letter (pdf) to the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia "affirming the importance of academic freedom" and urging them to contest the Civil Investigative Demand (CID) "to the fullest extent possible...
Proposed Cuts to White House Science Office Could Be Crippling WASHINGTON (November 17, 2011) – Congress is expected to take up a spending bill later this week that would gut the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and undermine its ability to ensure the integri...
Home About Us Policy Center Donate Take Action Join Subscribe November 2011: Wake up and smell the coffee. Cartoon of the Month: ©2011 David Fitzsimmons. All Rights Reserved. © Union of Concerned Scientists Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Site Map | RSS | Jobs Union of Concerned Scienti...
We'll compile all of your mug shots into a video that we'll deliver to the Obama administration demonstrating that global warming is already affecting our everyday lives and people are demanding action. And we'll post it on the UCS website so you can deliver it to the Obama administra...
Urge President Obama to Make Nuclear Power Safer Submit a postcard below and UCS will deliver it directly to President Obama. The lives and livelihoods of countless Japanese citizens have been devastated by the nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. And what ha...
2011 Scientific Integrity Editorial Cartoon Contest Results The sixth annual Scientific Integrity Cartoon Contest has ended, and the winner is John Klossner of South Berwick, Maine ! John's cartoon, shown below, will grace the front cover and June page of the 2012 Scientific Integrity...
Will the White House Let Politics Trump Science Again? In his American Jobs Act speech on Thursday, September 8, President Obama said: “But what we can't do—what I won't do—is let this economic crisis be used as an excuse to wipe out the basic protections that Americans have counted o...
Local and Regional Food Systems 101 Let's make local food thrive! Would you like to help local and regional food systems succeed? Here are two things you can do: Urge Congress to support farmers markets and other food programs that benefit local farmers, consumers, and economies in th...
President Obama Undercuts Science with Smog Standard Delay Statement by Francesca Grifo, Scientific Integrity Program Director WASHINGTON (September 2, 2011) — President Obama today asked the Environmental Protection Agency to ignore its obligation under the Clean Air Act to update gr...
The Clean Air Act, originally passed in 1973 and amended in 1990, is a United States federal law designed to protect human health and the environment from the effects of air pollution. Under the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to regulate emission ...
• Promote federal policies that help farmers produce a wide array of healthful food for Americans’ dinner tables, and farm in environmentally-friendly ways • Highlight the economic viability and practical benefits of growing an array of crops using modern, sophisticated practices that...
Securing The Skies The United States has a vital interest in ensuring the sustainability of the space environment, keeping satellites safe and secure, and enhancing stability not only in space but also on the ground. This report recommends 10 practical near-term steps that the United ...
Twelve talented artists have created editorial cartoons that poke fun at the not-so-humorous issue of political interference in science. This year, they focused on how special interests can manipulate, distort, and suppress the science used to make policy and undermine the public’s un...
