At the request of Neal Lane, the President's Science Advisor, the President's Committee of
Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) reviewed the Interim Report Environmental
Science and Engineering for the 21st Century (NSB 99-133). Peter Raven and John Holdren, as
chairs of two relevant PCAST committees, led the review. Their report, approved by PCAST
on December 10, 1999, is reprinted on the following pages.
The following letter was approved by PCAST, December 10, 1999
Chairs |
Neal Lane
Assistant to the President for Science and Technology
Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy |
John A. Young
Former President and CEO
Hewlett-Packard Co. |
Members |
Norman R. Augustine
Former Chairman and CEO
Lockheed Martin Corporation
|
Peter H. Raven
Director, Missouri Botanical Garden
Engelmann Professor of Botany
Washington University in St. Louis
|
Francisco J. Ayala
Donald Bren Professor of Biological Sciences
Professor of Philosophy
University of California, Irvine
|
Sally K. Ride
Professor of Physics
University of California, San Diego
|
John M. Deutch
Institute Professor, Department of Chemistry
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Judith Rodin
President
University of Pennsylvania
|
Murray Gell-Mann
Professor, Santa Fe Institute
R.A. Millikan Professor Emeritus of Theoretical Physics
California Institute of Technology |
Charles A. Sanders
Former Chairman
Glaxo-Wellcome Inc.
|
David A. Hamburg
President Emeritus
Carnegie Corporation of New York
|
David E. Shaw
Chairman and CEO
D.E. Shaw and Co.
|
Diana MacArthur
Chair and CEO
Dynamac Corporation |
Charles M. Vest
President
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
|
Shirley M. Malcom
Head
Directorate for Education and Human Resources Programs
American Association for the Advancement of Science
|
Virginia V. Weldon
Directer, Center for the Study of American Business
Washington University in St. Louis
|
John P. Holdren
Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy
Director, Program on Science, Technology and Public Policy
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Harvard University |
Lilian Shiao-Yen Wu
Research Scientist and Consultant, Corporate
Technical Strategy Development, IBM
|
Mario J. Molina
Institute Professor, Lee and Geraldine Martin
Professor of Environmental Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
|
|
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
PRESIDENT'S COMMITTEE OF ADVISORS ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20502
December 3, 1999
Neal Lane
Assistant to the President for Science and Technology
Dear Neal,
As you requested, we have taken a close look at the interim report of the National Science Board, "Environmental
Science and Engineering for the 21st Century." Specifically, you asked our advice on how the NSTC should
address the report's recommendation on reevaluating the government's environmental R&D portfolio and on
what implications there might be for the overall Federal effort.
With regard to your specific question, doing an adequate job of providing the science we need to respond to the
environmental challenges facing the Nation will unquestionably require the involvement of all federal agencies
that support such research. We believe that NSF must weigh its responses to the report in the context of the
entire federal environmental research portfolio. The resources and processes of the CENR should be used to
help NSF optimize coordination, build on existing agency strengths, and minimize conflict. The Board's
suggestion that the NSTC reevaluate the portfolio to identify research gaps and set priorities is very appropriate.
In fact, this process is already well underway with the development of the "Integrated Science for Ecosystem
Challenges" (ISEC) initiative developed for the FY 2000 and 2001 budget requests. As you know, this effort
involved dozens of representatives of the CENR agencies in an effort to begin an expansion of ecosystem
research to improve the information available to decision makers. The PCAST Environment and Natural
Resources Panel has been carefully tracking the development of ISEC and believes that much of the thinking
that has gone into the initiative could form a starting point for the development of future priorities.
It is perhaps also an appropriate time to enlist the assistance of OMB to do an evaluation of the status of
environmental R&D funding across all agencies to update the budget information that was prepared for the
1995 CENR strategy document, "Preparing for the Future Through Science and Technology." We are well
aware that it is no simple task to develop an accurate picture of the environmental portfolio. On the other hand,
we do not see how the identification of research gaps and the setting of priorities for expanding the portfolio can
be adequately done without accurately determining where we are at the moment, both inside NSF and across
the environmental R&D agencies. We would be happy to work with OMB and the CENR leadership to
develop an appropriate taxonomy for such an exercise.
