President Obama's Science and Technology Director speaks at Ninth Annual Wege Lecture

Yesterday evening I took advantage of one of the great educational opportunities that seem to be in no short supply around Ann Arbor. I joined several members of the Michigan LCV staff in attending the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources & Environment's 9th annual Peter M. Wege Lecture on Sustainability. Last night’s speaker was John P. Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the Co-Chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).  In short, he's a pretty important person, especially considering the emphasis the Obama Administration is putting on science and technology as a means of reviving our economy.

Dr. Holdren spent a significant portion of his speech illustrating the ways in which President Obama has made science and technology a pillar of his administration, through appointments, speeches, ceremonies, and investments. In a world of sound-bites and Fox News and political infighting, it was genuinely refreshing to hear Dr. Holdren’s humanizing characterization of our President as a leader dedicated to scientific and technological advancement, and to see the pictures of President Obama meeting with middle school math champions and enjoying Astronomy Night on the White House lawn (click here). Why don’t these stories ever make the evening news?

As a Michigan native I was interested in the investments being made in Michigan, including:

• $80 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds for clean and efficient energy,

• $243 million for weatherization projects,

• Investment in alternative fuel companies like A123 Systems in Ann Arbor, which develops ion-lithium battery technology, and..

• Two new Great Lakes research vessels on Lake Huron and Lake Ontario.

And as a Michigan LCV staffer, I was particularly interested in the ways Dr. Holdren’s views on sustainability seemed to align with ours at MLCV. He explained his belief that human well-being depends on the upholding of three systems: an economic system, a sociopolitical system, and an environmental system, and these systems are interlinked; the collapse of one leads to the instability of the others. This is exactly what we at Michigan LCV have been emphasizing for the past year, that our state’s economic and environmental health are inextricably linked. A simple enough idea on the surface, but surprisingly difficult to convey to the public that associates all environmental protection with crippling regulation. So I appreciated Dr. Holden’s scientific explanation of what has become a contentious social issue.

The question-and-answer portion of the program yielded honest and forthright responses from Dr. Holdren, some of which I was very excited to hear:

• The Obama administration is committed to comprehensive energy legislation. With health care legislation on the books now, there is likely to be more political effort dedicated to the issue of energy legislation, and Dr. Holdren was hopeful that it would be an issue that garnered more bipartisan support.

• Dr. Holdren acknowledged that in order to make climate change legislation effective, we have to put a price, in real dollars, on GHG emissions.

• He also acknowledged that there is no such thing as clean coal, but there is cleaner coal; we have to understand that the U.S. relies on coal for 50% of its electricity needs and this isn’t just going to change overnight. At this point we have several resources we can put to use, including methods for retrofitting plants, more effective carbon-sequestration technology, and healthier coal-extraction techniques. (We at MLCV wonder if we should also perhaps be re-assessing the high rate at which the government subsidizes the coal industry…)

• And Dr. Holdren’s comment that resonated the strongest for me and my fellow MLCVer’s was in response to a question about how to deal with legislators who “just don’t want to know” the facts about climate change because it will interfere with their preconceived convictions that we absolutely cannot have any more government regulation. Dr. Holdren’s solution (which was met with loud applause from the audience) was “Vote the bums out!”

Amen Dr. Holdren!

Submitted by Hannah Smith, Michigan LCV Policy & Programs Associate.