Nearly 180 organizations representing the business, education and scientific communities have urged the next president to appoint a White House science adviser by January 20 - Inauguration Day - and give the adviser cabinet rank.
In Oct. 30 letters to Senators John McCain and Barack Obama, the organizations note that addressing domestic and international challenges such as healthcare, rising energy costs, U.S. economic competitiveness, and global climate change will require scientific and technological ingenuity.
"It is therefore critical that the next President seek out and rely upon sound scientific and technological advice early and often in the new Administration," they write. "It is essential that you be prepared to quickly appoint a science adviser who is a nationally respected leader with the appropriate scientific, management and policy skills necessary for this critically important role."
The organizations urge the next president to give the science adviser the title of Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and assign the position cabinet rank, the same status currently given to the director of the Office of Management and Budget, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Trade Representative.
President George W. Bush did not appoint John H. Marburger III as his science adviser until June 25, 2001, five months after taking office, and he did not give cabinet rank to the science post. Marburger, a physicist and former head of Brookhaven National Laboratory, was not confirmed by the Senate until Oct. 23, 2001, after key policies on climate change and stem cell research already had been announced by the White House.
The letter to Obama and McCain was signed by Alan I. Leshner, chief executive officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; Robert M. Berdahl, president of the Association of American Universities; Deborah L. Wince-Smith, president of the Council on Competitiveness; David M. Abshire, president of the Center for the Study of the Presidency; Richard Meserve, president of the Carnegie Institution for Science; and former Rep. John E. Porter (R- Ill.), chair of a committee of the National Academies on ensuring the best science and technology appointments in the new administration.
The letters, with the list of 178 organizations that signed them, are available at:
http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2008/media/1031letters/letter_science_advisor_mccain.pdf
http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2008/media/1031letters/letter_science_advisor_obama.pdf