2002 to present
Highlights from Summer 2012
Features
How Clean Are Electric Vehicles?
How much an electric vehicle saves in terms of global warming emissions and fuel costs depends on where you live. Groundbreaking UCS research helps you make better vehicle choices..
Heads They Win, Tails We Lose
Corporations are undermining science to boost their bottom lines--with sometimes deadly results. UCS shows how they do it and what can and must be done about it.
Science and Democracy in Action
Our new initiative to restore science to its rightful place in the democratic process is off and running, with a high-profile launch and plans for a busy year ahead.
Departments
- Letters
- Perspective: Our Plan for Less Pain at the Pump
- Newsroom
- Interview: A Scientist’s Generous—and Timely—Legacy
- On the Road: Headed Back Down Those Country Roads
- Member Profile: Committed to UCS for Life
PDF Download: Summer 2012 Catalyst
Highlights from Fall 2011
Features
Climate Change May Be Hazardous to Your Health
Global warming is likely making ozone pollution worse. UCS shows why the millions of Americans who have difficulty breathing need stronger air quality standards more than ever.
The Root of the Problem
UCS has found that many common assumptions about tropical deforestation are wrong. To save forests and combat global warming, policy makers must set their sights on the proper targets.
Departments
- Letters
- Perspective: Going the Extra Mile (per Gallon)
- Newsroom
- Interview: He Can't Quit Fighting for Nuclear Safety
- On the Road: A Bright Future for the Heartland
- Member Profile: Living the Green Life
Highlights from Summer 2011
Features
Can It Happen Here?
Perhaps the better question is, can we let it happen? The disaster in Japan has heightened the problems our nuclear industry has in common with Japan's. UCS is bringing a new sense of urgency to our recommendations for making U.S. nuclear power safer.
The Signs Are Everywhere
Global warming is already affecting locales all over the world. A new UCS website illustrates the need to combat climate change by putting Earth's threatened places and ecosystems on the map.
Departments
- Letters
- Perspective: Science Should Be A Bipartisan Issue
- Newsroom
- How It Works: Concentrating Solar Power
- Member Profile: Acolytes of Mother Nature
Highlights from Spring 2011
Features
A Risky Proposition
The United States is placing new bets on an old—and dirty—technology: coal power plants. A new UCS report shows that this is not only a high-stakes gamble for the planet but for ratepayers as well.
Building a Better Burger
New UCS analysis concludes that changing the way we raise cattle won't stop global warming, but it can help—while reducing pollution and improving public health.
Viva Los Bosques: Forests Win in Cancun
UCS research helped persuade the international community that protecting tropical forests is not only necessary for addressing climate change, but can also preserve indigenous peoples' livelihoods.
Departments
- Letters
- Perspective: Science Is Back on the Agenda
- Newsroom
- On the Road: Promising Signs on the Showroom Floor
- Activist Diary: Big Victory against Big Oil
- Member Profile: Change Begins at Home(room)
Highlights from Fall 2010
Features
The Energy-Water Collision
The way we make and use energy threatens our freshwater supplies. A new UCS initiative throws a spotlight on this overlooked crisis.
The Evolution of a Revolution
Electric-drive vehicles have the potential to give us a zero-emissions transportation future. UCS outlines the steps needed to make this dream a reality.
Departments
- Letters
- Perspective: Alternate Routes to Climate Solutions
- Newsroom
- How It Works: Offshore Wind Power
- Member Profile: Investors in a Clean-Energy Future
Highlights from Summer 2010
Features
The Weight of the Evidence
As climate contrarians intensify their attacks on the certainty of global warming, UCS launches a campaign to focus public attention on the science—and get America working on solutions.
Burning Coal, Burning Cash
The cost of importing coal for power plants is a drain on the economies of many states. UCS shows how these expenditures can be redirected into cleaner energy solutions that create local jobs.
A Historic Month for Arms Control
With a push from UCS, the United States is finally taking serious steps to reduce the risks proposed by nuclear weapons and weapon-usable material.
Departments
- Letters
- Perspective: Alternate Routes to Climate Solutions
- Newsroom
- Interview: No Problem is Too Big for This Scholar
- Activist Diary: Finding Our Next Scientific Leaders
- Member Profile: A (Green) Power Couple
Highlights from Spring 2010
Features
Securing the Skies
Satellites are highly vulnerable to damage from accident or attack. UCS recommends changes in U.S. policy that will protect these valuable assets and avoid an arms race in outer space.
Climate for Success
UCS shows how California's climate policies can reduce global warming pollution—with little financial impact on the state's many small businesses.
