Will Obama increase science funding? I think we'll finally see that promised
doubling of the NSF budget.
Here is a clip from what David Goldston (Bipartisan Policy Center) wrote on
Nature online today:
Money is likely to be available for such initiatives. The financial crisis and
economic slowdown will probably contribute to a boost in research spending.
Concerns about the ballooning deficit are being eclipsed by the push to use
government spending to stimulate the economy. And the size of the total
domestic spending pie — which Obama wanted to enlarge even before the Wall
Street meltdown — is always the best indicator of how much will be allocated to
science.
Beyond that, science advocates will no doubt contend that research spending
should be especially favoured in any economic stimulus package because it
contributes to future economic growth. That line of argument may get science
still more money even though research doesn't fit the profile of ideal stimulus
spending — programmes that quickly get money into the hands of lower- and
middle-income consumers who will spend it most rapidly.
So the question doesn't seem to be whether research budgets will fare better
under Obama, but rather by how much. The budgets of the National Science
Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the
Office of Science at the Department of Energy are likely to be put on a path to
double over 10 years, a move that both President George W. Bush and the
Democratic Congress have supported in principle. And doubling spending at the
three agencies is relatively cheap; together they now spend about $11 billion a
year.
Obama has also called for a 10-year doubling of the budget of the National
Institutes of Health (NIH), now about $30 billion a year.
*******************************************************Lee DyerBiology Dept.
0314UNR 1664 N Virginia StReno, NV 89557 OR 585 Robin StReno, NV 89509 Email:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]: www.caterpillars.org phone: 504-220-9391 (cell)
775-784-1360 (office)> Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 11:59:13 -0600> From: [EMAIL
PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Obama - good news for ecologists?> To:
ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU> > I think Barack Obama's victory is great news in
terms of energy policy and> other policies related to global warming.> > As for
research funding, I hate to speculate. Obama will want to increase> funding for
science and promote science education (including environmental> education),
which is a big step up from the Bush administration's willful> ignorance and
neglect.> > However, he's inheriting two wars, a massive recession, a lousy
health-care> system, and a budget deficit in excess of a trillion dollars, and
there are> a lot of things he'd like to do that go beyond solving all these
huge> problems. As an intelligent adult, he'll be making some unpopular>
compromises, cutting back on some very worthwhile programs just to pay for> the
bare necessities. While he clearly sees science and education as very> high
priorities, I'm not sure how ecology will stack up against all the> other
issues he will have to address.> On Wed, Nov 5, 2008 at 10:15 AM,
=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Brian?=> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:> > > What do you think this
means in terms of funding, job opportunities,> > environmental education,
research and policy, etc.? What major changes (if> > any) do you think might
occur over the next few years that will affect our> > personal and professional
lives as ecologists? Should we be excited?> >> > Kind of a vague and open-ended
question, I realize, but I'm curious to hear> > your thoughts.> >
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