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Policy on AGU's Role in Advocacy on Public Issues
—Adopted by Council May 1982
The American Geophysical Union is an association of scientists, scholars, and interested lay public for the purpose of advancing geophysical science. The Union shares a collateral sense of responsibility to assure that the results of geophysical research are made available to benefit all mankind. The Union encourages its members to exercise their individual sense of responsibility in addressing political and social issues. Should they choose to act collectively on such issues, other organizations exist for such purposes. The American Geophysical Union, as a society, should preserve its unique position as an objective source of analysis and commentary for the full spectrum of geophysical science. Accordingly, the following policies should guide the AGU's role as an advocate.
- The American Geophysical Union has a responsibility to its members to adopt a position of advocacy on geophysical science issues based on their intrinsic merits and needs.
- To the extent that the understanding and application of geophysical science is relevant to public policy, AGU as a responsible scientific association should make relevant information available to all parties interested in the issue.
- As a scientific society, AGU should not take or advocate public positions on judgemental issues that extend beyond the range of available geophysical data or recognized norms of legitimate scientific debate. Public positions adopted by AGU and statements issued on its behalf must be based on sound scientific issues and should reflect the interests of the Union as a whole.
Procedures for Developing Union Positions
—Adopted by Council May 1982
—Most Recently Revised May 1998
- Position statements will be restricted to those issues that fall within the guidelines above which have been approved by the Council. Proposals for position statements can originate from any member or from any Union or Section committee.
- Requests for position statements are referred immediately to the Committee on Public Affairs (COPA).
- If a request seems to fall within Union guidelines, COPA will recommend that the President of the Union appoint an independent panel charged with drafting a statement. The panel will include at least one member of COPA, the originator of the request, and one Council member.
- The Council and the membership will be informed that the panel is working on the issue and that comments are welcome.
- The panel will prepare a statement for circulation to the Council of the Union, with an information copy to COPA.
- Members of the Council (or Executive Committee when timeliness is critical) will be asked to vote or to comment on the proposed statement. This vote is to be taken at regularly scheduled meetings except where timeliness is critical. Concurrence of two-thirds is required for adoption.
- All adopted position statements will be published in Eos as soon as possible.
- Once a statement has been approved, the Committee on Public Affairs will endeavor to apply its expertise to making advocacy of its contents as effective as possible.
- Public policy statements have a lifetime of no more than four years but can be reaffirmed and thereby extended for an additional four years. Individual statements may be adopted with an earlier expiration date. Additionally, a new statement may be adopted that supersedes and therefore replaces one or more previous statements. The Council may also withdraw a statement at any time by a simple majority vote.