In this week's issue of Nature (437,452), the editors propose that the science priorities of the Bush Administration might change in the aftermath of Katrina. They note that the US government; "has the propensity to adjust the government's spending portfolio quickly in response to particular events."
For example after September 11th, the government created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS): "with a large and ill-defined research programme, and diverted resources at the National Institutes of Health [NIH] towards activities related to bioterrorism". Acronym Required commented on these changes to NIH priorities earlier this year.
However, "there is scant evidence", says Nature, that revamping the funding targets furthered either science or national security. The article proposes that Katrina has the potential to bring to the fore issues of poverty and racial division, a development that might increase attention by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and/or NIH. The editors suggest that important research agendas may see increased focus by the administration - or not, they caution. For instance environmental issues may be better understood through continued research of the link between climate change and hurricanes and policy makers may pay better heed to water management.
