Science Advice for the Next President
Science Debate 2008 answers prompt 178 organizations to urge the next president to appoint a cabinet-level Science Advisor by Jan 20; AAAS and AAU lead effort
WASHINGTON - (October 31, 2008) The American Association for the
Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Association of American Universities
(AAU), Science Debate 2008, and 175 other organizations are urging the
next president to appoint a science advisor by January 20 and assign the
position a cabinet-level rank.
"Your responses to the Science Debate 2008 questions reflect
your acknowledgment of the important role that science will play in a
new Administration," the group said in a letter addressed to either
candidate. "With this in mind, it is essential to quickly appoint a
science advisor who is a nationally respected leader with the
appropriate scientific, management and policy skills necessary for this
critically important role."
The group's letter emphasized the critical importance of science policy
in nearly all the major challenges facing the nation. "The next
President of the United States will face a wide range of
domestic and international challenges, from financial and regulatory
reform to healthcare and rising energy costs, from global climate
change to ensuring U.S. economic competitiveness and national security.
These challenges share one thing in common: long-term solutions that
will be impossible without groundbreaking scientific and technological
advances."
"Science and technology dominate every aspect of our lives like never
before," said Science Debate 2008 CEO Shawn Lawrence Otto, in speaking
of the letter. "This means that they are also increasingly at the core
of our greatest policy challenges and opportunities. An informed
president in the 21st century must have a cabinet-level science and technology advisor in order to make the best decisions for America."
The group noted that this is not the current situation. “President George W. Bush did not appoint John H. Marburger III as his
science adviser until June 25, 2001, five months after taking office,
and he did not give cabinet rank to the science post. Dr. Marburger, a
physicist and former head of Brookhaven National Laboratory, was not
confirmed by the Senate until Oct. 23, 2001, after key policies on
climate change and stem cell research already had been announced by the
White House.”
In addition to the AAAS and AAU, the lead signers of the letter include
the Council on Competitiveness, the National Academies, the Center for
the Study of the Presidency, and the Carnegie Institution for Science.
Here are links to the letters to Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama, along with the names of 178 organizations that signed them.