The New Scientists on the Block

Here are President-elect Obama's science advisors. Four out of the five are experts in life science, but that doesn't seem to stop the rush to regulate climate change. He seems to have stacked the deck with non-creationists. Have we come that close toward government sponsored mysticism that that's really necessary - in science advisors?

If you're interested, one of the advisors, Sharon Long, was interviewed in a SciAm podcast. She says she knows nothing about economics or politics and then goes on to talk a little about both. Overall, I liked what she had to say (probably because I like well-spoken scientists). While she didn't say anything about Global Warming, its spectre hung about when she spoke about the limits of science, and Obama's promise to step-up government research funding with our tax dollars. I just hope she wasn't suggesting that regulations should precede the scientifically proven, but somehow, I think she was.

Another little frightening tidbit of an interview with Obama by the ScienceDebate2008:

SD2008: How do you see science, research and technology contributing to improved health and quality of life?

Obama: These are difficult problems, and science and technology can solve only some of them. The effectiveness of medical care can be improved, and its costs can be reduced , by greater emphasis on best practices, electronic medical records, hospital safety, preventive strategies and improved public health surveillance.

Any way you look at it folks, we're in for a bumpy night.