Stand Up for Science Statement on “Science: A New Golden Age”
By Cole Donovan, Director of Policy and Advocacy, Stand Up for Science Foundation
Like many of the the Trump Administration’s previous science and technology policy papers, “Science, A New Golden Age” is a confused document disconnected from the Administration’s actions around science and science policy.
It regurgitates maxims that no one actually believed in. It doubles down on merit review and accountability while the Administration develops regulations that undermine those systems.
It ignores critical parts of the science and technology ecosystem infrastructure (like scientific collections), neglecting the challenges those elements face and their impact on the future of discovery.
It makes unearned comparisons between the Genesis Mission and the Apollo Program or Human Genome Project (projects which had specific, clearly defined, and measurable goals).
It gestures vaguely toward “Gold Standard Science,” a policy that is most notable for making political officials no longer accountable to rules governing scientific integrity as the same officials release documents that cite nonexistent studies.
It talks about the need to further develop our scientific talent while ignoring the fact that the administration’s decisions are actively pushing people out of scientific careers.
Where it does speak more directly to actual problems confronting scientists, it is incredibly vague, does not present actual solutions (“we need more grand challenges”), and while awkwardly repeating talking points used by decades of presidential administrations’ science policy practitioners.
Its only solution seems to be throwing artificial intelligence every problem, without regard for the challenges the technology introduces or its human costs.
We could go on.
America deserves a better science policy framework; one that reckons with the real challenges faced by the public and scientists today while offering clear and actionable solutions.
Our vision is a future in which science serves the public good.
Let’s build it together.