Science is Back in Fashion

The forces of the Counter-Enlightenment lost November's election badly, and as a result, science has become fashionable again. The Bushevik record in the field of science is truly appalling. Either spinning scientific research results or outright suppression of them was the order of the day. In 2004, some 60 scientists (including 20 Nobel laureates) wrote a letter that said the Bush White House had “misrepresented scientific knowledge and misled the public about the implications of its policies.” President Obama's approach couldn't be more different.

In his inaugural speech, he said, “We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories.” Maybe it will happen, and maybe it won't. The important thing is the desire to improve science policy.

The first sign of change here is the decision by the FDA to allow Northern Californian bio-tech company Geron to proceed with the first clinical trial using embryonic stem cells. Geron applied to the FDA last March for permission to conduct the phase I study. Senior management denies that the change of administration influenced the FDA's decision. One hopes they are better at running a bio-tech firm than they are at parsing out political reality.

In addition, President Obama has made some exciting appointments that will affect science policy. For example, he nominated Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu for Energy secretary, as opposed to a businessman from the oil or coal industry. John P. Holdren, who served as president of the American Associate for the Advancement of Science, will be Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He also happens to be Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy and Director of the Program on Science, Technology, and Public Policy at the Kennedy School, as well as Professor of Environmental Science and Public Policy in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University. Jane Lubchenco, who served as AAAS President in 1997 and chair in 1998, was nominated as administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. She is also the Wayne and Gladys Valley Professor of Marine Biology and Oregon State University Distinguished Professor of Zoology.

Finally, there is the issue of funding science. The Obama administration has promised to triple the number of undergraduate and graduate fellowships in science. It has vowed to spend $10 billion on “science facilities, research, and instrumentation.” The National Science Foundation will get $3 billion more, and the National Institutes of Health will receive $2 billion more. In short, the new administration is putting its money where its mouth is.

© Copyright 2009 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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