White House makes its science priorities known; climate change isn't listed

Every year, the White House issues a memorandum to make the current administration’s science and technology priorities known to the agencies that intend to submit their budget requests. Donald Trump’s administration has issued this memo and its contents are vital in understanding where the U.S. government is headed.

The memo, which has been written jointly by the White House and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), is remarkable because it has been passed in the absence of a presidential science advisor. It has been signed by the Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney and deputy assistant to the president Michael Kratsios who has also been acting as OSTP's head. The four-page memo lists five focus areas:

• American military superiority – Agencies have been asked to invest in R&D that would support the military “to defeat a growing number of emerging threats.” Programs that have the potential to be used for civil applications as well are encouraged.   
• American security – The memo lists terrorist attacks and cyber-attacks as the major issues and agencies are encouraged to develop technologies that would protect the country from these. Border defense has been given utmost weightage.    
• American prosperity – Basic research is mentioned as an important way of driving the economy and creating new industries. Agencies have been asked to “reduce funding overlaps” and allow the industry to explore potential commercial products at the earliest. 
• American energy dominance – There is a clear emphasis on investment in “early-stage, innovative technologies” to ensure lower-cost energy supply in the long term. This can be achieved through “a clean energy portfolio composed of fossil, nuclear, and renewable energy sources” the memo states.
• American health – Here the agencies have been indicated to prioritize research that focuses on aging population, combating drug addiction, and other public health crises. More “efficient and effective healthcare” should also be the focus of the agencies.

Critics and experts have pointed to the absence of climate change and Earth observations, which always made an appearance during Barack Obama’s administration. The memo stays true to Trump’s “defense first, security second, with the economy, energy, and health after that,” observes Kei Koizumi who was in charge of OSTP’s research analysis when Obama was the President. Commenting on the way the memo ignores climate change, Obama’s former science advisor John Holdren said, “It’s a shame the Trump administration refuses to acknowledge the existence, never mind the importance, of climate change.” However, he stated that there are several positive aspects to the memo such as the prioritization of research on ethics, the emphasis on interagency coordination, and the importance given to innovative early-stage research.

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It remains to be seen how the agencies would plan their budget proposals for the financial year of 2019 based on the memo and what budget Congress would pass.

References:

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