K4D in the State of the Union Address

The Address itself can be found here, on the White House website.

The main K4D section of the Address was that focusing on competitiveness:

And to keep America competitive, one commitment is necessary above all: We must continue to lead the world in human talent and creativity. Our greatest advantage in the world has always been our educated, hardworking, ambitious people -- and we're going to keep that edge. Tonight I announce an American Competitiveness Initiative, to encourage innovation throughout our economy, and to give our nation's children a firm grounding in math and science.

First, I propose to double the federal commitment to the most critical basic research programs in the physical sciences over the next 10 years. This funding will support the work of America's most creative minds as they explore promising areas such as nanotechnology, supercomputing, and alternative energy sources.

Second, I propose to make permanent the research and development tax credit to encourage bolder private-sector initiatives in technology. With more research in both the public and private sectors, we will improve our quality of life -- and ensure that America will lead the world in opportunity and innovation for decades to come.

Third, we need to encourage children to take more math and science, and to make sure those courses are rigorous enough to compete with other nations. We've made a good start in the early grades with the No Child Left Behind Act, which is raising standards and lifting test scores across our country. Tonight I propose to train 70,000 high school teachers to lead advanced-placement courses in math and science, bring 30,000 math and science professionals to teach in classrooms, and give early help to students who struggle with math, so they have a better chance at good, high-wage jobs. If we ensure that America's children succeed in life, they will ensure that America succeeds in the world.

Preparing our nation to compete in the world is a goal that all of us can share. I urge you to support the American Competitiveness Initiative, and together we will show the world what the American people can achieve.

The Section of the Address on Energy was also K4D intensive:

Keeping America competitive requires affordable energy. And here we have a serious problem: America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world. The best way to break this addiction is through technology. Since 2001, we have spent nearly $10 billion to develop cleaner, cheaper, and more reliable alternative energy sources -- and we are on the threshold of incredible advances.

So tonight, I announce the Advanced Energy Initiative -- a 22-percent increase in clean-energy research -- at the Department of Energy, to push for breakthroughs in two vital areas. To change how we power our homes and offices, we will invest more in zero-emission coal-fired plants, revolutionary solar and wind technologies, and clean, safe nuclear energy.

We must also change how we power our automobiles. We will increase our research in better batteries for hybrid and electric cars, and in pollution-free cars that run on hydrogen. We'll also fund additional research in cutting-edge methods of producing ethanol, not just from corn, but from wood chips and stalks, or switch grass. Our goal is to make this new kind of ethanol practical and competitive within six years.

Breakthroughs on this and other new technologies will help us reach another great goal: to replace more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025. By applying the talent and technology of America, this country can dramatically improve our environment, move beyond a petroleum-based economy, and make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the past.

Toward the end of the Address the President address bioethics:

A hopeful society has institutions of science and medicine that do not cut ethical corners, and that recognize the matchless value of every life. Tonight I ask you to pass legislation to prohibit the most egregious abuses of medical research: human cloning in all its forms, creating or implanting embryos for experiments, creating human-animal hybrids, and buying, selling, or patenting human embryos. Human life is a gift from our Creator -- and that gift should never be discarded, devalued or put up for sale.

Jonathan Weisman and Amy Goldstein did an analysis in The Washington Post ("The Domestic Initiative: In a Lean Budget Year, A Pledge for Research")

With Washington bracing for an austere budget year, President Bush last night proposed a 10-year, $136 billion initiative that would double the federal commitment to basic scientific research and train tens of thousands of new math and science teachers.

The president's "American Competitiveness Initiative" may lack the ambition of last year's effort to dramatically reshape Social Security, but in size and scope it dwarfs other domestic proposals in health care and energy research that had been heavily promoted in the run-up to the State of the Union address.

More excerpts:

Now the president will ask Congress to increase spending on federal research and development next year by nearly $6 billion, to a level that would be more than 50 percent higher than the level he inherited in 2001. Under the initiative, the budgets of the NSF, the Energy Department's Office of Science, and the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology would double over 10 years, with $50 billion in new funding......

But whereas his science program was denominated in billions of dollars, his energy program was in millions. Research into emissions-free coal plants would get $54 million in the fiscal year that begins in October. Solar power would get an additional $65 million. And wind energy would get a $5 million increase.

Bush also called for $59 million in additional funds for developing fuels out of agricultural waste, such as wood chips, switch grass and stalks, with the aim of making such "cellulosic ethanol" competitive and practical within six years.

ROBIN TONER, DIANA JEAN SCHEMO and ROBERT PEAR wrote in the New York Times ("On Education and Health, Costly Plans Face Hurdles"):

One set of new measures, to improve the teaching of math and science, train workers, aid universities and increase federal support for research and development, would cost $5.9 billion next year and $136 billion over 10 years, the White House said. Of that, $86 billion would go to making permanent the tax break for industries when they invest in research and development; Congress has used this tax break periodically, particularly to help the economy during recessions.

Mr. Bush's proposals were based on a report issued in October by the National Academy of Sciences ("Rising Above The Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future") and embraced by industry groups and others. The report warned that without such measures, the United States would lose its competitive edge in technology to China and India, countries with educated workforces and lower wage structures.

The report recommended doubling federal spending on basic research grants in the physical sciences over seven years; the president proposed doubling spending on such grants over 10 years, at a cost of $50 billion. Mr. Bush also adopted the report's call for increasing the number of high school teachers who offer especially rigorous courses in math and science by 70,000 over five years.

The recognition by the President of the importance of science and math education, of science and technological innovation is of course very welcome.

One may ask why he chose these initiatives at this time. I suppose the answer is in part that they are important to this Administration and play to key constituencies. This Administration has made previous initiatives in education, and the current initiative is consistant with them. So too, this administration has increased spending on R&D in the past. The intiatives will benefit business and the social strata that send their kids to science classes, and thus play to key Administration bases. So too, the bioethics initiatives are consistant with previous efforts of this Administration, and play to its fundamentalist religious supporters.

One may hope that these initiatives will be less controversial than some in the past, an important feature for an embattled Administration.

They also seem to be affordable in the near future, placing greater budget demands in out years (to be faced by future Administrations). Thus the Administration gets credit for ambitious initiatives without facing heavy costs in a period of considerable budgetary stress.