| January 26, 2010 |  |
President Obama Should Send Clear Signals on Climate, Nuclear Policy and Federal Science in His State of the Union Address, Science Group Says
WASHINGTON (January 26, 2010) – When President Obama gives his State of the Union address tomorrow night, he should pledge to fulfill his previous commitments to work with the Senate to pass a comprehensive climate and energy bill, reduce the role nuclear weapons play in U.S. security policy, and restore scientific integrity to federal policymaking, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).
To jumpstart Senate action on climate, said Alden Meyer, UCS's director of strategy and policy, President Obama needs to remind senators that he brokered an agreement at the U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen last month that lowered some of the key barriers to finalizing a bill.
"President Obama secured commitments from China and India to reduce their emissions and report on those reductions in a transparent way," said Meyer. "He brought home what the Senate said it needed on this front, and the ball is now in the Senate's court. The president should issue a clarion call for the Senate to deliver a comprehensive climate and energy bill that will create clean energy jobs, curb our dependence on oil, and cut heat-trapping emissions."
President Obama also should explain how he will reduce the role that nuclear weapons play in U.S. security, said Stephen Young, a senior analyst with UCS's Global Security Program.
"The president is a part of a growing bipartisan consensus that nuclear weapons are now a liability to the United States, not an asset," said Young. "To make every American safer, he needs to fulfill the promise he made in Prague last year to reduce the role of nuclear weapons play in U.S. security policy and put an end to Cold War thinking. Nuclear weapons can't stop a terrorist, and an accidental launch or stolen nuclear materials could threaten the future of the planet. We need to dramatically reduce arsenals and secure nuclear materials globally."
Finally, UCS urges the president to quickly release a detailed plan to stop political interference in federal government science.
"I hope the president will signal that his administration will soon act on the pledge he made many months ago to create a scientific integrity plan for the executive branch. It's time for his actions to match his rhetoric," said Francesca Grifo, director of UCS's Scientific Integrity Program. "Without specific agency policy changes that ensure that federal researchers can do their jobs and communicate their results, it will continue to be difficult for the public to hold policymakers accountable for decisions that affect our health and environment."
The Union of Concerned Scientists puts rigorous, independent science to work to solve our planet's most pressing problems. Joining with citizens across the country, we combine technical analysis and effective advocacy to create innovative, practical solutions for a healthy, safe, and sustainable future.
