Trump plans shakeup of science council

摘要

The White House plans to restructure the National Science and Technology Council, raisingrnnew questions about the Trump administration's intentions on climate and energy policy.rnAn administration official said today that agency comments are being submitted this week onrnchanges to the council, which is chaired by the president and includes the vice president andrnagency science leaders. There was a closed-door meeting last week with representatives fromrnthe Department of Energy, NASA and other agencies to discuss possible alterations that werern"met with enthusiasm," the official said.rnStarted in 1993 by executive order, the NSTC coordinates science policy across therngovernment and influences budget decisions in agencies. Historically, it has producedrnmultiagency reports on topics ranging from ocean acidification to wildfires.rnWe need "to make sure that the work coming out of the NSTC is best aligned with the prioritiesrnof the administration," the administration official said.rnThe official said the council's top-level committees, which currently includes a panel onrnenvironment, natural resources and sustainability, likely will remain intact. There could be shiftsrnto the subgroups within those committees that could alter how the federal government debatesrnand plans science policy. The environment sub-arm, for example, includes working groups onrnclimate science, ocean science and disaster reduction, and their fate is unclear.rnKumar Garg, an Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) staffer during the Obamarnadministration, questioned whether restructuring would ensure that agencies are talking torneach other and are focused on specific issues. In the past, the council produced multiagencyrnreports on topics such as algal blooms that were not always congressionally mandated.