Table Of ContentPresidential Science Advisors
·
Roger Pielke, Jr. Roberta A. Klein
Editors
Presidential Science
Advisors
Perspectives and Reflections on Science,
Policy and Politics
123
Editors
RogerPielke,Jr. RobertaA.Klein
CenterforScienceandTechnologyPolicy CenterforScienceandTechnologyPolicy
Research Research
UniversityofColorado UniversityofColorado
1333GrandviewAve.,CampusBox488
1333GrandviewAve.,CampusBox488
Boulder,CO80309-0488
Boulder,CO80309-0488
USA
USA
[email protected]
[email protected]
ISBN978-90-481-3897-5 e-ISBN978-90-481-3898-2
DOI10.1007/978-90-481-3898-2
SpringerDordrechtHeidelbergLondonNewYork
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Preface
This book grew out of a 2005–2006 lecture series titled “Policy, Politics, and
Science in the White House: Conversations with Presidential Science Advisors.”
Organized by the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research1 at the
University of Colorado-Boulder in the wake of criticism over the science-related
policiesofthen-PresidentGeorgeW.Bush,theserieswasintendedtogainperspec-
tiveontheroleofscienceinpolicyandpoliticsatthehighestlevelsofgovernment
whilealsoexploringhowscienceisusedandsometimesmisusedinpolicyandpoli-
tics.SevenscienceadvisorstotheUSPresidentparticipatedintheseries:Drs.John
Marburger III, Neal Lane, John H. Gibbons, George A. Keyworth II, Frank Press,
Edward David, Jr., and Donald Hornig. Dr. D. Allan Bromley was scheduled to
participatebutunfortunatelypassedawaysoonbeforehisvisit.Dr.RobertPalmer,
Staff Director, US House of Representatives’ Committee on Science 1993–2004,
also participated in the series, providing a perspective on science advice from the
legislativebranch.
Each science advisor separately visited CU-Boulder for 2 days, meeting with
students, faculty, researchers and community members. Their visits culminated in
a presentation with three components: a presentation by the advisor focusing on
his tenure as science advisor, a public interview by then-Center director Roger
Pielke,Jr.,andaquestion-and-answersessionwithaudiencemembers.Theadvisors
camefromdifferentpoliticalpartiesanddifferenteras,sowewereabletoexplore
howthecomplexitiesofsciencepolicyissueshavechangedintheWhiteHouseover
time. This volume presents the perspectives of the seven science advisors on their
tenure advising the President, along with several external perspectives on science
adviceintheWhiteHouseandbeyond.
Further information, including webcasts and transcripts of the presenta-
tions and interviews, can be viewed from the series website at http://science-
policy.colorado.edu/scienceadvisors/.
1TheCenteriswithintheCooperativeInstituteforResearchinEnvironmentalSciences(CIRES).
CIRESissponsoredjointlybytheUniversityofColoradoatBoulderandtheOfficeofOceanic
andAtmosphericResearchoftheNationalOceanicandAtmosphericAdministration(NOAA).
v
vi Preface
SincetheconclusionofthatseriesPresidentGeorgeW.Bush’stermended,and
Barack Obama was elected President. Soon after the election President Obama
announced he intended to appoint Harvard professor Dr. John P. Holdren as his
science advisor, and Holdren was confirmed in March 2009. President Obama’s
intentionsregardingscienceadviceareasfollows:
Thetruthisthatpromotingscienceisn’tjustaboutprovidingresources—it’saboutprotect-
ingfreeandopeninquiry...It’saboutensuringthatfactsandevidencearenevertwistedor
obscuredbypoliticsorideology.It’saboutlisteningtowhatourscientistshavetosay,even
whenit’sinconvenient—especiallywhenit’sinconvenient.Becausethehighestpurposeof
scienceisthesearchforknowledge,truthandagreaterunderstandingoftheworldaround
us.ThatwillbemygoalasPresidentoftheUnitedStates—andIcouldnothaveabetter
teamtoguidemeinthiswork.2
2Change.Gov(2008).Newsroom:Blog.TheOfficeofthePresident-Elect.December2008.http://
change.gov/newsroom/entry/the_search_for_knowledge_truth_and_a_greater_understanding_of_
the_world_aro/.Accessed28August2009.
Acknowledgements
The lecture series would not have been possible without generous contributions
from the following sponsors: Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental
Sciences (CIRES); University of Colorado Graduate School, Office of the Vice
Chancellor for Research, Provost’s Office, College of Engineering and Applied
Science, and Dean’s Fund for Excellence; Southwest Research Institute; The
Hennebach Program in the Humanities under the direction of Carl Mitcham at
the Colorado School of Mines; and ICAT. Many individuals also helped make the
series possible. From the University of Colorado: Susan Avery, Stein Sture, and
ToddGleeson;fromColoradoSchoolofMines:CarlMitcham;fromtheUniversity
ofColoradoCenterforScienceandTechnologyPolicyResearch:RadfordByerly,
AmiNacu-Schmidt,andLindaPendergrass;andfromtheCooperativeInstitutefor
Research in Environmental Sciences: Konrad Steffen. We are deeply indebted to
themformakingpossibletheseriesandthisbook.
vii
Contents
PartI Overview and Critique of Presidential Science
Advising:Introduction
RogerPielke,Jr.andRobertaKlein
1 Science,Politics,andTwoUnicorns:AnAcademicCritique
ofScienceAdvice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
DavidH.Guston
PartII TheScienceAdvisorsinTheirOwnWords
2 ScienceAdviceintheJohnsonWhiteHouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
DonaldHornig
3 Science,PoliticsandPolicyintheNixonAdministration . . . . . . 29
EdwardDavid,Jr.
4 ScienceandTechnologyintheCarterPresidency . . . . . . . . . . 37
FrankPressandPhilipM.Smith
5 Policy, Politics and Science in the White House
(TheReaganYears) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
GeorgeA.KeyworthII
6 ScienceAdvicetoPresidentBillClinton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
JohnH.Gibbons
7 ThreatstotheFutureofUSScienceandTechnology . . . . . . . . 91
NealLane
8 ScienceAdviceintheGeorgeW.BushAdministration . . . . . . . 103
JohnH.MarburgerIII
PartIII AViewfromtheHill:Introduction
DanielSarewitz
9 ScienceAdviceintheCongress?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
RadfordByerly
ix
Description:For the past 50 years a select group of scientists has provided advice to the US President, mostly out of the public eye, on issues ranging from the deployment of weapons to the launching of rockets to the moon to the use of stem cells to cure disease. The role of the presidential science adviser ca
