Public Statement on Supporting Science for the Benefit of All Citizens

The document consists of three open letters from members of the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The 2025 statement warns that the US scientific enterprise is being 'decimated' by the Trump administration through funding cuts, censorship, and the removal of public access to data. It highlights a 'climate of fear' where researchers remove terms like 'climate change' from papers to avoid funding risks. The 2018 and 2016 letters specifically address the dangers of human-caused climate change and criticize the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, asserting that climate change is a 'physical reality' and that the US risks losing its global leadership and economic edge by ignoring scientific evidence.

• Members of the National Academies claim the US scientific enterprise is being 'decimated' by the Trump administration through the gutting of research funding, the firing of thousands of scientists, and the removal of public access to scientific data.
• The administration is accused of using executive orders and financial threats to censor research and manipulate the publication of findings, specifically blocking research on topics such as climate change and vaccine safety.
• A 'climate of fear' has led researchers to abandon studies, remove their names from publications, and excise scientifically accurate terms like 'climate change' from grant proposals to avoid jeopardizing funding.
• The signatories warn that dismantling the US research enterprise will result in a loss of the 'scientific edge,' allowing other countries to lead in clean energy, disease treatments, and new technologies.
• The 2016 and 2018 letters assert that human-caused climate change is a 'physical reality' evidenced by ocean warming, sea level rise, and the retreat of Arctic sea ice.
• The letters argue that the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement signals a lack of concern for global climate problems and severely damages the international credibility of the United States.
• The signatories warn that the climate system has 'tipping points' and that rapid warming increases the risk of crossing points of no return, which could lead to species extinctions and the loss of major ice sheets.

APA

Aslin, R. N., Braveman, P., Roux, A. V. D., Gold, M., Harris, K. M., Landau, B., Manski, C. F., Massey, D. S., Nadel, L., Santer, B. D., Struhl, K., Weymann, R., Woolf, S. H., Aaron, H. J., Abbott, N. L., Karim, S. S. A., Abel, E. D., III, E. (. G. A., Abelson, J., ... Zuber, M. T. (2020). Public Statement on Supporting Science for the Benefit of All Citizens. Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucs.org/resources/statements-climate-change-us-national-academy-sciences

Chicago

Aslin, Richard N., Paula Braveman, Ana V. Diez Roux, Marthe Gold, Kathleen Mullan Harris, Barbara Landau, Charles F. Manski, et al. Public Statement on Supporting Science for the Benefit of All Citizens. Union of Concerned Scientists, 2020. https://www.ucs.org/resources/statements-climate-change-us-national-academy-sciences.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Aslin |first1=Richard N. |last2=Braveman |first2=Paula |last3=Roux |first3=Ana V. Diez |last4=Gold |first4=Marthe |last5=Harris |first5=Kathleen Mullan |last6=Landau |first6=Barbara |last7=Manski |first7=Charles F. |last8=Massey |first8=Douglas S. |last9=Nadel |first9=Lynn |display-authors=etal |title=Public Statement on Supporting Science for the Benefit of All Citizens |publisher=Union of Concerned Scientists |date=6 January 2020 |url=https://www.ucs.org/resources/statements-climate-change-us-national-academy-sciences |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{aslin2020public, author = {Aslin, Richard N. and Braveman, Paula and Roux, Ana V. Diez and Gold, Marthe and Harris, Kathleen Mullan and Landau, Barbara and Manski, Charles F. and Massey, Douglas S. and Nadel, Lynn and Santer, Benjamin David and Struhl, Kevin and Weymann, Ray and Woolf, Steven H. and Aaron, Henry J. and Abbott, Nicholas L. and Karim, Salim S. Abdool and Abel, E. Dale and III, Edwin (Ted) G. Abel, and Abelson, John and Abi-Dargham, Anissa and Abkowitz, Janis and Abrams, Barbara F. and Abriola, Linda M. and Acemoglu, Daron and Ackerman, Susan L. and Adler-Milstein, Julia and Agard, David Andrew and Agol, Ian and Agrawal, Arun and Aguirre, Gustavo D. and Ahlers, Guenter and Alba, Richard D and Alberts, Bruce M and Alberts, Susan C. and Alcock, Charles R. and Aldrich, John H. and Aldrich, Richard W. and Alegria, Margarita and Alitalo, Kari K. and Allen, Eleanor and Allgor, Russell J. and Allison, John E. and Jr, Myron Allukian, and Alpern, Robert J. and Alt, Frederick and Alter, Harvey J. and Altintas, Yusuf and Swager, Timothy and Sykes, Lynn R. and Tananbaum, Harvey and Taylor, Joseph and Teukolsky, Saul A. and Thomas, David Hurst and Thompson, Lonnie and Thorne, Kip and Tiedje, James M. and Toomre, Alar and Tremaine, Scott and Trumbore, Susan and Tumlinson, James and Turner, Monica G. and Tyson, Anthony and Valentine, Joan Selverstone and Van Etten, James L. and Vaughan, Martha and Verma, Inder and Veronis, George and von Hippel, Peter H. and Wagner, Gerhard and Wake, David B. and Walker, David and Wallace, John M. and Watson, E. Bruce and Weinberg, Steven and Weiss, Rainer and Welch, William J. and West-Eberhard, Mary Jane and White, Simon D.M. and Wiesel, Torsten N. and Wilson, Edward O. and Wilson, Robert W. and Wineland, David and Wofsy, Steven and Wolpert, Julian and Wood, John and Woodwell, George M. and Woosley, Stanford E. and Wunsch, Carl and Yamamoto, Keith and Yanofsky, Martin and Yilma, Tilahun and Young, William and Zoback, Mary Lou and Zuber, Maria T.}, title = {{Public Statement on Supporting Science for the Benefit of All Citizens}}, publisher = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2020}, month = jan, url = {https://www.ucs.org/resources/statements-climate-change-us-national-academy-sciences}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }