The White House's new budget request for science is out, and it's a doozy. As readers here know, Congress cut deeply into the proposed science budget last year, leaving many critical programs reeling. The new budget would restore most of those funds, and do considerably more besides.
But is it realistic? You tell me. I'm hopeful, but I hear a lot about a recession coming, and that tends to make budgetary decisions troublesome.
By the numbers, the Office of Science budget request totals about $4.7 billion, an increase of about 20 percent over the final fiscal 2008 budget. But that number requires a little background to understand.
The White House and Congress have both supported a plan dubbed the American Competitiveness Initiative, which includes the goal of doubling the level of Office of Science-funded research over 10 years. That includes most big-ticket physical sciences and advanced energy projects, among other topics.
Trouble is, the last two years haven't been on track to reach this goal, with last year's budget falling close to $500 million short of the trajectory. The
20 percent funding increase this year would put the nation's science budget back on track for that ambitious ten-year goal, which makes it a very significant jump from this year's spending.
That's never a good sign, even for popular programs, in penny-pinching times.
In a conference call with reporters today, Office of Science Under
Secretary for Science Raymond Orbach said he was hopeful that the budget proposal would be passed by Congress this year, despite the big jump in funding levels.
"If this not honored, then I think we're in real trouble," he said.
"There is a real chance ... that we will lose our competitive edge as a country as compared with other countries that are investing in physical sciences."
Among the projects that would be funded are the international ITER
fusion reactor project(which we're required to pay for anyway, and are going into arrears due to this year's budget cuts), a restoration of funds for projects at the Fermilab high-energy physics facility and new funding for the International Linear Collider project.
A full version of the science budget request can be found here. But with U.S. politics about as unsettled as they can be, don't treat this as gospel for next year.
FY 2009 BUDGET REQUEST TO CONGRESS [DOE Office of Science]
(Image: A cutaway of the planned ITER fusion reactor, funding for which would be restored by the fiscal year 2009 budget proposal)
