A photo from the archives
Smithsonian Institution/Florence Haseltine
About

History

We’ve spent fifty proud years tackling the world’s most pressing issues.

Table of Contents

We’ve spent fifty proud years tackling the world’s most pressing issues.

The Union of Concerned Scientists was founded in 1969 by scientists and students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. That year, the Vietnam War was at its height and Cleveland’s heavily polluted Cuyahoga River had caught fire. Appalled at how the United States government was misusing science, the UCS founders, including Henry Kendall and Kurt Gottfried, drafted a statement calling for scientific research to be directed away from military technologies and toward solving pressing environmental and social problems.

We remain true to that founding vision. Throughout our history, UCS has followed the example set by the scientific community: we share information, seek the truth, and let our findings guide our conclusions.

It’s a powerful formula.

By mobilizing scientists and combining their voices with those of advocates, educators, business people, and other concerned citizens, UCS has built a reputation for fairness and accuracy and amassed an impressive history of accomplishments.

Founding documents

Major accomplishments

Smoke rising from the forest floor
Joanne Francis/Unsplash

UCS Research Points Finger at Big Oil for Western Wildfires

UCS peer-reviewed science shows that more than one-third of the total area scorched by forest fires in the western United States and southwestern Canada since 1986 can be directly attributed to emissions from specific fossil fuel companies.
Read report
A group of people hold signs showing support for frontline communities.
Sierra Club North Star Chapter

UCS and Partners Move Toward Environmental Justice in Minnesota

Working with a coalition, UCS helped press Minnesota to enact novel legislation that will allow state regulators to protect communities exposed to multiple pollutants, by limiting or denying environmental permits to polluting projects.
Read blog
A USDA scientist inspects grains.
USDA/Flickr

Decades of UCS Work Reflected in White House Guidance

The White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy issued a landmark framework for scientific integrity that will protect federal science from undue political interference—guidance that reflects decades of UCS research and advocacy.
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A truck drives through flooded water.
Wade Austin Ellis/Unsplash

UCS Successfully Advocates for US Loss and Damage Financing

At COP27 this year, countries agreed for the first time to finance a fund compensating vulnerable nations for climate-related loss and damage—a measure UCS advocated for via a joint letter from 143 organizations, and 10,000+ emails from UCS supporters.
Read the release
A wind turbine being assembled by a crew of workers.
NREL

UCS Research, Advocacy Inform Game-Changing US Climate Law

After decades of advocacy for a national plan to address climate change, UCS-backed legislation that invests billions to reduce global warming emissions is now law. This opportunity is a stepping stone to more progress for a climate-safe future for all.
Read the blog
An aerial view of cars driving over the Golden Gate bridge.
Denys Nevozhai/Unsplash

CA Vehicle Standards Go Further to Reduce Pollution, Fight Climate Change

California adopted a new set of standards requiring automakers to sell more zero-emissions vehicles (ZEV), including a target of 100% ZEV by 2035. UCS analysis and advocacy helped strengthen these pollution-reducing standards from less ambitious targets.
Read the blog
A power plant.
hector espinoza/Unsplash

Years of UCS Advocacy Pay Off with Historic MA Climate Bill

A robust climate bill is now law in Massachusetts, after a lengthy UCS campaign that showed its benefits for people and the economy. The law will help reduce emissions from power plants and vehicles, improving public health.
Read the statement
wind turbines and red barn in illinois
tlindenbaum/Flickr

Helped Pass Climate and Equitable Jobs Act in Illinois

The new law—which UCS tirelessly advocated for with the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition—sets a goal of 100% clean energy, while prioritizing environmental justice communities for pollution reductions.
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two lobbyists square off
Motortion Films/Shutterstock

Provided Expertise to Inform Landmark Court Ruling

A court in the Netherlands—which drew on UCS expertise—ordered Royal Dutch Shell to reduce its carbon emissions. This is the first time a company—much less a fossil fuel company—has been legally required to do so.
read blog
Uber and Lyft stickers in a car window
Elvert Barnes/Flickr

Ride-Hailing Will Go Electric in CA after UCS Advocacy

Responding to UCS analysis of ride-hailing's climate risks, California passed groundbreaking legislation that requires companies like Uber and Lyft to have 90% of miles traveled carbon-free by 2030. This will serve as a model for other states.
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