Breakout Sessions
Thursday, January 17, 1:30 p.m.

The US Global Change Research Program – What do we want from the next administration? 

Scoping Paper for the Panel on January 17th titled: The US Global Change Research Program – What do we want from the next administration?

Session Chair:
Robert W. Corell, The H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment

Discussants:
Dr. Richard Moss, Vice President and Managing Director for Climate Change, World Wildlife Fund and former Executive Director of the Office of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program and the USGCRP.
Dr. Lynne Carter, Co-Director, Adaptation Network: Building Resilience in a Changing Climate
Dr. Roberta Miller, Senior Research Scientist at Columbia University and a Senior Fellow and former Director of CIESIN
Ms. Susan Joy Hassol, Climate Communication
Mr. Rick Piltz, Director, Climate Science Watch, Government Accountability Project
Dr. William J. Brennan, Acting Director, U.S. Climate Change Science Program; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Dr. Aristides (Ari) A. N. Patrinos, 
President Synthetic Genomics and director of the Office of Biological and Environmental Research
Dr. Thomas Lovejoy, President, the H. John Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the Environment

Background:
In its September 2007 report, Evaluating Progress of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, the National Research Council’s Committee on Strategic Advice on the U.S. Climate Change Science Program concluded that the program is falling short in key areas, including: the program leadership’s lack of authority to allocate or prioritize funding across the agencies; inadequate progress in synthesizing research results and supporting decisionmaking and risk management; the inability of the program to support a consistent and cogent research agenda on the impact of climate change on human well-being and vulnerabilities; the fundamental threat to the future of the program posed by the loss of existing and planned satellite sensors; the need for greater progress in understanding and predicting climate change at regional and local scales; and inadequate progress in communicating CCSP results and engaging stakeholders.

With stepped up Congressional oversight compared to recent years, hearings held this year by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, the House Science Committee, and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee have addressed some of these issues. Hearings have also focused on reports of political interference with federal climate science communication. Pending legislation reported by the Senate Commerce Committee and House Science Committee would begin to address some of these issues with needed reforms.

A federal district court ruling in August 2007 held that the administration is in violation of the Global Change Research Act of 1990 by not continuing to produce a required assessment of global change impacts, as had been done with the National Assessment of Climate Change Impacts in 2000. The court ordered the program to produce a new assessment in 2008. The program is years behind schedule in producing a series of 21 synthesis reports that were promised by September 2007 in the program’s 2003 Strategic Plan.

Scoping issues for the session:
Panelists will present a discussion of key issues in a new scoping paper on the future of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP)* that is being prepared for this session and that will be posted on this web site in advance of the session.

Some broad questions include: What leadership and institutional structure and process can best strengthen and integrate the program and its budget and focus it on key priorities? How can the program most effectively translate scientific advances into support for decisionmaking and risk management, and engage in effective two-way communication with policymakers and the public? How can the integrity and credibility of the program and its communications best be protected from inappropriate political interference?       

Goal of the session:
This session is intended to kick off a process of consultation and collaborative effort that will result in a well-developed proposal with recommendations on the future of the USGCRP, to be communicated to the presidential candidates, to party platform committees, and to the transition team for the next administration. 

Panel Program Schedule:
1:30 Opening to the Session: Review of the Scoping Paper which addresses the question -- The US Global Change Research Program – What do we want from the next administration? (Corell)
1:50 Introduction of Panelists and their Opening Remarks (5-8 minutes each):
        • Richard Moss 
        • Lynne Carter
        • Roberta Miller (Invited)
        • Susan Joy Hassol
        • Rick Piltz
2:40  Introduction of Discussants and their Remarks (5-10 minutes each):
        • Dr. William J. Brennan (invited)
        • Dr. Aristides (Ari) A. N. Patrinos
        • Dr. Thomas Lovejoy
3:10 Break
3:30 Questions, Comments and Interactions with Panelist and Discussants from the Floor
4:50 Wrap-Up Summary (Corell)
5:00 Adjourn

 
Additional Resources:
Committee on Strategic Advice on the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, National Research Council, Evaluating Progress of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program: Methods and Preliminary Results <http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11934>
Our Changing Planet — The U.S. Climate Change Science Program for Fiscal Year 2008 <http://www.usgcrp.gov/usgcrp/Library/ocp2008/default.htm>
U.S. National Assessment of Climate Change <http://www.usgcrp.gov/usgcrp/nacc/default.htm>
Testimony of Rick Piltz before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Hearing on Climate Change Research and Scientific Integrity, February 7, 2007 <http://www.climatesciencewatch.org/index.php/csw/details/piltz-senate-testimony/>
Testimony of Lynne M. Carter before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Hearing on A Time for Change: Improving the Federal Climate Research and Information Program, November 14, 2007 <http://commerce.senate.gov/public/_files/Cartertestimony2.pdf>

*The U.S. Global Change Research Program, established in 1989, is the name of the multiagency federal research program under the Global Change Research Act of 1990, which remains the governing statute for the current program.