-Gus
_______________________________________________
Gus, can you make this a new topic?
FY09 and beyond.
Given we will have a new administration a year from now, I thought it would be interesting to look ahead based upon who might be President. Since Obama is all the rage now for the Democrats, I went to his web site and found the following info that would have an impact on the national labs.
Perhaps someone else could do the same for a few other contenders.
______________________________
http://www.barackobama.com
Invest in Climate-Friendly Energy Development and Deployment:
Barack Obama knows that we need to rely on technology to help solve the critical energy and environmental problems facing this country. As he announced in his energy policy, Barack Obama will invest $150 billion over the next ten years to enable American engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs to advance the next generation of biofuels and fuel infrastructure, accelerate the commercialization of plug-in hybrids, promote development of commercial-scale renewable energy, and begin the transition to a new digital electricity grid. This investment will transform the economy and create millions of new jobs. Obama will:
1. Double federal science and research funding for clean energy projects, relying on the resources and ability of our national laboratories, universities and land grant colleges.
Toward a Nuclear Free World:
Obama will set a goal of a world without nuclear weapons, and pursue it. Obama will always maintain a strong deterrent as long as nuclear weapons exist. But he will take several steps down the long road toward eliminating nuclear weapons. He will stop the development of new nuclear weapons; work with Russia to take U.S. and Russian ballistic missiles off hair trigger alert; seek dramatic reductions in U.S. and Russian stockpiles of nuclear weapons and material; and set a goal to expand the U.S.-Russian ban on intermediate- range missiles so that the agreement is global.
Look, this is very simple:
ReplyDelete(1) Housing market is deflating and USA is facing deflationary depresion unless government blows another bubble.
(2) Already had a bubble in tech and housing. Whats left? ENERGY (and food and infrastructure).
(3) Government will need to start blowing bubble THIS YEAR. Will continue into 2010.
Why can't our brain dead managers see this?? Why do they let every chance to get out in front of this comming wave pass through their fingers? Why do discussions like this on the web always wind up with asnine sniping about RIF numbers etc? Folks, we have a very small window to get it together if we want to ride this wave.
A bit more from his energy plan...
ReplyDelete"Safe and Secure Nuclear Energy: Nuclear power represents more than 70 percent of our non-carbon generated electricity. It is unlikely that we can meet our aggressive climate goals if we eliminate nuclear power from the table. However, there is no future for expanded nuclear without first addressing four key issues: public right-to-know, security of nuclear fuel and waste, waste storage, and proliferation. Barack Obama introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate to establish guidelines for tracking, controlling and accounting for spent fuel at nuclear power plants.
To prevent international nuclear material from falling into terrorist hands abroad, Obama worked closely with Sen. Dick Lugar (R – IN) to strengthen international efforts to identify and stop the smuggling of weapons of mass destruction. As president, Obama will make safeguarding nuclear material both abroad and in the U.S. a top anti-terrorism priority.
Obama will also lead federal efforts to look for a safe, long-term disposal solution based on objective, scientific analysis. In the meantime, Obama will develop requirements to ensure that the waste stored at current reactor sites is contained using the most advanced dry-cask storage technology available. Barack Obama believes that Yucca Mountain is not an option. Our government has spent billions of dollars on Yucca Mountain, and yet there are still significant questions about whether nuclear waste can be safely stored there."
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/pdf/EnergyFactSheet.pdf
From his technology plan...
"Improve America’s Competitiveness
* Invest in the Sciences: Barack Obama supports doubling federal funding for basic research, changing the posture of our federal government from being one of the most anti-science administrations in American history to one that embraces science and technology. This will foster home-grown innovation, help ensure the competitiveness of US technology-based businesses, and ensure that 21st century jobs can and will grow in America. As a share of the Gross Domestic Product, American federal investment in the physical sciences and engineering research has dropped by half since 1970. Yet, it often has been federally-supported basic research that has generated the innovation to create markets and drive economic growth. For example, one recent report demonstrated how federally supported research in fiber optics and lasers helped spur the telecommunications revolution."
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/technology/
Sounds like he is going to try to accomplish what Reagan did in the '80s.
ReplyDeleteCan someone update his playbook?
1/5/08 5:03 PM
ReplyDeleteWhy change the playbook if it worked and we still need to play, once again?
"...Barack Obama will invest $150 billion over the next ten years to enable American engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs to advance the next generation of biofuels and fuel infrastructure, accelerate the commercialization of plug-in hybrids,..."
ReplyDeleteI assume he'll allow the folks on H-1B's to work on these projects as well? Maybe a big increase in the quota? Sounds like a good source of funds for universities to support grad students.
