New Bridges Article on 110th Congress

December 14th, 2006

Posted by: Roger Pielke, Jr.

The December issue of Bridges is out, and it includes my column, this time on what we might expect on science and technology policy from the 110th Congress.

But do read the whole issue. Bridges is one of the top publications you’ll find anywhere on science and technology policy.

2 Responses to “New Bridges Article on 110th Congress”

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  1. Ryan Zelnio Says:
    December 14th, 2006 at 5:08 pm

    Nicely done column. Your comments on the status quo of the budget may be an understatement. Earlier this week (http://appropriations.senate.gov/demoinfo/record.cfm?id=266863) the new Democrat leaders stated that they will be passing a year-long joint resolution on the 2007 budget that effectively leaves it at 2006 levels. There has been some speculation (http://www.nasawatch.com/archives/2006/12/as_dems_take_ov.html) that this will cause a crisis at NASA which has expected an additional $700M for ESMD to keep it on track.

    I fear that this could set off another battle with aeronautics and space science over funding cuts. I’d be very interested to hear your take on what this budget resolution could mean not just for NASA, but for other S&T initiatives.

    And I do agree about Bridges, I started reading it 3 issues back and I’ve been very impressed.

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  2. Roger Pielke, Jr. Says:
    December 14th, 2006 at 10:08 pm

    Ryan- Thanks much. I hear that the crisis at NASA is indeed real, and I fully expect to see a science-exploration battle continue. I will post something on the budget next week, meantime you might have a look at this piece from 2 years ago:

    Pielke, Jr., R.A., 2004. The End of Research? A Perspective for the Consortium for Science, Policy, and Outcomes, http://www.cspo.org, Arizona State University, October.
    http://www.cspo.org/ourlibrary/perspectives/Pielke_October04.htm

    According to AAAS, “Under the provisions of the current CR, federal research funding would total $55.2 billion, a 2.6 percent cut that would be the first year-to-year decline in at least three decades.” With the line drawn on earmarks as well, it will be interesting to see how the scientific community responds.

    More soon, Thanks!