All reports
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Dirty Water, Degraded Soil
Overuse of nitrogen fertilizer and mismanagement of animal manure have created a costly groundwater pollution problem in Iowa. State and federal policies can help farmers control this pollution at its source.
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Eroding the Future
US farms are losing soil to erosion at an unsustainable rate. To meet this threat, we need policies that support farmers in conserving and rebuilding soil.
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Clean Fuel Standards
Grappling with climate change requires transforming how we power our economy, and no sector requires more fundamental change than transportation, which accounts for the largest share of US global warming pollution.
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Signed, Sealed, but Not Delivered
The evidence shows that people are having problems receiving mail.
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Rural Communities and TCI
The Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) seeks to improve transportation, develop the clean energy economy and reduce carbon emissions from the transportation sector.
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Voters Have Higher Priorities than Nuclear Weapons
Recent polling shows voters don't support spending trillions to replace US nuclear weapons as a top federal government priority.
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Troubled Waters
Climate change threatens to break California’s water system altogether, creating new vulnerabilities for which infrastructure and institutions are unprepared.
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Inter-model agreement on projected shifts in California hydroclimate
A peer-reviewed article in Climatic Change
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Science in an Age of Scrutiny
Scientists are increasingly subject to personal attack when their work touches on public policy debates. This UCS guide offers advice and resources to help scientists distinguish harassment from legitimate criticism and respond appropriately to both.
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Climate Change in the San Joaquin Valley
A guide designed to help people living in California's San Joaquin Valley understand how climate change threatens communities, and what they can do to prepare.
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Roadmap for Science in Decisionmaking
Independent science in government decisionmaking is under attack and must be restored.
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Benefits From Minnesota Energy Efficiency
Minnesota is undergoing a significant energy transition, and as the transition progresses, traditional paradigms and approaches to valuing energy efficiency must evolve.
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A Toxic Relationship
Thousands of Superfund sites are threatened by coastal flooding, putting the health of millions of people at risk.
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COVID-19 Underscores the Need for Voting Reform
Nobody should have to risk their life to vote.
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Solar Geoengineering Participation
UCS issue brief explains the need and opportunity for researchers and research funders to build inclusive public participation into decisionmaking on solar geoengineering research.
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Rethinking ICBMs
The US continues to keep intercontinental ballistic missiles on high alert—creating the risk of a mistaken nuclear war in response to a false warning.
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Leveling the Fields
US agriculture presents many obstacles for Black people, Indigenous people, and other people of color. We review opportunities to begin overcoming the history of racist policies and exclusion.
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Reviving the Dead Zone
Each year, nitrogen runoff from Midwestern farms produces a large "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico, damaging fisheries and the people who make their living from them. Fortunately, there are solutions that can benefit both farmers and fishers.
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Let the Scientists Speak
In its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the White House has pushed experts out of the process and delivered inaccurate and contradictory messages—leaving the US public less informed about the risks we face.
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Used, But How Useful?
Some monopoly utilities have found a way to exploit loopholes in the market rules and state regulation so that they can run expensive power plants all day long even while lower-cost resources are plentifully available on the open market.
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Compound Climate Risks in the COVID-19 Pandemic
A comment in Nature Climate Change.
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Cleaner EVs
Electric vehicles will be an important part of the US transportation future—especially when charged by a clean electricity grid.
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COVID-19 and Vulnerable Populations
The COVID-19 pandemic is exposing vulnerabilities that have long, entrenched links with inequality.
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Owners Want GM to Support Cleaner Cars
A UCS poll finds GM's failure to support strong vehicle pollution standards results in a nearly one-half decline in the company’s favorability among existing GM owners.