ACS REVISES POLICY STATEMENTS

Abstract

AS THE WORLD’S LARGEST scientific society—with more than 160,000 members in industry, academia, and government—the American Chemical Society has a lot of clout. And one way its members assert their collective influence is by promoting public policies that help the chemical enterprise serve the nation as well as global causes. The society maintains an extensive list of concrete and actionable policy statements that it presents to members of Congress mainly to “advocate for increased federal investment in science, technology, and education,” says Glenn Ruskin, head of the ACS Office of Public Affairs (OPA). Last month, ACS introduced five new policy statements—on visa restrictions, teaching of evolution, sustainability and the chemical enterprise, U.S. patent reform, and scientific insight and integrity in public policy. One of the most important new statements is the one focused on scientific insight and integrity in public policy, Ruskin says. It “supports the use of insightful and comprehensive scientifi...