Obama wows scientists with promises of big funding increases for R&D

President Obama woke up the US scientific community with a Monday morning address to the annual meeting of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) , where he reaffirmed the support for science that he showed throughout the campaign. In addition to completing the 10-year doubling of federal support for basic research in the physical sciences begun by his predecessor, Obama set forth a goal for the country to spend 3% of its gross domestic product on R&D, compared with the current 2.6% of GDP. That would require substantial increases to both the one-third of R&D supplied by government and the much larger share provided by industry. The president said he will double the nation’s research effort to fight cancer, and spend $150 billion over 10 years on expanding renewable energy and improving the nation’s energy efficiency. He pledged to expand programs by the US Department of Energy and NSF to improve the teaching of science and mathematics. That would provide the opportunity for thousands of American students to pursue careers in science, engineering, and entrepreneurship related to clean energy, he said.

But it was the president’s pledge to restore science to “its rightful place” that drew the most applause from the academy members. “Under my administration, the days of science taking a back seat to ideology are over,” Obama declared, alluding to the contentions by many scientists that the Bush administration had done just that. “Our progress as a nation—and our values as a nation—are rooted in free and open inquiry. To undermine scientific integrity is to undermine our democracy. It is contrary to our way of life.”

Obama stirred up more excitement in the NAS audience by announcing the remaining names of his 19-member President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology . Earlier this year, he had announced that PCAST will be cochaired by White House science adviser John Holdren, former National Institutes of Health director Harold Varmus, and Eric Lander, head of the MIT- and Harvard University-affiliated Broad Institute.

While the membership of Obama’s PCAST is decidedly more academic compared with that of former President George W. Bush, four of Obama’s 19 advisers are drawn from industry , including Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google Inc.

Obama’s cabinet became fully populated last week with the confirmation of former Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius as secretary of health and human services. But Obama has yet to nominate anyone as administrator of NASA, where key questions, including whether to hold off the scheduled 2010 retirement of the space shuttles, remain unanswered .

On the energy front, the head of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission raised eyebrows when he declared that no additional coal- or nuclear-powered plants will have to be built to meet US demand for electricity. FERC chairman Jon Wellinghoff reportedly told the US Energy Association that new baseload electricity generating stations may never be needed. Instead, a combination of distributed power supplied by renewable energy sources and improvements in energy efficiency may well satisfy future US electricity needs.

Energy efficiency was also on the mind of Vice President Joe Biden , who credited Obama’s economic stimulus program for boosting demand for energy-efficient products, such as the windows that are manufactured at a Chicago factory he toured. “Everywhere I go, I am hearing stories just like this one—stories of hard workers filling good jobs, our $8 billion investment in weatherization and energy programs re-opening doors and our tax credits creating new demand for energy-saving materials. This is the story of our new economy—and this is the story of the Recovery Act,” Biden said.

Obama received some welcome news for his energy and climate change agendas with Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter’s surprise switch to the Democratic side of the aisle . Though Specter and the president both cautioned that Specter’s vote can’t be taken for granted, the change could provide Obama with the 60 votes that are needed in the Senate to pass major legislation—assuming that Democrat Al Franken ultimately prevails in the contested senatorial election in Minnesota. As a Republican, Specter has sponsored legislation to cap and trade emissions of carbon dioxide.

David Kramer