Former Science Advisor John Holdren Comments on Trump's Executive Order Reviving President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology

I welcome the belated creation of a Trump administration President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) to work with Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Director Kelvin Droegemeier on some of the important issues of national policy on science, technology, and innovation. Historically, PCAST and its predecessor group, the President's Science Advisory Committee, have played important roles connecting the White House with the views of top scientists, engineers, and innovators from business, universities, and civil-society organizations.

The previous administration's PCAST was announced, fully formed, at a meeting with President Obama on April 27, 2009, barely three months past his first inauguration. It got off to a flying start and, over the course of Obama's two terms, completed nearly forty studies requested by the President, many of them leading to major new initiatives applying science and technology to national goals.

The new PCAST has three big handicaps by comparison: it is starting more than two and a half years later in the game; it is working under a president whose apparent interest in inputs from scientists is minimal; and the crucial issues at intersection of science and technology with the immense challenge of climate change do not seem to be on its stated agenda at all.

Even so, OSTP Director Droegemeier is a strong leader, and the initial tranche of seven appointees includes many distinguished individuals (albeit with minimal representation from academia and none from civil society). One may hope that the remaining appointments will bring more sectoral diversity and that, despite the late start, the group will be able to make some significant contributions.

Statements and views expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author and do not imply endorsement by Harvard University, the Harvard Kennedy School, or the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.