Dealing a Blow to Global Warming
Cool It!, a new card game from UCS, aims to teach kids that climate change is a problem we can solve—provided we choose the best policies and technologies.
Departments
- Letters
- Perspective: Getting the Climate Story Straight
- Newsroom
- How It Works: Cover Crops
- Member Profile: Parents Who Think Big
Highlights from Fall 2009
Features
In the Footsteps of Thoreau
People around the United States are seeing the effects of global warming in their own backyards. Our new anthology of climate-related essays and photographs underscores the need to address this crisis quickly.
Nuclear Economics 101: The Industry Gets a Failing Grade
UCS has shown that nuclear power—aside from its many safety and security risks—is simply too expensive. There are other ways to curb global warming and meet our energy needs.
Departments
- Letters
- Perspective: New Hope on Nuclear Weapons
- Newsroom
- Interview: Our New Scientist-in-Chief
- Activist Diary: Cultivating Grassroots under the Midnight Sun
- Member Profile: Plotting a Safer Climate
Highlights from Summer 2009
Features
A Blueprint for a Clean Energy Economy
Our Climate 2030 Blueprint, which shows how the right mix of policies and technologies can curb global warming while strengthening the U.S. economy, has helped shape climate legislation currently being debated in Congress.
Failure to Yield
Genetically engineered crops were supposed to help meet the world's growing food needs. New UCS research shows that these crops have yet to deliver on that promise.
Departments
- Letters
- Perspective: Scientific Integrity Revitalized
- Newsroom
- How it Works: Combined Heat and Power
- Member Profile: With Us from the Start
Highlights from Spring 2009
Features
Getting There Greener
Can changing the way you travel on vacation significantly reduce your contribution to global warming? According to groundbreaking new analysis by UCS, the answer is decidedly yes.
Celebrating Science for the Common Good
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Union of Concerned Scientists' founding. Our chairman (who has been with us since the beginning) reflects on our history and achievements.
Departments
- Letters
- Perspective: A Fresh Start on Our Issues
- Newsroom
- Activist Diary: A Vocal Presence during the Transition
- On the Road: Strength in Numbers
- Member Profile: The Water Quality Expert
Highlights from Fall 2008
Volume 7, Number 2
Running Out of Gas
Federal regulators are shortchanging U.S. drivers by making new fuel economy standards weaker than the law meant them to be. UCS is working to reverse this trend and give consumers the clean car choices they deserve.
The Untold Costs of CAFOs
Confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) impose costs on society much higher than the price we pay for meat and dairy products. A new UCS report outlines alternatives that are better for humans, animals, and the environment.
Two Decades of Improving Security
This past summer marked the twentieth anniversary of a unique UCS program to expand the international community of scientists working to reduce the threat of nuclear weapons and increase global security.
Politics Pollutes the EPA
UCS has published evidence of political interference in scientific research at the Environmental Protection Agency that puts our public health and wildlife at risk. We are making progress in stopping this and other abuses of federal science.
How It Works: Marker-Assisted Selection
Marker-assisted selection uses information about the genetic material in crops to breed for important traits such as resistance to drought and other environmental stresses without genetic engineering.
Highlights from Spring 2008
Volume 7, Number 1
Biofuels: An Important Part of a Low-Carbon Diet
by Patricia Monahan
Biofuels can significantly reduce global warming pollution from vehicles, but not all biofuels are created equal. We must expand our use of this resource carefully in order to avoid environmental damage.
Nuclear Power in a Warming World
by Lisbeth Gronlund
Expanded use of nuclear power could help reduce global warming emissions-but could also increase safety and security risks. To minimize these risks, the U.S. government and its nuclear power oversight agency must change their policies and practices.
Sharing a Love of Green Cuisine
by Karen Perry Stillerman
As local, seasonal, and organic foods earn top billing at more restaurants, UCS highlights chefs and farmers partnering to provide delicious dishes with less environmental impact.
How It Works: Wave Power Generation
by Emily Robinson and John Rogers
Solutions Offered: Climate Action in Your Hometown
by Heather Tuttle
Read the entire issue (PDF)
Highlights from Fall 2007
Volume 6, Number2
Dangerous Climate Change
By Amy Lynd Luers
If global temperatures rise more than 2°C above pre-industrial levels, the risk of potentially catastrophic impacts increases greatly. A U.S. climate policy consistent with avoiding such temperatures would require a reduction in heat-trapping emissions of at least 80 percent by 2050.
Is the Tide Shifting Toward Cleaner Cars?
By Scott Nathanson
With gasoline prices hovering near the $3 mark, a new Congress in place, and sales of large, gas-guzzling vehicles slumping, UCS saw an opportunity to call for real change on cleaner cars and got the attention of consumers, lawmakers, and automakers alike.
