Senior Climate Justice and Health Scientist

Adrienne L. Hollis is the Senior Climate Justice and Health Scientist for the Climate & Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. In that role, she leads the development, design, and implementation of methods for accessing and documenting the health impacts of climate change on communities of color and other traditionally disenfranchised groups. Dr. Hollis works with environmental justice communities to identify priority health concerns related to climate change and other environmental assaults, and evaluates climate and energy policy approaches for their ability to effectively address climate change and benefit underserved communities. She develops and implements projects to document health impacts of climate change on communities of color, and ensures scientific information from UCS is communicated in a culturally competent and helpful manner to vulnerable populations.

Adrienne's Latest Posts

My Testimony on the CLEAN Future Act and Environmental Justice: Protecting Frontline Communities

April 21, 2021 10:40 AM EDT

This my recent testimony before the Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. It incorporated the Environmental Justice (EJ) issues addressed by this hearing, which included cumulative exposure, EJ mapping and data collection, strengthening the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA), ports, coal ash, emissions and most importantly, the Environmental Justice for All Act. The point of my testimony was that we are in a syndemic, where two or more health disparities affect the same population of people at the same time, resulting in even worse health effects. It is important to realize that environmental justice communities–Black people, Brown people, Native Americans and Indigenous Peoples–existed in a syndemic long before COVID-19 reared its ugly head, because of systemic racism, environmental injustice and disparities in general in healthcare, healthy food availability, transportation, economic oppression, climate change, and many other challenges. Read more >

Vice President Harris speaking at an event CC BY 3.0 US

Black History Is American History

February 11, 2021 5:09 PM EDT

Black History Month in 2021 is particularly significant, although in a perfect world, people would be acknowledged and recognized for their contributions all year, not at specifically designated times. Black history IS American history, everyone should be aware of it, value it and uphold it. Read more >

CC BY 3.0 US

EJ Hersom, DOD

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Speech at the Lincoln Memorial

Remembering Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

January 18, 2021 10:00 AM EDT

On what would have been his 92nd birthday, we honor Dr. Martin (Michael) King, Jr. What better time than now, at this perilous moment in our country, to pay tribute to a man who implored us to appeal to our better selves. Read more >

7 Common Excuses People Use to Avoid Wearing Masks, and Why Science Says They’re Wrong

November 23, 2020 2:37 PM EDT

Seven reasons, mostly based on misinformation about masks, that people often use to explain why they choose not to wear masks, and the science that proves them wrong. Read more >

[ Blog ] Union of Concerned Scientists

Now is the Time for a Public Participation Office at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)

Deanne Criswell as the new FEMA Administrator: Here’s What she Brings to the Agency and the Challenges she’ll Face

Clean Energy Policy Is Heating Up in Illinois

For Effective Science Advocacy, Focus on Shared Values, and Speak Up Often

Who Wants to Learn More about Climate Change? All Kinds of People!