Page 61 - i1052-5173-30-5

POLICY UPDATE
GSA Testifies in Support

of the U.S. Geological Survey

On 10 February, the White House increased funding “would allow the USGS to implement new initia-
released the President’s budget request for tives created by recent legislation, sustain base funding for critical
fiscal year (FY) 2021. The request isn’t research and monitoring, and update and maintain its facilities.” She
binding to Congress, which ultimately emphasized that USGS has “a distinctive capacity to engage inter-
holds the nation’s budgetary purse strings, disciplinary teams of experts to gather data, conduct research, and
but is seen as one of the ways the execu- develop integrated decision support tools about our Earth,” and
tive branch outlines its priorities for the pointed to how USGS research is used by communities and busi-
upcoming year. nesses to inform decision making. White reminded the panel that
The administration’s request proposed legislation supporting the USGS often has bipartisan support,
a budget of US$12.8 billion for the Depart- such as the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and
Ryan Haupt, ment of the Interior (DOI) for FY 2021, of Recreation Act, which established a national volcano early warning
GSA Science Policy
Fellow which US$971.2 million would go to the and monitoring system and reauthorized the USGS national coop-
United States Geological Survey (USGS). erative geologic mapping program.
For FY 2020, the request for the USGS was US$983.5 million, but The testimony included some of the crucial roles USGS plays. For
the actual amount enacted in the budget passed by Congress was example, in 2019 there were 14 weather and climate disasters where
US$1.27 billion. In the FY 2021 request, every mission area would losses exceeded US$1 billion each. The USGS provides data to help
see proposed cuts except for energy and minerals resources. The decision makers mitigate the effects of these disasters, such as alert-
largest proposed cut—nearly 50% from FY 2020—would be to ing the aviation sector of volcanic activity that could affect flight
the ecosystems mission area, tasked to “provide science to help routes and providing data to National Oceanic and Atmospheric
America achieve sustainable management and conservation of its Administration to issue flood, drought, and tsunami warnings.
biological resources.” Space weather has the potential to impact the electric power grid,
The request also proposes some restructuring of the USGS. This satellite communications, and navigation systems, but remains dif-
would include organizational changes, such as splitting the portfo- ficult to predict. White noted that the “USGS is a key partner in
lio of the deputy director between two positions, one overseeing obtaining measurements necessary to predict severe space weather
operations and another for administration and policy, establishing events.” The USGS also connects science to local communities via
a chief scientist position, and paring down the mission areas from climate adaptation science centers, which “work with communities
seven to five by eliminating or moving the programs within land to make smart, cost-effective decisions on issues as diverse as pro-
resources and environmental health mission areas. tecting cultural resources to planning for wildfires.”
Now the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Chair Betty McCollum (D-MN-04) said she appreciated how
Committee on Appropriations will begin the process of drafting the witnesses informed the committee’s ability to help make deci-
their appropriations bills, which can differ substantially from the sions. In response to White’s testimony, she replied, “We’re talk-
request, as exemplified by the 10% increase in the USGS budget last ing about Earth. Most high schools don’t even have an earth sci-
fiscal year. Each committee has 12 subcommittees responsible for ence class anymore; they may have a climate class but that’s not
different parts of the budget. DOI falls under the Subcommittee on the same thing. I was the only girl in my earth-science class, and I
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, which also includes found it as useful as a biology class. I want to thank you for shout-
the Environmental Protection Agency, the Forest Service, and the ing out earth science. Thank you for pointing that out. I’m going to
Smithsonian Institution. do some lobbying with my education colleagues.”
On 6 February, GSA’s Director for Geoscience Policy, Kasey As the budget process progresses, GSA will continue to monitor
White, testified before this subcommittee on the House side. She the situation on Capitol Hill and make the case for strong federal
thanked them for increasing the USGS budget in FY 2020 and science funding via additional testimony, congressional visits, and
urged Congress to continue that trend by providing USGS with a work with like-minded organizations through collaborative efforts,
US$1.35 billion budget for the upcoming FY 2021, noting that such as the USGS Coalition.

www.geosociety.org/gsatoday 61