The Space Age at 50
By Laura Grego
This fall, we celebrate the golden anniversary of the space age. But just as space has provided us with many opportunities to improve our lives, it is also a potential battlefield. Will efforts to weaponize space damage this valuable resource and make life more dangerous here on Earth?
How It Works: Heat-trapping Gases
by Brenda Ekwurzel
Solutions Offered: Putting Vehicles on a Low-Carbon Diet
by Karen Perry Stillerman
Read the entire issue (PDF)
Highlights from Spring 2007
Volume 6, Number 1
Exxon Exposed
by Emily Robinson
While publicly expressing concern about global warming, oil giant ExxonMobil has quietly funded organizations that portray climate science as uncertain. This disinformation strategy parallels the tobacco industry's campaign to confuse the public about the dangers of smoking.
Will the Northeast Be the New Dixie?
by Erika Spanger-Siegfried
Without deep cuts in heat-trapping emissions, summers in New York near the end of the century may feel as hot as Georgia
summers do today. Fortunately, it's not too late to preserve the
traditional character of our northeastern states.
Leading the Way in Clean Vehicle Design
by Erin Rogers and Spencer Quong
UCS vehicle engineers have designed a minivan called the Vanguard that uses existing technology to offer drivers an unbeatable combination of performance, safety, affordability, and lower global warming emissions. Yet automakers show no willingness to build it.
How It Works: Thermonuclear Weapons
by Robert Nelson
Solutions Offered: Taking the Harm out of Pharma Crops
by Karen Perry Stillerman
Read the entire issue (PDF)
Highlights from Fall 2006
Volume 5, Number 2
Winds of Change
by Jeff Deyette
Technological innovation and market growth have transformed wind energy into an efficient and reliable energy source. With further support, the near future holds even more promise.
Critical Condition: Science at the FDA
by Michael Halpern
One hundred years after vowing to protect its citizens from unsage food and drugs, the U.S. government is misusing the advice of its own scientists.
School Buses Fail to Make the Grade
by Patricia Monahan
Buses may be the safest form of transportation for our schoolchildren, but diesel pollution is a health hazard that tarnishes the image of the trusty yellow school bus.
The Gathering Storm
by Brenda Ekwurzel
By now, everyone has heard of the possible relationship between hurricanes and global warming. What does the science really tell us and what can we do about it?
How It Works: Ethanol
by Don MacKenzie
Solutions Offered: Cleaner Cars for All Consumers
by Dan Kalb and Erin Rogers
Read the entire issue (PDF)
Highlights from Spring 2006
Volume 5, Number 1
Cleaning up Coal's Act
by Barbara Freese and Jeff Deyette
Coal power is America's biggest source of heat-trapping emissions, yet new investments in coal-fired power plants will keep us burning this fossil fuel for years to come.
Greener Pastures
by Kate Clancy
UCS investigates the role grass-fed beef and milk can play in healthy eating.
How to Help Terrorists Get The Bomb
by Edwin Lyman and Lisbeth Grolund
If the United States begins reprocessing nuclear reactor fuel, it will create an abundant new supply of plutonium that terrorists could use to build nuclear weapons.
How It Works: Fuel Economy Testing
by Don MacKenzie
Solutions Offered: Is Your Town up to the Challenge?
by Kate Abend
Read the entire issue (PDF)
Highlights from Fall 2005
Volume 4, Number 2
Tipping the Scales
by Kathleen Campbell
What will it take to spur U.S. action on global warming?
The Trouble with Bunker Busters
by Rob Nelson
These nuclear weapons would cause widespread damage and fail to achieve their objectives.
Shopping for a Hybrid: Buyer Beware
by David Friedman, Jessica Biegelson, and Scott Nathanson
Some automakers are selling vehicles that don't deserve the "hybrid" label.
How It Works: Solar Electricity Generation
by Kristen Graf and Jeff Deyette
Solutions Offered: Eating for the Environment
by Jenn Palembas
Read the entire issue (PDF)
Highlights from Spring 2005
Volume 4, Number 1
A Growing Concern
by Jane Rissler
Could we end up with drugs and industrial chemicals on our dinner plates? UCS suggests ways to keep our food supply safe.
Space: The Military's Final Frontier
by Laura Grego and David Wright
The U.S. military's push for space weapons could threaten commerce and international security.
Clean Energy, Clean Cars Are Patriotic
by Jeff Deyette and David Friedman
Renewable energy and fuel-efficient vehicles can benefit the environment and the economy.
