72 



ductivity; (2) contribute to meeting the nation's energy, food, and 

 resource needs; (3) promote improved public health; (4) expand the 

 beneficial uses of space; and (5) increase understanding of the natu- 

 ral environment and the changes induced by society. 2 



In outlining his position on science and technology policy, Presi- 

 dent Carter told Congress in March 1979: "While science and tech- 

 nology alone will not solve all our domestic problems they hold the 

 key to many aspects of the solutions. . . . We expect science and 

 technology to find new sources of energy, to feed the world's grow- 

 ing population, to provide new tools for our national security." 3 

 The Carter White House became firmly committed to expanding 

 Federal funding of R&D because of its belief that science and tech- 

 nology offered major contributions to the solution of the nation's 

 most serious domestic and national security problems. The Admin- 

 istration supported this position by arguing that Federal funding of 

 research and development represented an investment rather than 

 merely an annual budget expense. President Carter articulated this 

 rationale in his 1979 State of the Union message. 



Scientific research and development is an investment in 

 the nation's future, essential for all fields, from health, ag- 

 riculture, and environment to energy, space, and defense. 

 We are enhancing the search for the causes of disease; we 

 are undertaking research to anticipate and prevent signifi- 

 cant environmental hazards; we are increasing research in 

 astronomy; we will maintain our leadership in space sci- 

 ence; and we are pushing back the frontiers in basic re- 

 search for energy, defense, and other critical national 

 needs. 4 



Perhaps the best example of the Carter Administration's empha- 

 sis on using science and technology to help alleviate domestic prob- 

 lems was in the area of energy. Developing a new national energy 

 policy was one of the principal concerns of the Administration. 

 This effort was led by the director of the White House Office of 

 Energy Policy and Planning, James Schlesinger. Describing the na- 

 tion's energy problems as "the moral equivalent of war," President 

 Carter presented his National Energy Plan on 18 April 1977. The 

 National Energy Act was not passed by Congress, however, until 

 the following year. More important to the development of science 

 policy — since the National Energy Act dealt primarily with regula- 

 tory and tax issues — was the establishment of the cabinet-level De- 

 partment of Energy (DOE) in August 1977. 5 The Carter energy 

 policy stressed the promotion of energy conservation, synthetic 

 fuels, and solar energy, while deemphasizing nuclear power. The 

 DOE promoted the objectives in part through an expanding R&D 



2 See Ronayne, Science in Government, pp. 112-113; Barfield, Science Policy from Ford to 

 Reagan, pp. 10-36; and Frank Press, "Science and Technology in the White House, 1977 to 1980: 

 Part I," Science, 211 (January 9, 1981), 139-149 and "Part II" (January 16, 1981), 249-256. 



3 "Science and Technology, Message to Congress, March 27, 1979," Public Papers of the Presi- 

 dents, Jimmy Carter (1979) (Washington: GPO, 1980), pp. 528, 531. 



4 Public Papers . . . Carter (1979), p. 140. See also, "Industrial Innovation Initiatives, Message 

 to Congress, October 31, 1979," in Ibid., pp. 2070-2074; and Barfield, Science Policy from Ford to 

 Reagan, p. 12. 



5 Public Law 95-91. 



