Policy Concentrates RESEARCH FUNDING
Science slashed in 2020 budget proposal
C&EN Global Enterp 2019.97:14-14. Downloaded from pubs.acs.org by UNIV OF SOUTH DAKOTA on 03/20/19. For personal use only.
Plan continues trend in Trump’s support for research For the third time in his presidency, Donald J. Trump has proposed major cuts to US science programs. The funding reductions would have a devastating effect on research if implemented in fiscal year 2020. However, those slashes are likely to be ignored by Congress, which has the final say in federal funding. For 2019, Trump also put forward deep cuts to science agencies across the board, but Congress instead increased funding for most agencies. Just last month, Trump touted US dominance in science and technology, Rush Holt, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, points out. “For the United States to remain a world leader in science and technology research and innovation, the budget should match the rhetoric,” he says. “We urge Congress to act in the public’s best interest and fund critical investments in research.” Overall, the president proposed 9% cuts in nondefense discretionary spending, which includes most science research. In an unusual move, agencies’ detailed budgets were not released with the president’s budget overview and are expected to come out the week of March 18. Trump has asked Congress to chop the Environmental Protection Agency’s overall budget by 31% to $6.1 billion in 2020, down from the $8.9 billion it is estimated to get this year. The proposal would end a number of EPA programs. Those include the agency’s work on global climate change
In a surprising turn, Trump proposes a research, green chemistry, and the popu20% boost for the Department of Agricullar Science to Achieve Results Program, ture’s grant program, however, the larger which funds research grants and graduate Agricultural Research Service faces a 12% programs. decrease. One effort at the EPA that is important As he has since 2017, Trump proposed to the chemical industry would get a budzero funding for the US Chemical Safety getary boost under the proposal: reviewing the risks from commercial substances under the Toxic Substances Control Act. This Trump’s proposed 2020 budget almost universally would supplement the fees means less money for science agencies. that chemical makers pay the Proposed change from 2019 spending EPA for these activities. NASA On the research side, the National Institutes NIH of Health (NIH) faces at least a 12% proposed cut, NSF from $38 billion to around $33 billion. Traditional fundDOE Office of Science ing darlings, the National NIST Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Allergy EPA science and technology and Infectious Diseases, -40 -30 -20 -10 0 both would be hit with over 10 $750 million in cuts under Source: AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program estimates. the proposed budget. The and Hazard Investigation Board. National Institute of General Medical SciLawmakers will not just have to deal ences, which funds more chemists than any with the president’s proposed budget for other NIH agency, would get 14% less. 2020; congressional leaders will also have Other agencies are also under the cloud to avoid across-the-board budget cuts of major decreases in the proposal, includknown as sequestration. Congress has ing a 12% cut to $7.1 billion for the National pushed them off each year since they were Science Foundation and a 30% reduction passed in 2011.—ANDREA WIDENER and at the National Institute of Standards and Technology to $688 million. CHERYL HOGUE
Looking down
SUSTAINABILITY
Global action needed to curb chemical pollution The United Nations calls for urgent measures to reduce serious threats from chemical pollution to human health, the environment, and economies in a new report. The second Global Chemicals Outlook, released March 11 at the start of the fiveday UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, calls for greater use of sustainable materials and better education about the adverse impacts of chemical use. The $5 trillion chemical industry, projected to double by 2030, continues to release large quantities of hazardous substances into the air, soils, and water, the UN
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C&EN | CEN.ACS.ORG | MARCH 18, 2019
report says. Such substances are found in food and people. The World Health Organization estimates that exposure to selected chemicals led to 1.6 million deaths in 2016. The UN report says improving legislation in developing countries may provide opportunities for innovative financing for sustainability projects, while other policies could encourage integration of green and sustainable chemistry in education. Countries must also work together to develop a global framework for the management of chemical substances and waste, the report says. It estimates that taking
action would yield benefits “in the high tens of billions of United States dollars annually.” A global chemical industry group, the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA), released its own analysis of the industry’s contributions to the global economy, including providing 120 million jobs worldwide. The chemical industry is a “major enabler” of sustainable development, ICCA council secretary and American Chemistry Council CEO Cal Dooley says.—PAULA
DUPRAZ-DOBIAS, special to C&EN
