Obama Courts Smitten Audience at the National Academy

[jasmeel]

YAY science!!

"Only once before has a newly elected president—John F. Kennedy in 1961—traveled the 10 blocks from the White House to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to explain his policies on science and innovation to the nation's most prestigious scientific organization. On Monday, President Barack Obama made the trip, and the symbolism was as important as the message: Many of the promises Obama made—to increase research spending, achieve energy independence, improve science education, and remove ideology from science decision-making—were not new, but having the president himself deliver them made all the difference.

"This is a major deal," said NAS President Ralph Cicerone, still slightly awestruck half an hour after Obama had finished his 38-minute speech (www.nas.edu), shaken hands with front-row dignitaries, and headed back to the White House to greet a collegiate women's basketball team. "He understands how innovation works, and he has a wonderful way of explaining it to the public. The speech was inspiring and credible. We are extremely lucky to have him in the White House."

The crowd, which began queuing up at 6 a.m., was already on his side long before presidential science adviser John Holdren introduced his boss at 9:12 a.m. But Obama clinched the deal by appealing both to their sense of duty—"I want to challenge you to use your love and knowledge of science to spark sense of wonder and excitement in a new generation"—and their desire for more support—"We will devote more than 3% of our GDP to research and development, ... the largest commitment to scientific research and innovation in American history."

[wordpix]

1. change we can believe in! YEAH! Goodbye, BigOil, hello, solar & wind

[gtar100]

2. This deserves more K&R. Very inspiring talk. Very important for our future

President Obama was unequivocal and unapologetic about not only his support for science but also in how he plans on making it central to his administration. This is good, very good.

[callous taoboy]

3. As an educator, I can only hope that

public education science can finally be rid of quack science like Intelligent Design "theory."