How It Works: Cap-and-Trade Systems
by Jason Mathers and Michelle Manion
Solutions Offered: Turning HEMIs into Hybrids
by David Friedman
Read the entire issue (PDF)
Highlights from Fall 2004
Volume 4, Number 2
The Risk of a Lifetime
by Eric Young
Do America's aging nuclear power plants
deserve a second chance?
In the Driver's Seat
by Jason Mark
California continues to be a national leader in environmental policy.
Stopping the Scientific Spin Doctors
by Alden Meyer and Michael Halpern
UCS presents an action plan to restore scientific integrity to federal policy making.
A Tale of Two Futures: California Feels the Heat
by Amy Lynd Luers
We can lower our emissions today or face a hotter, drier climate in the future.
How It Works: Forest Carbon Sequestration
by Michelle Manion
Read the entire issue (PDF)
Highlights from Spring 2004
Volume 3, Number 1
Bringing Science Back to the People
by Alden Meyer
Science has suffered under the Bush administration, but UCS intends to restore its proper role in policy making.
Seeds of Doubt
by Margaret Mellon
Contamination of traditional seeds by genetically modified DNA threatens our food supply.
Diesel or Gasoline? Fuel for Thought
by Patricia Monahan and David Friedman
Diesel has improved, but still has a long way to go.
Mission: Impossible
by Lisbeth Gronlund and David Wright
The Bush administration intends to deploy a system that provides missile defense in name only.
How It Works: Hydrogen Fuel Cells
by Don Anair
Solutions Offered: Local Action on Global Warming
by Alden Meyer
Read the entire issue (PDF)
Highlights from Fall 2003
Volume 2, Number 2
(Click on an article title to view the pdf file.)
Howard's End
After 22 years of success at UCS, President
Howard ("Bud") Ris, Jr. steps down but leaves a vital legacy.
A Vehicle for Change
by David Friedman
UCS creates a blueprint for a safer and cleaner SUV that also saves consumers money.
Easing the Natural Gas Crisis
by Jeff Deyette
Renewable energy and efficiency can stabilize natural gas prices.
How It Works: Anti-Satellite Weapons
by Laura Grego
Solutions Offered: Flip the Switch to Green Power
by Jeff Deyette
Read the entire issue (PDF)
Highlights from Spring 2003
Volume 2, Number 1
(Click on an article title to view the pdf file.)
Trouble in The Heartland
by Susanne Moser
How climate change may alter the character
of the Great Lakes region.
Whose Cars Are Greenest?
by Jason Mark
UCS ranks the Big Six automakers by environmental performance and separates reality from rhetoric.
An Ounce of Prevention
by Stephen Young
How to keep nuclear weapons out of terrorists' hands.
Dirty Secrets of Astroturf Lobbying
by Paul Fain
How the auto industry mows down the facts.
Read the entire issue (PDF)
Highlights from Fall 2002
Volume 1, Number 2
(Click on an article title to view the pdf file.)
Who's Minding The Pharm?
by Margaret Mellon
The promises and risks of a new generation of genetically engineered crops.
Turning Offshore Power On
by Deborah Donovan
Offshore wind power is a sustainable option for our energy system.
Alleviating Pain at the Pump
by David Friedman
A new study shows which cars and trucks will cost the most to fuel.
Penetrating the EPW Myth
by Stephen Young
Why nuclear bunker busters are a bad idea.
Connecting the Dots
by Phyllis Windle
Taking invasive species seriously.
Read the entire issue (PDF)
Highlights from Spring 2002
Volume 1, Number 1
(Click on an article title to view the pdf file.)
Overcoming Energy Insecurity
by Jason Mark
Fuel efficiency and renewables promise a safer energy system.
If a Tree Falls
by Julia Petipas
Preventing forest logging means preserving species.
School Buses Don't Make the Grade
by Patricia Monahan
The Clean School Bus Program offers a healthy future to dirty polluters.
Southern Discomfort
by Melanie Fitzpatrick
A UCS report examines how climate change will interact with Gulf states' ecologies.
Common Sense on Climate Change
by Beverly Merz
UCS lays out practical solutions to global warming.
Read the entire issue (PDF)
Get an advance copy of Catalyst when you join UCS. You'll receive a free subscription to Catalyst, the official magazine of the Union of Concerned Scientists. Published three times a year, it brings readers a better understanding of the science behind our issues and a behind-the-scenes look at the people and work of UCS.
Back issues of Catalyst are available online. You can also order a copy for $3 while supplies last. Print and complete an order form and mail to UCS Publications, 2 Brattle Square, Cambridge, MA 02138-3780 or fax it to 617-864-9405.
