ENVIRONMENTAL R&D BUDGET

Abstract

In an unprecedented White House briefing, senior Administration officials from eight agencies joined forces to protest cuts that Congress has slated for their environmental research and development budgets in fiscal 1996. If enacted, these cuts will undermine public health and safety, inflict long-term damage on the economy, and take away the agencies' ability to provide a scientifically sound basis for environmental decision making, the officials said, quoting from statements issued by their agencies' heads. Leading the charge at the briefing was John H. Gibbons, director of the Office of Science & Technology Policy, which organized the event. According to Gibbons, Improved environmental quality is one of our great success stories over the past 25 years, yet this Congress is now assailing the science and technology programs that helped produce this success Congress' actions are the scientific equivalent of book burning and will lead to environmental policies that are defined by politics, not science. ...