Spring 2009
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.
On March 4, 1969, UCS held its first public event at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Dr. Kurt Gottfried, then a young visiting professor from Cornell University, was the primary author of our founding statement, which had been signed by 50 senior MIT faculty members and was distributed on that day. Dr. Gottfried, an internationally recognized expert on quantum mechanics and particle physics, is emeritus professor of physics at Cornell and chairman of our board of directors (since 1999). In addition he is well known for his leadership and tireless efforts on arms control, scientific integrity in the federal government, and human rights and scientific freedom. UCS Director of Communications Suzanne Shaw sat down with Dr. Gottfried, who will step down as board chairman later this year, to discuss both the vital role he has played in the organization's development over the past 40 years and the many successes in which he has had a hand.
What sparked the creation of UCS?
UCS emerged out of the political and psychological context of the Vietnam war. The principal concern was that science was being used, to an ever-growing extent, for military purposes and especially for destructive purposes—that, basically, science was running amok.
MIT students were planning a strike to bring attention to the issue. When the faculty got involved, we changed it into a teach-in, held on March 4, 1969. We reached out to campuses across the country, and similar events were held at seven other campuses: Stanford, Columbia, Cornell, Fordham, UC–Berkeley, the University of Washington, and the University of Pennsylvania.
| The More Things Change… Excerpts from our 1969 founding statement demonstrate the continued need for scientists to play an active role in public affairs. "The technological revolution tends to erode democracy even in the absence of secrecy. The vastly increased importance and complexity of technology has, in effect, increased the ignorance of the public and its elected representatives, and thereby concentrated power in the administration and the military. This trend has been greatly amplified by external threats, both real and imagined. . . . "Only the scientific community can provide a comprehensive and searching evaluation of the capabilities and implications of advanced military technologies. Only the scientific community can estimate the long-term global impact of an industrialized society on our environment. Only the scientific community can attempt to forecast the technology that will surely emerge from the current revolution in the fundamentals of biology. "The scientific community . . . must engage effectively in planning for the future of mankind, a future free of deprivation and fear. . . . Far-reaching political decisions involving substantial applications of technology are made with virtually no popular participation. It is our belief that a strengthening of the democratic process would lead to a more humane exploitation of scientific and technical knowledge, and to a reduction of the very real threats to the survival of mankind." |
What happened after March 4?
We wrote three reports, selling for 25 cents each, on missile defense, multiple-warhead missiles, and chemical and biological warfare. After those reports, the organization stayed together only loosely. There was no staff, just a mailbox at MIT. UCS as we know it is really due to Henry Kendall [a future Nobel laureate in physics], who had been my roommate as a graduate student. He was a visionary. He turned UCS into a nationally, even internationally, significant organization. Henry was the board chair from the early 1970s until his death in 1999.
What early achievements stand out to you?
UCS first gained high-profile public attention in 1979. Henry and [executive director] Dan Ford had called for the shutdown of 15 nuclear power plants because of safety concerns. Two months later there was a partial core meltdown at one of the plants: Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania. In the aftermath, UCS was the go-to source for the national news media, providing crucial independent information about the accident and the risks to neighboring communities.
Our work on Reagan's "Star Wars" missile defense system also had quite a lot of impact. Before the president announced his plan on March 23, 1983, [noted physicist and future UCS board member] Dick Garwin and I had been slated to testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about the weaponization of space. Reagan's "Star Wars" speech transformed the issue into front-page national news. We prepared a report that was referred to often by people in Congress; I remember a senator holding it up at a hearing and saying to someone who was testifying, "What you are saying here is contradicting what the Union of Concerned Scientists has said."
Let's talk about climate change. I understand this was something that concerned Henry Kendall for some time.
I first heard about the global warming effect around March 1969. I remember hearing Henry talk about how carbon dioxide produced by industrial civilization was thickening the heat-trapping blanket above the earth's surface and leading to rising temperatures. This was something that had been known to some physicists for a long time; Henry advocated that we get involved with it in a serious way in 1989.
What are some of the most significant contributions UCS has made to climate science and solutions?
We've played a very significant role making the public aware of the dangers posed by climate change—that we have to change our energy system from the ground up. For example, we've had a positive impact with our work on renewable electricity standards in many states. And in terms of reducing vehicle emissions, we've drawn public attention to what is possible technically. We also recognized early on that California is a key player in climate policy [because of a special provision under the Clean Air Act that allows the state to enact more stringent pollution standards than the federal government] and that you get national leverage by setting standards there. That's been critically important.
Why are scientific and technical voices important as we grapple with the big issues facing society?
Science and technology are a double-edged sword. They have produced enormous benefits for humanity—look at life expectancy, ease of transportation. Yet these advances bring with them serious dangers. Nuclear science is the most obvious example. At first, nuclear physics was seen as having only one beneficial consequence: X-rays. Suddenly, it was transformed in one fell swoop into the most intense energy source imaginable—for mankind's beneficial use (in principle) and mankind's most destructive weapon.
Scientists have a responsibility to communicate to the public their understanding of the implications of science. And because scientists still enjoy a better reputation for integrity than many other professions, UCS is adamant about ensuring the integrity, veracity, and accuracy of its statements.
UCS has certainly run into situations where the government was not interested in science.
We've long understood that people make deceptive statements about science in political debate. I'm sure it goes back to the Greeks. But during the George W. Bush administration, it became clear that there was a systematic distortion and manipulation of science to further the White House's political agenda.
We sponsored a statement of protest signed by a most distinguished group of scientists. It stated that the distortion and manipulation of scientific information can have real consequences. For example, if George H.W. Bush had ignored scientific findings with respect to the Clean Air Act and opposed the tighter regulations passed under his administration, it would have led to tens of thousands of additional deaths from pollution-related illnesses.
This effort helped create widespread understanding and opposition to what was going on. Several top science advisors to the Obama administration were very involved in our efforts on scientific integrity.
What role have UCS members played in our achievements over the years?
Members play a vital role in spreading our message across the country, in communities that our staff can't possibly reach. There are many people who use the information that we have provided, and sometimes the techniques we have developed, to create change locally. And, of course, we could not have achieved what we have thus far without members' financial contributions.
How do you think UCS has changed over the years?
The main purpose has not changed. The statement we issued on March 4, 1969, is still relevant today.
That said, the commitment and the intellectual power of the UCS staff is something we could not have conceived in 1969. UCS changed from a group of individuals into an organization that is finely skilled in the art of dealing with the political system and the public. It has taken time to build that capability and it's continually growing and improving. I take my hat off to the staff of UCS for having made all of our accomplishments possible. Without that, we'd just be another academic seminar—not that I have anything against academic seminars!
