February 26, 2009
Administration Budget Request Summary Includes Investments in Science and Innovation
(Washington, DC) – Today, the White House Office of Management and Budget released a summary of the President’s FY10 Budget Request.
“I’m encouraged to see many of the Committee’s priorities reflected in the document we’ve received,” Science and Technology Committee Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN). “Congress and the Administration has our work cut out for us building a fiscally responsible appropriations bill that will put our nation back on track, especially creating—and keeping—jobs. Investments in science, technology, and education can help us restore our economic competitiveness by meeting our growing need for energy we produce at home, understanding and mitigating climate change, and ensuring that we have a both a workforce prepared for the jobs of the future and the good jobs for them to take. I look forward to learning more in the coming weeks when we receive the full budget request.”
The President’s budget requests $18.7 billion for NASA. The last administration’s FY 2009 request was $17.6 billion.
The summary includes, for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), $125 million for Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) and $70 million for Technology Innovation Program (TIP). MEP and TIP provide much-needed support to small manufacturers and small high-tech entrepreneurs to help them stay competitive.
The summary includes $7 billion for the National Science Foundation (NSF). NSF funds approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America's colleges and universities. In many fields such as mathematics, computer science, and the social sciences, NSF is the major source of federal backing.
The summary also highlights the important work done at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including $1.3 billion to fund development and acquisition of satellites and climate sensors. Additional funding will be provided for climate and ocean research, including research to understand and monitor ocean acidification. Ocean acidification is an effect of excess carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. CO2 is absorbed by the ocean, which lowers the pH. Ocean acidification reduces the ability of shellfish and corals to form their shells and skeletons and impacts the health and survival of other organisms that are part of the food chain.
The summary makes specific mention of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). NextGen is the national effort to transform the nation’s aging air traffic control system so that it can accommodate the large increases in travel demand forecast to occur over the next two decades.
The summary indicates that the final budget will include ‘substantially increases support for the Office of Science.’ The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, providing more than 40 percent of total funding for this vital area of national importance. It oversees much of the nation’s research in materials science, climate science, carbon sequestration, biofuels, advanced computing, fusion energy, high-energy physics, and nuclear physics – areas crucial to our energy future.
The budget request highlights the need to advance clean and renewable sources of energy, especially new energy technologies.
“What I see in this budget request with regard to energy is that the administration understands we need to be pursuing many different avenues,” said Gordon. “There is not a silver bullet—it’s silver buckshot. Clean coal with carbon capture and sequestration will let us use a resource that is abundant in this country, without the harmful CO2 emissions. Advancing smart grid technologies will make electricity delivery more efficient, secure, and reliable. Research and development will help us more fully embrace renewables like wind, solar, geothermal, and biofuels. And, the cheapest energy we will ever find is the energy we do not need because of increased efficiency. These advances will reduce our dependence on foreign oil, lessen the emissions that lead to climate change, and help us create a new energy economy—and the jobs that go along with it.”
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