President Trump ’s political appointee nomination process isopaque , and oftentimes justass - back . So when it was announced Friday that former astronaut and geosciences PhD James Reillywas being nominatedto aim the U.S. Geological Survey , there were certainly some double takes .
fit in to Nature , Reilly is only the 2nd person with a science PhD to be nominated by Trump to lead a science delegacy , the other being Francis Collins , manager of the US National Institutes of Health .
If confirmed by the Senate , Reilly would join Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke ’s leadership team in a position with mint of room for controversy . The USGS is the DOI ’s scientific arm , with scientist focusing on manage and monitoring landscape , born resourcefulness , and instinctive hazards .
It ’s probably Reilly , who was a chief geologist at Dallas - based oil color and gas company Enserch Exploration for over a decade before joining NASA and logging 856 hours in blank , will flirt a key role in facilitate Trump ’s squad mine more earth .
In December , Trump issued anexecutive ordercalling on the U.S. to deoxidize strange reliance on decisive minerals , used in the industry of everything from railcar to phones to wind turbine . Around the same sentence , the USGS bring out itsfirst full new assessmentof the country ’s vital mineral resource since 1973 , which found that 20 out of the 23 decisive minerals the res publica relies on are mainly sourced from China .
The EO manoeuver Zinke to make out up with a strategy in six months and calls for “ new sources of critical minerals ” on U.S. grime and the streamlining of the “ leasing and permitting process to expedite yield . ”
Seems like something Reilly , who drive his undergrad , master ’s and doctoral degrees in geosciences from the University of Texas at Dallas , could help oneself with . Zinke is also a top proponent of the disposal ’s “ America First ” energy program , which entails seek out unexampled sources of coal , oil , and throttle both on andoffshore . Reilly ’s expertness could also be lent to this endeavor .
David S. Abraham , a senior dude at the think tank New America , told Earther that “ it ’s more significant that he has a backcloth in oil colour rather than space for this administration . ”
Lexi Shultz , Vice President of Public Affairs at the nonpartisan American Geophysical Union , recite Earther that they are “ excited about a nominee who has such a secure educational background knowledge in the geosciences and has spent his career working in geology and blank . ”
She said recently the agency has faced a funding shortfall and the inability to send many scientists to scientific meetings . They hope have the director situation filled by someone with such a strong skill desktop “ will help in terms of have an advocator for science and for the vital persona that USGS play for our thriftiness and the public ’s health and eudaemonia . ”
Even as Trump calls for more domestic vital resources , he is belittle the USGS ’s own imagination . As Science report , last year the Trump administration sought to rationalise USGS ’s $ 1.1 billion budget by 15 pct . This could have serious minus repercussions , as the federal agency is also responsible for monitoring and hit the books lifelike disaster , managing water resources , and overseeing the ground - keep Landsat satellites . In July , Debra Willard , coordinator for the USGS Climate Research and Development Program , sent an clear letter of the alphabet to co-worker around the world warning that the Trump administration ’s proposed 2018 budget cutsthreaten lots of important data - assemblage programsrelating to everything from mood change to volcanoes .
Per Science , the proposed budget cuts mainly direct “ programs focused on climate change as well as initiatives in temblor early warning and volcanic peril monitoring , among others . ”
“ lead the USGS requires a potent commitment to scientific wholeness and supporting the great oeuvre of USGS scientist , and advocating forcefully for the USGS deputation within the Department of Interior ” Peter Frumhoff , Director of Science and Policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists , told Earther . “ Reilly should commit to upholding these policy and principle that allow USGS scientists to gestate out the agency ’s essential missionary station unfettered by political preventive . ”
Now that Reilly ’s nominating speech — which has long been expected — is official , possibly Trump can move on to debate other scientific discipline - given folks for of import scientific mail , such as , I do n’t know , a skill adviser ?
Unlikely .
Arecent reportfrom the Union of Concerned Scientists set up that after a year , the administration has shown “ an unprecedented level of stalled and disbanded scientific advisory committees , set off meetings , and dismissed experts . ”
The analysis find that fewer than a after part of the hundreds of appointed positions have been filled , including director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy , who usually serves as the President ’s top science advisor .
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