THE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS: SILENT ON 9/11

Bill Willers

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[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n 2011, Scientists for 9/11 Truth sent a letter to Dr. Francesca Grifo, Director of the Scientific Integrity Program of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), along with information and materials countering the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) account of the destruction of World Trade Center Building 7 (WTC7). The scientists requested UCS attention to the issue. The letter, shown below (without signatories listed), was signed by 42 scientists from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Poland, Sweden, Australia, Denmark, France, Germany and South Africa. The letter went unanswered. Not long thereafter, Dr. Grifo took a position with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), her title being that of Scientific Integrity Official. 

The UCS has been around since 1969 and is considered by a significant segment of the population to be an indicator of issues of scientific importance. It's failure to confront an issue that much of the scientific community has shown to be serious scientific fraud within elements of the U.S. Government is certain to be interpreted by much of the public as acceptance of the official account. Some who are familiar with the issue have expressed the view that continued silence on a matter of such significance amounts to a lie of omission.

In early September of this year, researchers at the University of Alaska Institute of Northern Engineering released the result of their four-year study of the collapse of WTC7. Briefly, their findings counter the claim by NIST that office fires brought the building down. The research team is providing a two-month period in which comments on the study can be made. WTC7 can be seen as the cork in the bottle of manifold lies inherent in the official explanation of the attacks on the World Trade Center. If the truth surrounding WTC7 can be brought out into the light of day, it would serve to open many doors onto the larger issue of 9/11. 

First in the list of goals of the UCS, as declared 50 years ago in its Founding Document, was to “initiate a critical and continuing examination of governmental policy in areas where science and technology are of actual or potential significance.” The UCS has been silent too long on the issue of 9/11 generally, and the Alaska study has provided an opportunity for the organization to function as intended and to take a strong stand on the destruction of WTC7.  

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Scientists for 9/11 Truth
P.O. Box 1848
Keene, NH 03431

January 19, 2011

Francesca Grifo
Director, Scientific Integrity Program
Union of Concerned Scientists
Two Brattle Sq.
Cambridge, MA 02138-3780

Dear Dr. Grifo:
Re: Violations of Scientific Guidelines by NIST

In response to the recent Scientific Integrity Directive (12/17/10) issued by John P. Holdren, Assistant of the President for Science and Technology, we have written to Dr. Holdren, and enclose a copy of our letter for your inspection.

We are a group of scientists who seek an independent, scientific investigation of the events of September 11, 2001 (9/11) with subpoena power. 

We are aware of the efforts of UCS, in response to political interference in federal government science, to push for reforms, and we thank you for those efforts. Regarding 9/11, we note your concern about air safety at Ground Zero and the EPA’s false assurances to the public at the time. There is growing evidence that as a result of government interference that suppressed scientific information, many thousands of first responders and others are now sick and dying.

We wish to draw your attention to an even greater violation of scientific integrity on the part of government officials, in this case the federal scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The NIST investigation of the building “collapses” in New York City on 9/11 are fraught with scientific malfeasance. This malfeasance is contributing to ongoing government behavior affecting the lives of millions, and causing hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths, as well as environmental pollution resulting, for example, from the use of depleted uranium in weaponry in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

We are heartened to read on your website that “…UCS will advise and oversee the progress of federal departments and agencies, which are charged with putting the [scientific integrity] directive in place.” We urge you and your scientists to examine the work of independent scientists who have studied the events of 9/11, in particular the building destructions at the World Trade Center (WTC). There is growing awareness among the public worldwide that the official story of these destructions is false, and that the buildings were actually brought down by some form of controlled demolition. 

As part of your overseer function, we propose that you recommend that the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (S.372) be extended to protect not only federal employees, but also those who work for companies and institutions that are under contract to the federal government or that receive funding from the government, for example, by way of the National Science Foundation. Here are three examples of retaliation:

Kevin Ryan was formerly Site Manager for Environmental Health Laboratories, a division of Underwriters Laboratories (UL). My Ryan, a chemist and laboratory manager, was fired by UL in 2004 for publicly questioning the report being drafted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on the World Trade Center Investigation. His original questions, which have become increasingly important over time, remain unanswered by UL or NIST.

Steven Earl Jones is an American physicist known mainly for his work on muon-catalyzed fusion. In 2006, amid controversy concerning his work on the collapse of the World Trade Center, he was relieved of his teaching duties and placed on paid leave from Brigham Young University.

William Woodward, a professor of psychology at the University of New Hampshire was subjected to harsh public criticism and calls for dismissal by State legislators, the Governor, and by a U.S. Senator from New Hampshire for mentioning and questioning the official story of 9/11 in his classroom.

We are sending under separate cover reading and viewing materials that have also been provided to Dr. Holdren. In the name of humanity, and in the spirit of scientific enquiry, we urge you to consider these materials carefully. Much is at stake here for our country, the planet, and the future of its people.

We would very much appreciate a response within a month, that is, by February 19.

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