SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Over 25,000 Scientists, Science Supporters and 28 Organizations that Support Scientific Integrity Implore Members of Congress to Defend Science, Facts and Transparency
Scientists are urging members of Congress to use their legislative power to defend science, fact-based policymaking and bedrock science-based policies that protect the public health and well-being of all people.
Today, in the face of the incoming president's agenda, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) sent a petition signed by 25,219 scientists, experts and science supporters to every member of Congress asking them to stand up against attempts to politicize, eliminate or diminish scientific roles, agencies and federal research.
At the same time, a coalition of 28 organizations that support scientific integrity sent an open letter to 99 U.S. Senators, some who will play a significant role in the confirmation of federal agency nominees. The letter asked them to ensure nominees are only confirmed if they have the necessary qualifications to succeed in their roles, do not have conflicts of interest, accept established science related to their agency’s mission and value the role of rigorous science, free from political interference, in government decision making.
Federal scientists assess the safety of medicines, help communities more effectively recover from natural disasters, ensure our air is clean and our water drinkable, and so much more.
In the first Trump administration, UCS documented more than 200 attacks on science by the administration with serious consequences, including using faulty science to justify restrictions on birth control, dangerous pollutants associated with lung damage, birth defects and death, and shutting down studies examining how common chemicals impact children.
Looking ahead to the next four years, President-elect Trump has vowed to fire scientists, throw out science-based policies, dismantle scientific agencies and, slash policies that protect scientific research from censorship and suppression.
“Rolling back science-based policies and silencing scientists has the potential to turn back the clock on the immense progress science has made over past decades, jeopardizing public health, economic stability, national security, and the future livability of the climate,” said Dr. Jennifer Jones, director of UCS’ Center for Science and Democracy.
That’s why 99 organizations and 25,219 scientists and science supporters came together to ask Congress to defend against Trump’s anti-science actions.
“Protecting science means protecting people—full stop,” said Jones. “The broad consensus among scientists demonstrates the urgency we all feel to protect independent science in government decision making.”
In addition, UCS and the 99 organizations urge policymakers and the public to stand with scientists in their demand that the Trump administration respect facts and create policies that tackle climate change, invest in research and protect all communities.
The Union of Concerned Scientists is the leading science-based nonprofit working for a healthy environment and a safer world. UCS combines independent scientific research and citizen action to develop innovative, practical solutions and to secure responsible changes in government policy, corporate practices, and consumer choices.
LATEST NEWS
In 60 Minutes Interview, Ex-State Dept. Officials Spotlight US Complicity in Gaza Assault
"There is a linkage between every single bomb that is dropped in Gaza and the U.S.," said one former official.
Jan 13, 2025
In a Sunday interview with 60 Minutes, former State Department officials spoke with journalist Cecilia Vega and offered a window into how the United States has greased the wheels of carnage in Gaza.
Hala Rharrit, an American diplomat who spent 18 years working on human rights and counterterrorism in the Middle East and elsewhere, left her post last spring—becoming the first State Department diplomat to publicly resign over the Biden administration's policies backing Israel's siege on Gaza, according to Democracy Now!.
Rharrit would send daily reports to senior leadership in Washington containing "gruesome images and her warnings," according to 60 Minutes. "I would show the complicity that was indisputable. Fragments of U.S. bombs next to massacres of... mostly children," Rharrit recounted.
Here's what else Rharrit had to say:
Cecilia Vega: When you tried to speak out, vocalize what you saw.... like you were told to shut up?
Hala Rharrit: Yes. I would show images of children that were starved to death. In one incident, I was basically berated, "Don't put that image in there. We don't wanna see it. We don't wanna see that the children are starving to death."
Cecilia Vega: Who told you that?
Hala Rharrit: A colleague.
The United States has offered largely unchecked support for Israel since Hamas fighters attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, prompting Israel to launch attacks on the Gaza Strip. The U.S. has provided Israel with at least $17.9 billion in military aid to its ally in the Middle East, and in early January the State Department informed Congress of a planned $8 billion arms sale. Local health officials in Gaza say the death toll in the enclave stands at over 46,000. However, a recently published peer-reviewed analysis estimates that Israel's assault on Gaza had actually killed 64,260 people between October 7, 2023 and June 30, 2024—a figure significantly higher than the one reported by the enclave's health ministry.
Meanwhile, multiple human rights organizations have said that Israel's conduct in Gaza constitutes genocide or acts of genocide.
60 Minutes tallies that 13 officials in the White House, Army, and State Department have publicly resigned in protest.
"There is a linkage between every single bomb that is dropped in Gaza and the U.S. because every single bomb that is dropped is dropped from an American-made plane," Josh Paul, a former director in the State Department's Bureau of Political - Military Affairs who resigned shortly after October 7, told 60 Minutes.
"After October 7th, there was no space for debate or discussion. I was part of email chains where there were very clear directions saying, 'Here are the latest requests from Israel. These need to be approved by 3:00 pm,'" said Paul, who was involved in signing off on U.S. security assistance to other countries.
