Union of Concerned Scientists makes shameless ploy for $2 million to protect #RICO 20

From the “Kenji is not pleased” department. Can you imagine the wailing and caterwauling if say, Heartland or The Competitive Enterprise Institute tried something like this? In my opinion, the only thing related to “science” at UCS is their name, but clearly by their actions they are a political organization, and nothing else. After all, they welcomed a dog as a member, so they can’t be that picky about science credentials for members; anyone goes as long as they have a valid credit card. Even their mission statement is a ploy for money:

It is interesting that they don’t see their own hypocrisy about censorship, as they routinely say alternate viewpoints on climate science should be censored, siding with the “ExxonKnew” crowd.

This new ploy for money was sent to me today, all the “take action” links (code for Donate Now) have been removed:

Stop attacks on science by House Science Committee

Help us raise $2 million! A generous donor has agreed to match dollar-for-dollar gifts to UCS through the end of this month, up to a total of $1 million. Gifts made to claim this match will power our work to fix our country’s broken food system—securing science-based policies that put healthy, affordable foods on people’s tables and reduce the impact of corporate farming on the environment.

Make a gift to UCS now and it will be matched, dollar-for-dollar >>

Dear friend,

I know they don’t teach civics anymore in many American schools (which is a shame). But one principle I always remember is that a strong democracy depends on regular people like me staying informed about issues. That’s part of what I love about working for UCS—every day I help provide the public and elected officials with the scientific information they need to make smart decisions that protect public health and safety. But now that critical work is under attack from the House Science Committee of all places! We’ve been so successful at exposing ExxonMobil’s efforts to deceive the public about climate change science, that the company’s allies in Congress are now coming after us, demanding internal correspondence in an effort to silence us. While this is a clear violation of our First Amendment rights, they are claiming that we’re violating ExxonMobil’s constitutional rights—to defraud company shareholders apparently? I don’t remember reading about that in my civics class. Right now it’s critical for scientists and citizens to defend our right to hold companies accountable for deception. —Katy

Take Action >

Science in Action

Stand up for Science: Help defend UCS against intimidation tactics from the House Science Committee

Representative Lamar Smith has often used his position as Chair of the House Science Committee to try and stall progress on global warming and bully climate scientists—and now he’s attacking the Union of Concerned Scientists. Chairman Smith—a fierce fossil fuel advocate—is interfering with investigations into whether ExxonMobil knowingly lied to its shareholders and the public about the risks of climate change even after the company’s own scientists sounded the alarm. Smith recently sent letters to UCS, other nonprofit organizations, and state attorneys general demanding all of our correspondence related to efforts to hold ExxonMobil accountable. Tell Chairman Smith to stop this abuse of power and cease his attacks on UCS and other public-interest organizations.

Cartoon of the Month

The rest of the press release was truncated by the sender.