President-elect Obama selects top science advisors

Oregon State University professor Jane Lubchenco, a marine biologist, has been selected to run the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, while Harvard physicist John Holdren will become the chief White House science adviser, as well as head the president's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology. Joining him as co-chairs will be Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Eric Lander, a specialist in human genome research, and Nobel Prize-winning scientist Harold Varmus, a former director of the National Institutes of Health.

The selections of Holdren and Lubchenco are especially telling, in that each is a leading expert on climate change who have advocated forceful government action.

Speaking earlier this year, Holdren had this to say:

"I think that most people--even most scientists--continue to underestimate how far down the path to climate catastrophe we've already traveled."

Lubchenco, a member of the Pew Oceans Commission, has recommended steps to overcome serious damage to the world's oceans from pollution and overfishing and has expressed optimism for change once Obama assumes office.

"The Bush administration has not been respectful of the science," she said earlier this year. "But I think that's not true of Republicans in general. I know it's not. I am very much looking forward to a new administration that does respect scientific information and that considers it very seriously in making environmental policies."

Obama's choice for energy secretary, Steven Chu, had this to say to NPR reporters:

"I don't think the American public understands [that there is] a reasonably high probability some very bad things will happen. They fundamentally don't understand that, because if they really felt that then they would do something about it."

Obama said his Administration is determined emphasize science as a priority after years of neglect.

"Promoting science," he said, "means more than just providing money, but also is about ensuring that facts and evidence are never twisted or obscured by politics or ideology. From landing on the moon, to sequencing the human genome, to inventing the Internet, America has been the first to cross that new frontier because we had leaders who paved the way. Leaders who not only invested in our scientists, but who respected the integrity of the scientific process.

"The truth," Obama said, "is that promoting science isn't just about providing resources. It's about protecting free and open inquiry. It's about ensuring that facts and evidence are never twisted or obscured by politics or ideology. It's about listening to what our scientists have to say, even when it's inconvenient."