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will provide a source of financial assistance to the developing world for climate change, biodiversity, and oceans initiatives.

THE EVOLVING CHALLENGES
OF THE FUTURE

Science and technology play an increasingly central role in the Administration's strategy for sustaining our nation's security and global stability. Through investments at home, advanced technologies will continue to be key to ensuring our military advantage. Through strategic engagement with other nations, collaboration in science and technology will help

stem the flow of weapons of mass destruction, enforce our international arms treaties, mitigate economic and environmental stresses on societies, and promote the linkages that will lead us to a stable and sustainable world.

The Administration will build upon this strategy of prevention and engagement to meet the evolving challenges of the future. Areas that will receive policy priority include the use of science and technology in enhancing our capabilities for defense, developing a cradle-to-grave nuclear materials management system, promoting a more aggressive strategy for combating terrorism, and strengthening international partnerships to mitigate global threats and promote sustainable development.

NATIONAL SECURITY AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS SELECTED SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ACCOMPLISHMENTS

A STRONGER DEFENSE

•Science-Based Stockpile Stewardship Program

•White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security

•National Ignition Facility

•Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative

•Dual-track tritium strategy

•Laser techniques for igniting energetic materials

"Canary-on-a-chip" detector for chemical or toxin warfare agents

•DOD High Level Architecture for Modeling and Simulation

•Super-resolution technique for advanced synthetic aperture radar imagery •Systems to locate snipers acoustically

ARMS CONTROL AND NONPROLIFERATION •Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty

•Cooperative Threat Reduction Program

•Counterproliferation Initiative

Materials Protection, Control and Accountability activities

•International Science and Technology Centers in Moscow and Kiev

•Nonproliferation and Arms Control Technology Working Group

•Technologies to monitor and verify a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty

•Revolutionary terrain elevation mapping techniques

•Five-year science and technology agreement with Kazakstan

•Research to counter nuclear smuggling

•Remote detection of chemical effluents using laser technology

•Long-term storage and disposition plan for excess weapons-grade plutonium

•Demonstrations of surplus weapons plutonium disposition technologies with Russia •Disposal of excess weapons highly enriched uranium

GLOBAL STABILITY AND PROSPERITY

•National and international strategy to address emerging infectious disease threats

Detection and response to cryptosporidiosis, hantavirus, Ebola virus, and pneumonic plague outbreaks •S&T Initiatives under the Gore-Chernomyrdin (U.S.-Russia) Commission

U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation

Expanded cooperation in priority science and technology fields

S&T Initiatives under the Gore-Mbeki (U.S.-South Africa) Commission
Prediction of the impact of El Niño on agricultural production and health
Launch of South African student-built microsatellite by NASA

S&T Initiatives under the Gore-Mubarek (U.S.-Egypt) Commission

Remote sensing for more efficient water management Manufacturing extension
S&T Initiatives under the Gore-Kuchma (U.S.-Ukraine) Commission

Policy level forum to promote expanded cooperation

⚫U.S.-Japan Common Agenda for Cooperation in a Global Perspective
Partnerships in Natural Disaster Reduction and Earth Observation

Civil Industrial Technology partnerships

•U.S.-China Cooperation in Science and Technology

Expanded cooperation in priority science and technology fields, particularly in topics related to sustainable development

•APEC Science and Technology Ministerial

Cleaner Production/Clean Technology Initiative

APEC Science and Technology Internet resources

•Summit of Americas Science and Technology Ministerial

Policy level forum to promote expanded cooperation in information technologies, capacity building, and sustainable development.

OECD Megascience Forum

Expanded cooperation in neutron sources, bioinformatics, and nuclear physics
Facilitated international cooperation in large science projects.

Chapter 4

ENVIRONMENT

Science and Technology

Moving Us Toward a Sustainable Future

"I would like to state in the strongest possible terms that the Clinton
Administration is committed to moving our nation forward on the
path towards sustainable development. We are especially proud of the
progress our country has made in the past generation in cleaning up
our natural environment. We strongly support long-term environmen-
tal research, energy research and development, reducing emissions of
greenhouse gases, ecosystem management, and pollution prevention, to
name just a few important areas.

دو

Vice President Al Gore

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Confronting these issues effectively demands a new approach to environmental science and technology. Continued strong support across the broad spectrum of research is required but not sufficient. We need to apply science and technology to the active pursuit of sustainability, to looking ahead and changing course before environmental problems arise, rather than simply reacting to problems after they occur. Environmental clean-up and remediation certainly remain a significant challenge, and it is clear that an aggressive effort in developing, demonstrating and evaluating innovative technologies is needed for cost-effective identification, prioritization, monitoring, and clean-up. But the larger message is that we cannot afford to repeat the short-sighted actions of the past. We can best achieve sustainability through the assessment, anticipation, and avoidance of the negative consequences of environmental change.

The process of assessment provides the underpinning for the application of science and technology to the informed decision making upon which sustainability depends. Critical and comprehensive review by scientists of the state of scientific understanding of environmental issues, and the synthesis and communica

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