With political leaders describing it as “historic” and government scientists defending it as “intellectually sound,” the Bush administration released its 356-page “Strategic Plan for the Climate Change Science Program” at a lengthy press conference in late July. The report, presented specifically as a 10-year research plan and not a policy document, will coordinate and amplify climate change research now conducted in 13 federal agencies.
Noting that the federal government already spends $4.5 billion a year on “climate change-related work,” Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham said that the new program “will find the answers to many unanswered questions [about global warming] and lead to better technology [to deal with the warming].” To bolster the scientific credibility of the report, Abraham cited a letter from the directors of 11 Department of Energy (DOE) research labs; those officials endorsed the report as a “much needed science-based vision.”
John Marburger, director of the administration’s...