Don't be mislead by what Obama (and any of the others say). Obama and
ReplyDeleteDurbin let major cuts in the high energy physics budget go thru the week before Christmas in spite of those cuts falling quite heavily at the FermiLab and at Argonne.
Obama's concept of science is "social science."
"...lead federal efforts to look for a safe, long-term disposal solution based on objective, scientific analysis."
ReplyDeleteSo, after spending billions $$$ "looking, based on scientific analysis", the plan is to repeat the same process???
If we don't know the answer to this by now,why spend more resources and delay this solution another 20 years...unless it's more about politics than science.
> Obama will set a goal of a world
ReplyDelete> without nuclear weapons, and pursue
> it.
A lofty goal, to be sure. But probably just about as feasible as China's fabled attempt to eradicte flies.
Whether you like it or not, the odds are that America is going to take a hard turn to the left in 2008. This will result in much greater spending for education, health care, and welfare with large cuts coming from all areas of the national security budget. Some parts of the national security budget will be hit much harder than others. NNSA, in particular, is going to be hit especially hard in all these upcoming budgetary battles.
ReplyDeleteGiven this scenario, the concept of NNSA and LANS/Bechtel of turning LANL into a facility emphasizing pit production and plutonium science is a complete non-starter. These idiots are going to drive the lab right into a budgetary brick wall!
LANL's strong cards for the future should be based on trying to secure more funding for Threat Reduction and other national security work that aids US agencies (DHS, FBI, etc). Time for turning this ship around is quickly running out. I find it disheartening to watch LANS management fiddle away with their obvious emphasis and joy at pit production, plutonium science, and MaRIE while the ground is falling away beneath our feet. Come 2009, I wouldn't be surprised if LANL is kept from doing any pit production based on the dictates of the next Congress.
Wake up, LANS! The times, they are a'changing.
"Why can't our brain dead managers see this?? Why do they let every chance to get out in front of this comming wave pass through their fingers?" (3:29 PM)
ReplyDeleteManagement, particularly our top executive management, are at little to no risk in regards to making bad decision that reshape LANL's future. The risk for these bad decisions will be borne completely by the general staff in terms of RIFs and salary reductions. This situation is the opposite of much of the corporate world where bad decisions result in wholesale sacking at the executive levels (see Citibank, Merrill Lynch, etc.).
LANS will take the easy path and strictly follow our new direction and then just hope for the best. Why not? They get the same good salary and perks whether this new direction succeeds or fails. We are not all riding in the same bus.
My "Ahah!" moment about all this came when I saw that LANS was paying for Mike's luxury sports car as part of his compensation package as our new Director. Can anyone imagine something like this taking place with any of our previous LANL Directors? Along with this, Mike has a special deal from UCOP that protects him from any loses in the TCP1 pension. Again, this news should have set off warning alarms in the heads of the LANL staff.
There is LANS and their is LANL. The interests of the two are not one and the same.
That this is not abundantly clear to everyone who works at LANL is a great mystery to me.
I could easily envision the next Congress passing a resolution to stop all pit production and weapons design work in the US as an international good will gesture, much like the sudden end to underground testing back in '92 when Clinton and the Dems came to power.
ReplyDeleteToo bad LANS doesn't seem to have any serious backup plans if this should happen. It's important to realize that LANL's future may be directly tied to the results of the upcoming Nov '08 elections.
"much like the sudden end to underground testing back in '92 when Clinton and the Dems came to power."
ReplyDeleteCorrection: it was Bush 1 who announced the moratorium on underground testing.
"This situation is the opposite of much of the corporate world where bad decisions result in wholesale sacking at the executive levels (see Citibank, Merrill Lynch, etc.)."
ReplyDeleteThose "losers" left with more money as part of their golden parachute than you can count.
"Correction: it was Bush 1 who announced the moratorium on underground testing." - 7:40 AM
ReplyDeleteCorrect, Bush I announced it, but it was Clinton and the Dems who saw that it was implemented. Today we have a very similar dynamic at play.
Many of the movers and shakers in the GOP are ready to see the weapon labs downsized, but it will be the Dems who come to power in '08 and actually execute this idea. There are similarities between the period of '91-'92 and today (i.e., GOP loss of power, beginning of a recession, disillusioned voters with a great hunger for 'change').
If history repeats itself, LANL is headed for a lot of uncertainly over the next 3 or 4 years, much like the period it experienced during the early 90's.
"Those "losers" left with more money as part of their golden parachute than you can count." (10:42 AM)
ReplyDeleteTrue, but they were also fired in public. That's the main point. There was some type of accountability for taking their organizations down a ill conceived path. They paid the price for this with their jobs.