Karl Rove has left the White House and, thankfully, George W Bush isn't far behind. We ran an article a few days back by Chris Mooney, Washington correspondent for Seed magazine and author of the Republican War on Science who blogs at Intersection, on the Bush presidency's effects on science. After chronicling the shameful politicisation and hobbling of so much science during the Bush administration, he argues that there is now a lot to be hopeful for.
From the article:
The presidency of George W Bush is waning and laming. The time has come to think about the future and when it comes to policies for US science and to the use of science in US policy, let's put it bluntly, pretty much anything will be an improvement.
Over the past seven years, Mr Bush has shown a disturbing unwillingness to change his mind or admit to errors of fact or judgment. So we are probably safe in assuming he will not significantly alter course on the leading science policy topics of the day - embryonic stem cell research and global warming.
Fortunately, the constitution of the United States insists that Mr Bush give up office next year and the rest of the world is collectively holding its breath that his successor reverses some of the curtailments to science.
Chris continues:
The unreasonable stem cell restrictions will vanish quickly. Once they topple we can also expect a considerable increase beyond the $US37-38m (£17.5-18.5m) currently being spent annually by the US government to research human embryonic stem cells. In comparison, the total NIH annual research budget is over $28bn.
The global warming issue, in contrast, will be resolved only slowly, assuming it's not already too late. But at least at last there will be progress. On both fronts Mr Bush's presidency will be remembered as a mountainous roadblock, not a mere speed bump, but the United States will eventually show its better character.
Is Chris right to be optimistic? Do the latest crop of presidential candidates inspire any confidence among scientists?
Or, as pointed on the Cosmic Variance blog, is this response by Republican presidential hopefuls in a televised debate in June - where Sam Brownback, Tom Tancredo, and Mike Huckabee all said they did not believe in evolution - something to worry about?
