Dec 1 1973
From The Space Library
Dr. Dixy Lee Ray, Atomic Energy Commission Chairman, submitted the report The Nation's Energy Future to President Nixon in response to the President's June 29 request for recommended energy research and development programs for inclusion in the FY 1975 budget. Recommendations were to establish an operational Energy Research and Development Administration by July 1, 1974, to plan and coordinate the total program and direct the major share of the Federal program; conduct an annual program review to reallocate funds among programs as required; ensure full consideration of energy con-sequences of all Federal actions to achieve nonenergy goals; promote private-sector participation in the conduct, review, and evaluation of the Federal ER&D program; initiate in FY 1975 a Synthetic Fuels Pioneer program of privately funded construction of commercial plants for producing synthetic fuels from coal, using existing technologies; and accelerate ongoing work in environmental effects research, basic research, and manpower development. The congressional Joint Committee on Atomic Energy held hearings on the report Dec. 11. (Transcript)
A Science & Government Report editorial commented on Federal science policy response to the energy crisis: "Following on the pattern of the Sputnik trauma, the energy debacle is inevitably evoking prescriptions for still another reorganization of federal scientific and technical advisory services." The essential fact about science in Washington was "that knowledge is power only when the political element accepts the knowledge as being politically palatable." Rearranging the Government was one of Washington's favorite indoor pastimes, "but the utility of it is open to serious doubt." (Sci & Gov Rpt, 12/1/73)
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