Andrew Miller, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for Israeli-Palestinian affairs, resigned last June to spend more time with his family, but has since gone public with concerns about U.S.'s role in the war—the highest ranking official to do so thus far, according to 60 Minutes.
In reference to 2,000-pound bombs that the U.S. has supplied to Israel, Miller said that "the Israelis were using those bombs in some instances to target one or two individuals in densely packed areas. And in enough instances, we saw that was in question, how Israel was using it. And those weapons were suspended."
The U.S. suspended a shipment of 2,000 pound bombs to Israel in spring 2024, though in general weapons have continued to flow.
Reacting to Miller’s comments that Israel bombed densely packed areas, one observer wrote Sunday: “60 Minutes is finally exposing the supply chain of genocide.”
Keep ReadingShow Less
Scientific Community Issues Fresh Warning to Congress as 'Radical' Trump Returns
Over 50,000 scientists and supporters called on Congress to "defend against Trump's anti-science actions."
Jan 13, 2025
With a president-elect who has called the climate crisis a "hoax" and vowed to gut fossil fuel drilling regulations poised to take office in one week, more than 50,000 scientists and advocates on Monday implored U.S. lawmakers to consider the incoming administration's "respect for science" as they vote on Cabinet nominees and provide oversight of the Trump White House over the next four years.
Organized by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), a petition signed by 50,588 scientists and experts was sent to every member of Congress, asking them to "defend the science and scientists that keep Americans safe" after President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20.
The Republican leader's agenda, and the policies outlined in the right-wing policymaking plan Project 2025, threaten to "eviscerate the protections that Americans count on and support," reads the petition.
During his first administration, Trump rolled back the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) ability to develop regulations under the Clean Air Act and repealed the Clean Water Rule, and he and his nominee for secretary of health and human services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have signaled they would purge the ranks of the Food and Drug Administration. Researchers at the EPA are also bracing for a "swift and unprecedented" upheaval, with Trump expected to repeal vehicle and methane emissions regulations.
During his presidential campaign, Trump asked oil executives for $1 billion in donations, promising to repay them by gutting President Joe Biden's climate regulations.
"Rolling back science-based policies and silencing scientists has the potential to turn back the clock on the immense progress science has made over past decades, jeopardizing public health, economic stability, national security, and the future livability of the climate."
"The reason behind the Trump administration's radical proposals to sideline science and scientists is crystal clear: Science stands in the way of polluters and special interests unleashing unprecedented amounts of pollution that would put short-term profits over people, no matter the cost to current and future generations of Americans," reads the petition sent to Congress.
The petition calls on lawmakers to:
- Oppose anti-science nominees to any federal agency who do not agree on the record to follow and/or implement a scientific integrity policy in their agency;
- Oppose the elimination of federal agencies or their staff directly or indirectly including through draconian budget cuts, reclassifying staff, or abruptly moving agency headquarters, all of which are a transparent and explicit effort to decimate scientific expertise and decision-making; and
- Defend the safeguards that protect the health and safety of people across the United States, especially those overburdened by pollution, including the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.
The petition was bolstered by an open letter sent to 99 U.S. senators, including those sitting on committees that will play a significant role in approving or blocking Trump's Cabinet nominees.
The letter, also sent Monday and signed by a coalition of 28 organizations, calls on senators to "ensure nominees are only confirmed if they have the necessary qualifications to succeed in their roles, do not have conflicts of interest, accept established science related to their agency's mission, and value the role of rigorous science, free from political interference, in government decision-making."
Trump's nominees including former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, an oil drilling proponent, for interior secretary; fracking firm CEO Chris Wright for energy secretary; and former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), who repeatedly voted against Clean Air Act standards, as EPA administrator.
"Agency leaders must respond effectively to a variety of threats, from cyberattacks to hurricanes and pandemics," reads the letter, signed by the Endangered Species Coalition, Greenpeace USA, and the National Resources Defense Council. "To do so, they must value science and consider evidence that can help them make well-informed decisions. Our organizations urge you to consider nominees' respect for science in confirmation hearings and votes."
The groups called on senators to only confirm nominees who are free of conflicts of interest and who have relevant qualifications, such as "academic degrees and respect for the mission of the agency or program they are nominated to lead."
Agency leaders, they said, should also demonstrate respect for scientific integrity: "the adherence to professional practices, ethical behavior, and the principles of honesty and objectivity when conducting, managing, using the results of, and communicating about science and scientific activities."
The idea of allowing scientists to work without fear of political interference "has long had bipartisan support," noted the groups, which quoted Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) as saying at a hearing on the Scientific Integrity Act in 2019, "Scientific findings are often relied upon by policymakers to make important decisions that affect the lives of millions of Americans... To maintain the public's trust, there must be a high degree of integrity and transparency in the scientific process."
