0.13 The clinton years: 1993-2001  (Page 6/7)

Pcast

Gibbons and Lane built on the precedent set by D. Allan Bromley in the first Bush administration by appointing and making good use of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). This list of reports and less formal letters enumerates the range and scope of the issues they considered:

• The U.S. Program of Fusion Energy Research and Development Report (July 1995) Texts of all these reports can be accessed from (External Link) .
• Science and Technology Principles (September 1995)
• Report to the President on Academic Health Centers (November 1995)
• Principles on the U.S. Government’s Investment Role in Technology (June 1996)
• Report on Research Universities (June 1996)
• Report on Preventing Deadly Conflict (November 1996)
• Second-Term Science and Technology Initiatives (December 1996)
• Report on Sustainable Development (January 1997)
• Report to the President on the Use of Technology to Strengthen K-12 Education in the United States (March 1997)
• PCAST Letter on Cloning (March 1997)
• Report to the President on Federal Energy Research and Development for the Challenges of the 21 ^st Century (November 1997)
• PCAST Letter on International Energy Research and Development (May 1998)
• PCAST Letter on Educational Research (June 1998)
• Teaming with Life: Investing in Science to Understand and Use America’s Living Capital (June 1998)
• PCAST Letter on the FY2000 Budget (November 1998)
• PCAST Letter on Critical Infrastructure Protection (December 1998)
• Powerful Partnerships: the Federal Role in International Cooperation on Energy Innovation (August 1999)
• PCAST Review of the NSB [National Science Board] Report on Environment
• Science and Engineering for the 21 ^st Century (December 1999)
• PCAST Letter to the President regarding FY2001 Budget Priorities (December 1999)
• PCAST Letter to the President endorsing a National Nanotechnology Initiative (December 1999)
• Wellspring of Prosperity—Science and Technology in the US Economy—Spring 2000 (June 2000)
• Letter from PCAST to the President (January 2001)
• Letter from PCAST to Neal Lane (January 2001)
• Biodiversity: Connecting with the Tapestry of Life (January 2001).

Science and international relations

In its final (January 2001) letter to President Clinton, PCAST expressed thanks for his support and pointed to what it regarded as some of its most significant accomplishments. Among these, it singled out increasing the use of American strengths in science and technology as instruments of the nation’s international diplomacy. Lane spoke and wrote frequently about the importance of science and technology in international relations, particularly with important emerging economies such as China’s and India’s. Lane, op. cit . By the time PCAST addressed this final letter to Clinton, science and technology had become far more visible and accepted tools of American foreign policy. During Clinton’s first term, the interest of the State Department in science had declined even further than during the H.W. Bush Administration. Recognizing Vice President Gore’s interest in environmental matters, State replaced many of the science counselors posted in U.S. embassies with Environment Counselors. During the 1980s, there were twenty-two science counselors posted at embassies; by the end of 1997, only ten remained.