Union of Concerned Scientists

The history of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), more than that of any other U.S. environmental organization, reflects the continuing American conflict about the place of science and the roles of scientists in shaping policy in response to environmental concerns. Today, UCS works to protect the integrity of science by trying to free it from what it considers political interference while [Page 924]also working to apply it to the solution of environmental problems. The organization develops and disseminates science-based information designed to achieve this goal.

Until the 1960s, science had been seen in the United States by its usefulness to society primarily in terms of industry and industrial-scale agriculture. As late as the mid-20th century, economic justifications, backed by science wherever plausible, were essential to ...