With regard to the NSB report overall, we applaud the Board's recommendation that environmental research be
made one of NSF's highest priorities and agree that funding should be substantially augmented, particularly in
five specific areas emphasized in the report: interdisciplinary research; environmental education; economic
valuation of ecological goods and services; long-term, large-scale research; and improving environmental
assessment capabilities. As you know, PCAST has recommended increasing the priority and funding of
environmental science in several of our own recent reports. Those of us in the environmental field know that
such funding increases are justified; many in policy positions may need to be convinced. Perhaps the Board
adding its voice on this issue will tip the balance and gain the attention of Congressional decision-makers in a
position to help implement this recommendation.
The funding increase recommended (ultimately an additional $1 billion per year at the end of a five year period)
is very large, equal to about 20 percent of the entire current federal environmental R&D portfolio. We do not
disagree that an increase of this magnitude is needed. But we believe, as noted above, that if NSF were to
carefully address the integration of its efforts with other ongoing Federal research to ensure minimal duplication
of effort, cooperation, not competition for resources, and sharing of expertise and research infrastructure as part
of its planning to make effective use of new funding, it would greatly help to justify such an increase.
We strongly agree with the Board's call for increased support for interdisciplinary research. It is clear that, despite
many earlier calls for increased interdisciplinary research by numerous prestigious groups, this is a very difficult
thing to accomplish in practice. While we do not mean to advocate additional bureaucracy, we do think the
"focal point" recommendation must be taken seriously and should be addressed using some creative thinking.
We do not believe that the increased emphasis on interdisciplinary activities called for in the report will
materialize without the establishment of some mechanism designed to foster such activities.
We also note with satisfaction that the Board has reiterated the need for enhanced attention to work that
addresses the interface between ecology and economics, including ecological goods and services and the social,
cultural, and economic aspects of the environment. We believe this is an area of study that only NSF can
promote at the moment, because there is no other logical focal point in the federal government for such work.
As we did in Teaming With Life, we urge the Foundation to find a way to make this possible and we appreciate
the Board's seconding one of our key recommendations.
We are also pleased to see an added emphasis on issues of larger spatial and longer temporal scales, which is
crucial to being able to address emerging problems, such as climate change and loss of biological diversity, and
agree that an increased emphasis on "assessment" is appropriate. With respect to the latter, however, we think it
is essential for the report to be much more specific about what kinds of "assessment" are included in the
recommendation for increased attention by NSF. We agree that appropriate kinds of assessment include not just
synthesis, but also "evaluation and communication of scientific understanding." The addition of some specific
examples of what the Board views as appropriate and inappropriate types of assessment activities for NSF would
clarify the recommendation. It would also be helpful in providing reassurance to other CENR agencies about
where NSF is likely to be headed as it implements the NSB's guidance.
In closing, we would like to make one additional comment on NSF's "Biocomplexity" initiative and its
relationship to the recommendations in the report. The NSB indicated to us that "Biocomplexity in the
Environment" has now become the descriptor of the full portfolio of environmental science and engineering at
NSF. Furthermore, the Board has stated that the funding increases obtained for an FY2000 "Biocomplexity"
initiative ($50 million) represent the beginnings of the increased investment in environmental science called for
in the Board's report. We urge NSF to clarify which of the Board's recommendations will benefit from the
increase this year, as well as those proposed for 2001. Such information will be very important to the CENR for
further development of ISEC across all of the agencies.
We very much appreciate having had the opportunity to comment on this important report. We would be
happy to discuss our views with you further.
Sincerely,
|
Peter Raven
Chair
PCAST Environment Panel |
John Holdren
Chair
PCAST Energy Panel |
|