UCS Spotlight: Global Warming
Michigan Girl Scouts Fight Deforestation, Win United Nations Award
Madison Vorva and Rhiannon Tomtishen, two 16-year-old Girl Scouts, have won the first ever United Nations International Forest Heroes Award for North America. The girls were nominated by UCS for their Girl Scout Bronze Award project, which focused on bringing attention to endangered orangutans. The girls soon discovered that forests in the ape’s primary habitat were being cleared at alarming rates to plant palm oil plantations, and that palm oil is used in thousands of products—including Girl Scout cookies. “We shouldn’t have to choose between enjoying Girl Scout cookies and saving orangutans." said Tomtishen. "We hope the Girl Scouts of the USA and other food companies will make a commitment to making deforestation-free cookies.”
Read the press release | Read about it on our blog | Take Action
Michigan Girl Scouts Fight Deforestation, Win United Nations Award
Madison Vorva and Rhiannon Tomtishen, two 16-year-old Girl Scouts, have won the first ever United Nations International Forest Heroes Award for North America. The girls were nominated by UCS for their Girl Scout Bronze Award project, which focused on bringing attention to endangered orangutans. The girls soon discovered that forests in the ape’s primary habitat were being cleared at alarming rates to plant palm oil plantations, and that palm oil is used in thousands of products—including Girl Scout cookies. “We shouldn’t have to choose between enjoying Girl Scout cookies and saving orangutans." said Tomtishen. "We hope the Girl Scouts of the USA and other food companies will make a commitment to making deforestation-free cookies.”
Read the press release | Read about it on our blog | Take Action
From Our Blog
Two 16-year-old Girl Scouts Win First Ever UN Forest Heroes Award, Brenda Ekwurzel
Clean Energy Prices (Not the Sky) Falling in California, Laura Wisland
News
02/09/12Girl Scouts Fighting for Deforestation-Free Cookies Win United Nations Award
02/07/12Union of Concerned Scientists Gives Monsanto an âFâ in Sustainable Agriculture
02/01/12UCS Physicist to Testify Today Before House Subcommittee on Nuclear Waste Blue Ribbon Commission Report
Features
- U.S. Power Plants Strain Water Resources
Power plants are stressing freshwater resources around the country, according to a new report by the Energy and Water in a Warming World Initiative (EW3). The report, “Freshwater Use by U.S. Power Plants: Electricity’s Thirst for a Precious Resource," is the first systematic assessment of how power-plant cooling affects freshwater resources across the United States and of the quality of the data available on power plant water usage. - The UCS Model E: An Electric Car Revolution
Just as Ford’s Model T revolutionized the automobile industry 100 years ago, UCS engineers have created a new line of electric car designs: The Model E. These electric-drive vehicles could be the start of a revolution that helps to dramatically cut smog-forming pollution, reduce U.S. global warming pollution 80 percent or more, and effectively end our oil addiction by 2050. - Climate Change and Your Health: Rising Temperatures, Worsening Ozone Pollution
Millions of Americans suffer from the harmful effects of ground-level ozone pollution, which exacerbates lung diseases such as asthma and can cause breathing difficulties even in healthy individuals. This finds that unchecked global warming could increase ground-level ozone, threatening public health and the economy.
Analysis
- 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 States should take to protect its own assets and to move the world toward a more secure and sustainable future in space.
- Voices of Federal Food Safety Scientists and Inspectors: Survey of FDA and USDA Scientists (2010)
Unsafe food can lead to illness and death, and disproportionately harms the most vulnerable members of society. While Americans are fortunate to enjoy a food supply among the safest in the world, there is significant room for improvement.
- Climate 2030: A National Blueprint for a Clean Energy Economy
Reducing oil dependence. Strengthening energy security. Creating jobs. Tackling global warming. Addressing air pollution. Improving our health. The United States has many reasons to make the transition to a clean energy economy.We need a comprehensive set of smart policies to jump-start this transition. Climate 2030: A National Blueprint for a Clean Energy Economy (“the Blueprint”) answers that need.
Policy Center
- The UCS Policy Center
The UCS Policy Center contains updates and background information on specific federal, regional, and local policy proposals, as well as fact sheets, testimony, letters, and UCS positions, including the two links below: - Attack on the Clean Air Act
The Clean Air Act, originally passed in 1973 and amended in 1990, was designed to protect our public health and environment and has successfully done so for nearly 40 years. This hallmark legislation is currently under attack in Congress.
- Protecting Scientist Whistleblowers
When a federal employee steps forward to protect the public from harm, that worker is often harassed, demoted or fired. Over the years, court decisions have eroded whistleblower protection laws, rendering them largely ineffective. Furthermore, the ability of employees to report waste, fraud, and abuse depends greatly on Executive Branch leadership.
Consumer Info
- The UCS Hybrid Scorecard
The UCS Hybrid Scorecard is the first comprehensive listing of hybrid vehicles available on the US market. Vehicles are scored on both environmental performance and value, easing the burden on the planet and your pocketbook.
- Cool It! Global Warming Card Game
Cool It! is the new card game from UCS that teaches kids about the choices we have when it comes to climate change—and how policy and technology decisions made today will matter.
- Eggs and Meat from Community Agriculture
While confined animal feeding operations in the US deliver meat and eggs and tremendous environmental cost, community supported agriculture (CSA) can deliver these foods affordably, efficiently, and sustainably.
