Some of the personal discussions at the recent AAAS annual meeting in Boston focused on the upcoming changes in science and technology positions in whatever new administration takes control on Jan. 20, 2009 (Inauguration Day). The discussions centered on creating a list of potential nominees that the new administration could choose from for the 50 or so science and technology positions within the government.
Clinton and Obama representatives were at the AAAS meeting vying for the scientists’ support. Both candidates are considering participation in the April 18 ScienceDebate 2008 in Philadelphia and both are already starting to provide a glimpse of their potential S&T policies. No other candidates have responded so far to the ScienceDebate invitations.
Performance in S&T areas during Bush’s past seven years has been mediocre at best, and there are lots of opportunities for bringing some new enthusiasm into and energy into this area. With any administration change, there is always the prospect on improving the system. But even with new administrators and new policies, there is the momentum of the current system that will retard any change. Most analysts admit that Bush’s FY2009 S&T proposals will likely follow the path of the past two years and meet with another continuing resolution—and no actual growth—in January of 2009. And so, we’re likely more than two years away from seeing any potential deviation from current federal government S&T trends. Some science groups feel that’s too long to wait—a high profile meeting of researchers met at Stanford over the past two weeks to create a proposal for an alternative Mars exploration program, for example. Other S&T groups may pay heed and form their own policy proposals as well.