Agency leaders who interfere with scientific research or who allow their conflicts of interest to interfere with regulating the oil and gas industry, Big Pharma, and public health agencies "would be disastrous for our nation," said the groups, as they would be likely to ignore or misrepresent "scientific evidence in order to make it appear that an appointee's preferred course of action is the clear solution."
"This could take the form of cherry-picking evidence based on ideology or actively advancing misinformation, with potentially deadly results," wrote the groups. "For instance, if a vaccine were developed in response to a new pandemic, as it was during the triumphant Operation Warp Speed of the first Trump administration, an agency leader might hamper vaccine uptake by emphasizing the very small proportion of vaccine recipients who suffered a side effect serious enough to require medical attention without comparing it to the far larger number of severe illnesses averted."
At upcoming confirmation hearings, the groups urged senators to ask nominees whether they commit to: upholding scientific integrity, "ensuring that the findings of scientific research conducted by your agency will be communicated accurately," and using "the best available scientific evidence to inform decisions and evidence-based policies."
"Rolling back science-based policies and silencing scientists has the potential to turn back the clock on the immense progress science has made over past decades, jeopardizing public health, economic stability, national security, and the future livability of the climate," said Dr. Jennifer Jones, director of the Center for Science and Democracy at UCS.
"Protecting science means protecting people—full stop," said Jones. "The broad consensus among scientists demonstrates the urgency we all feel to protect independent science in government decision-making."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Trump Allies Launch $20 Million Effort to Convince Working Class to Back Tax Scam 2.0
"Don't be fooled: What this Koch-backed group is really only after is protecting tax cuts for wealthy people like me," said the chair of the Patriotic Millionaires.
Jan 13, 2025
A right-wing advocacy group founded by the billionaire Koch brothers announced Monday the launch of a $20 million campaign to promote an extension of the 2017 Trump-GOP tax cuts, which disproportionately benefited the rich and large corporations.
But in a 60-second ad that debuted over the weekend, Americans for Prosperity (AFP) characterizes the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as a boon to "hardworking Americans" and small businesses—and warns that allowing provisions of the law to expire at the end of this year as scheduled would be disastrous for the working class.
"This year, Congress is facing a countdown to a crisis that threatens family budgets nationwide," Ross Connolly, AFP's regional state director, said in a statement Monday. "We are proud to partner with the incoming Trump administration to protect prosperity and ensure that Congress acts."
AFP is a 501(c)(4) organization that describes itself as a "grassroots" movement despite being launched by Charles Koch and his late brother, David—two of the most notorious right-wing billionaire in U.S. politics.
The group said its new 50-state campaign represents "the largest effort by a conservative organization" to support President-elect Donald Trump's legislative agenda as he prepares to take office next week. The campaign, according to AFP, will include "over 1,000 meetings" at congressional offices, "in-district events" with activists and lawmakers, and "roundtables with job creators."
The campaign aims to "reach millions of voters on the phone and at their doorsteps," AFP said.
"The Trump tax giveaways passed in 2017 did not help working-class Americans. In fact, the top 1% of corporations received almost all of the benefits."
AFP's description of the impacts of the 2017 tax law flies in the face of resounding evidence showing that wealthy Americans—not ordinary workers—were the chief beneficiaries and are poised to reap most of the rewards once again if Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress extend the measure's soon-to-expire provisions.
"Americans for Prosperity is spending $20 million on a new ad campaign that champions the 2017 Trump tax law as a win for working families," Morris Pearl, chair of the Patriotic Millionaires, told Common Dreams. "But don't be fooled: What this Koch-backed group is really only after is protecting tax cuts for wealthy people like me."
"I'm in favor of tax relief for working people, but not yet another huge and unnecessary windfall for America's rich," Pearl added. "If Congress wants to help working families, they should make tax rates on labor income the same as tax rates on profits made by investors."
AFP is one of a number of right-wing, corporate-tied organizations pushing for an extension of the Trump tax cuts, which Republicans are planning to fund by slashing Medicaid, federal nutrition assistance, and other key programs.
The progressive watchdog group Accountable.US noted in a recent analysis that one of the groups pushing for an extension of the 2017 law is Advancing American Freedom, an organization "run by corporate consultants, lobbyists, lawyers, and executives, including former Trump administration officials who were directly responsible for the TCJA."
Accountable also observes that Club for Growth, a group funded by wealthy conservatives, "has pushed a deeper corporate tax cut plan as an 'opening salvo' in the current tax debate."
"The billionaire funders of the group's action arm have benefited enormously from the TCJA, saving hundreds of millions of dollars from a single obscure tax break for pass-through entities," the watchdog added.
In response to AFP's new nationwide campaign, Accountable.US executive director Tony Carrk told Common Dreams that "a glitzy ad campaign from a far-right organization won't change the fact that the Trump administration and Republican-controlled Congress are paying for giveaways to billionaires, wealthy tax cheats, and price-gouging corporations by cutting critical services for working families, like Medicaid and SNAP."
"The Trump tax giveaways passed in 2017 did not help working-class Americans," said Carrk. "In fact, the top 1% of corporations received almost all of the benefits."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular