Endorsements, transitions, budgets, and the debate — week of 21 September 2008

Barack Obama releases more information on his science proposals, while John McCain plans to freeze federal domestic discretionary spending that could hit science hard.

Although the stock market and attempts to save it have gained most of the attention this week, two notable developments occurred in the presidential campaign. The first development was that the Obama campaign released an 11-page document specifying how science and scientists will be integrated into his administration. The second was a letter by 61 Nobel Prize recipients including 22 physicists that endorsed Obama and stated that the Bush administration had jeopardized “our once dominant position in the scientific world” and “lost time critical for the development of new ways to provide energy, treat disease, reverse climate change, strengthen our security, and improve our economy.” The final paragraph states, “Senator Obama understands that Presidential leadership and federal investments in science and technology are crucial elements in successful governance of the world’s leading country. We hope you will join us as we work together to ensure his election in November.”

Obama’s plan

The document fleshes out the brief details that have been on his website for some time. The highlights include previously stated positions such as restoring and enhancing the role of the president’s science and technology adviser, and appointing independently qualified individuals with strong science credentials to key positions and advisory committees.

Education is a key focus of Obama’s campaign and the document discusses dramatically reshaping “No Child Left Behind” legislation to provide more incentives for students to study science, technology, and engineering, and adding incentives for qualified scientists to become science teachers.

Immigration requirements will be changed to allow a fast-track process by which foreign students who receive advanced technical degrees can get an employment-based visa without having to return to their home country.

The investment in the US R&D budget over the next 10 years has been reformulated to double the budget of the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Encouraging interdisciplinary research remains one of Obama’s key policy points. The document does not discuss funds for DARPA, the National Nuclear Security Administration, or the Defense Department’s overall R&D budgets although it does call for increased investment in some areas, such as information technology research. DARPA is singled out as having moved away from its original mission to do long term high risk research. An Obama administration intends to redirect DARPA back to those goals, particularly in microsystems, nanotechnology, information technology, synthetic biology, and advanced manufacturing. According to the documents, the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency is “under-staffed and in disarray”, and it will be subject to a dramatic shakeup that will tie its fortunes closely to partnerships with industry and academia.

McCain’s budget proposal

Not so good news was delivered to a coalition of scientific and professional societies called the Task Force on the Future of American Innovation at a private gathering in Washington, DC attendees heard from Ike Brannon, an economist and senior policy adviser to McCain. Brannon said that if McCain is elected president, they could expect the federal domestic discretionary budget to be frozen.” “The purpose of the freeze is to evaluate each and every program, looking at which ones are worthwhile and which are a waste of taxpayer dollars.” Such a freeze is likely to hit research agencies particularly hard as inflation takes a bigger bite out of their budget. Despite heavy lobbying by the taskforce, the McCain group refused to show flexibility on the issue says ScienceNOW .

There is some flexibility by both candidates however for an additional $25 billion loan to the US domestic automakers for this and next year for R&D purposes . In an editorial in the Christian Science Monitor , General Motors President Troy Clark says the money is for “R&D in advanced batteries and alternative fuels, and retooling our factories to build new vehicles that use these advanced technologies” that the companies cannot afford to find on their own.

Who is leaving?

On Wednesday, Elias Zerhouni, the director of the National Institutes of Health announced his resignation to pursue writing projects. John Marburger, the current science adviser to President Bush, will leave as soon as time permits, and both the Obama and McCain campaigns have suggested that Michael Griffin will not be asked to stay on as NASA administrator.

The Obama campaign has been drawing up a short list of candidates for science and technology related positions in the government based on input from more than 100 scientists and policy experts. Little information is available from the McCain campaign on who he is approaching for such positions.

The same approach is seen in the candidates’ responses to questions from Nature and Physics Today on what their plans are for science. This week Nature published responses from the Obama campaign but the McCain campaign declined to answer. Nature editor, Alexandra Witze highlighted quotes from Senator McCain on the topics raised in order to attempt to give some balance . Physics Today will be publishing Senator Obama’s responses to its questions next week.

Paul Guinnessy

An Open Letter to the American People

This year’s presidential election is among the most significant in our nation’s history. The country urgently needs a visionary leader who can ensure the future of our traditional strengths in science and technology and who can harness those strengths to address many of our greatest problems: energy, disease, climate change, security, and economic competitiveness.

We are convinced that Senator Barack Obama is such a leader, and we urge you to join us in supporting him.

During the administration of George W. Bush, vital parts of our country’s scientific enterprise have been damaged by stagnant or declining federal support. The government’s scientific advisory process has been distorted by political considerations. As a result, our once dominant position in the scientific world has been shaken and our prosperity has been placed at risk. We have lost time critical for the development of new ways to provide energy, treat disease, reverse climate change, strengthen our security, and improve our economy.

We have watched Senator Obama’s approach to these issues with admiration. We especially applaud his emphasis during the campaign on the power of science and technology to enhance our nation’s competitiveness. In particular, we support the measures he plans to take - through new initiatives in education and training, expanded research funding, an unbiased process for obtaining scientific advice, and an appropriate balance of basic and applied research - to meet the nation’s and the world’s most urgent needs.

Senator Obama understands that Presidential leadership and federal investments in science and technology are crucial elements in successful governance of the world’s leading country. We hope you will join us as we work together to ensure his election in November.