As I mentioned before, I’m not a huge fan of politics…and I’m not a huge fan of when politics gets involved in the sciences. What I am a fan of is government doing its duty to support our infrastructure. That’s why I am…dare I say…hopeful when Obama included this paragraph in his speech:
For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act – not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.
I come from a family full of engineers — including my wife — so I will instinctively applaud the use of government money to fix our ailing roads, bridges and highways. Same too, with energy, provided he includes nuclear and (please) space solar power in the mix (a long shot, for sure).