Holdren and Lubchenco confirmed!
NCSE thanks all who contacted Senate.
The US Senate has confirmed the nominations of Dr. Jane Lubchenco as the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and of Dr. John P. Holdrenas the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Dr. Holdren also serves as Science Advisor to President Obama, a position that does not require Senate confirmation. The nominations were confirmed by consent on the night of March 19.
NCSE congratulates Dr. Lubchenco and Dr. Holdren on their confirmation and looks forward to working with them to advance scientifc understanding of climate change, biodiversity and other environmental issues and the application of science to decisionmaking.
Although President Obama announced the nominations in mid-December, they had been delayed by a "hold" placed on their nominations by Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ). NCSE thanks the more than 200 scientists and others who responded to our request on March 4 and contacted Senator Menendez's office demanding that he stop blocking the nominations (for a completely unrelated issue regarding Cuba). Since then, we have been in regular communication with staff of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, which confirmed the nominations last week, and of Majority Leader Senator Harry Reid. We are delighted that the confirmations have finally been achieved and that these leading scientists can fully get to work on the important business of the nation and the world.
Prior to joining the administration, Dr. Holdren was the Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy and Director of the Program on Science, Technology, and Public Policy in the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He was also Professor of Environmental Science and Public Policy in Harvard's Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and President and Director of the Woods Hole Research Center. Dr. Holdren, a past president of AAAS, a MacArthur Fellow and one of the world’s leading experts on energy and climate presented the John H. Chafee Memorial Lecture at NCSE’s 8th National Conference on Science Policy and the Environment: Climate Change: Science and Solutions this past January. Holdren's lecture: Meeting the Climate-Change Challenge is available online at http://www.ncseonline.org/Conference/Chafee08final.pdf
Dr. Lubchenco, who served as Wayne and Gladys Valley Professor of Marine Biology and Distinguished Professor of Zoology at Oregon State University is one of the nation’s leading marine biologists. She is a former member of the National Science Board, past president of AAAS, the International Council for Science (ICSU), and the Ecological Society of America, and a MacArthur Fellow. Dr. Lubchenco founded the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program that teaches outstanding academic environmental scientists to be effective leaders and communicators of scientific information, COMPASS, the Communication Partnership for Science and the Sea, a collaboration among academic scientists, communication and media specialists that communicates academic marine conservation science to policy makers, the media, managers and the public. One of the world’s leading ecologists and conservation biologists, Dr. Lubchenco spoke at NCSE’s first National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment, Improving the Scientific Basis of Environmental Decisionmaking in December 2000.
In her written statement to NOAA employees upon her confirmation, Dr. Lubchenco stated, "As an ecologist, I focus on connections – connections among the land, sea, and air, and connections between nature and people. This perspective will serve me well at NOAA, as we work together as a team and connect with our many partners in other agencies, on Capitol Hill, in the states, civil society, and the private sector."
The National Council for Science and the Environment is pleased to be one of these partners and looks forward to continuing to work with Dr. Lubchenco and Dr. Holdren in their vital new positions at this critical time.
