Of Science and Society

In mid-June, the president nominated a blue ribbon panel for his BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling Commission. Its members are all accomplished professionals: a longtime environmental activist with an M.F.S. from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies; a Ph.D. marine scientist from the University of Maryland; a National Geographic Society executive vice president with a J.D.; a Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences dean with a Ph.D. in physics; and a Chancellor of the University of Alaska Anchorage, a J.D. diplomate. The commission’s co-chairs are former Florida Senator Bob Graham and former EPA administrator William Reilly – both Harvard-trained lawyers.

Shortly after their appointment, Yahoo! News headlined an analytical piece, “Obama spill panel big on policy, not engineering.” The article pointedly implied that the environmentally-aware commissioners had an axe to grind. Only in the final sentence of the 811-word article was there a hint of moderation, and that from former George W. Bush science advisor John Marburger: "It's not really a technical commission. It's a commission that's more oriented to understanding the regulatory and organizational framework, which clearly has a major bearing on the incident."

That article, posted for comment on Facebook, drew this remark from noted astrophysicist and science popularizer Neil deGrasse Tyson: “The value of politicians and policy makers to society is over-valued compared with that of scientists and engineers.”

Would that statement include the geophysicists and engineers at BP? I will stipulate that they are world-class in their fields and in no way ill-intentioned. But their talents – and, as is now clear, their better instincts – were co-opted by private sector bosses (including their top boss, noted geologist Dr. Tony Hayward) whose allegiance lay with stock values, not social values. I would suggest that good politics, which includes good oversight, goes a long way toward enabling good science in the global interest.

I don’t imagine Dr. Tyson really meant to denigrate the many mutual successes of science and public policy which have created genuine national value. As in 1933, when New York politicians established The American Museum of Natural History Planetarium Authority and thereby the Hayden Planetarium, the Central Park West address where Tyson reports for work each day. In 2001 and 2004, respectively, it took political will to create national commissions on the aerospace industry and space exploration on which a certain astrophysicist, apparently recognizing the value of thoughtful public policy, enjoyed a high-profile role.

It takes national will – political will – to create the financial and policy framework in which science gets to accomplish the “hard” things JFK spoke of, with often spectacular results. But sometimes the opposite is true, with significant societal consequences. Edward Teller was chief among a legion of scientists of high pedigree who urged the continued pumping of extravagant public funds down the Strategic Defense Initiative (“Star Wars”) rathole. Craig Venter’s synthetic biology is exciting, but I’m relying on public policymakers to establish safeguards against any potential health and security consequences.

The Gulf mess is actually proof that commercial technologies putatively applied in the national interest, and the public policies under which they are deployed, must both be robust in order for the effort to retain its societal merit. A multinational corporation and a Minerals Management Service, each awash in scientists and engineers, left us awash in oil. Both inside and outside of government, science has to do better.

Dr. Tyson, as an avid follower of your work, I admire the truly valuable public-sector science you practice and preach; I know my neighbors and I will never look at trans-Neptunian objects the same way again. But, with respect, I submit that technology and society advance best when science and politics coexist in a spirit of mutuality, reciprocity and consent.