Ideological activists masquerading in lab coats

President-elect Trump shocked the environmental and political community by nominating Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson for secretary of state, positioning the oil and gas executive to assume the third-highest ranking office in the next administration.

Almost immediately, environmental organizations such as 350.org and Greenpeace began organizing their attack on Tillerson and his nomination in the media and over social media, questioning his credentials, relationship with Russia, and position on climate change, alleging that Tillerson would be detrimental for international relationships and serve the interest of corporations and not the American people.Tillerson's biggest foe, however, comes from a small well-funded source that is infamous within the walls of Capitol Hill: The Union of Concerned Scientists. The organization has now launched a campaign against Rex Tillerson's nomination , being quoted in news outlets from the Washington Post to The New York Times , raising the question: Is UCS a scientific organization or an advocacy group? The Union of Concerned Scientists is a group based in Massachusetts that has been around nearly 40 years. 

But unlike other scientific associations, such as the Journal of the American Psychological Association, the Union of Concerned Scientists is as much a policy institute as it is one devoted to science.

However, the company has a staff containing more policy wonks than scientists. In fact, the Union of Concerned Scientists publishes reports under their own brand, with more than 30 publications in 2016 alone, rather than in peer-reviewed academic outlets, which is a questionable and highly unusual publication process for scientists.