Contact: Kent Laborde, 202 482 5757

The secretaries of commerce and energy have designated Dr. Bill Brennan as the acting director of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, the interagency program that coordinates and integrates scientific research on changes in climate and related systems. CCSP is composed of 13 federal scientific agencies and integrates the planning and budgeting of federal climate and global change activities.

“CCSP has been the focal point of the U.S. government’s efforts on climate sciences, and it will continue to fill this valuable role,” Brennan said. “As director, I will be an advocate for the program, and will help it carry out its vital mission. We remain committed to providing policy-relevant, but policy-neutral scientific information on this critical issue.”

CCSP was launched in 2002 as a collaborative interagency program under a new cabinet-level organization designed to improve the government-wide management of climate science and climate-related technology development. The CCSP incorporates and integrates the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) with the Administration’s U.S. Climate Change Research Initiative (CCRI).

Its core objectives center around 5 climate science goals and its deliverables include 21 synthesis and assessment products. The first of these products, “Temperature Trends in the Lower Atmosphere: Steps for Understanding and Reconciling Differences,” was released in May.

“This is an exciting time to come to CCSP, with the recent release of its first synthesis and assessment product and others nearing completion in the next year,” Brennan said. “I am impressed with the degree of professionalism and scientific integrity I see among its contributing scientists, as well as its permanent staff.”

Brennan currently serves as deputy assistant secretary of commerce for international affairs with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and will continue to perform these duties while serving as acting CCSP director. He has extensive experience in environmental policy at state, regional, national and international levels, and holds a doctorate in ecology and environmental sciences.

The USGCRP was established by the Global Change Research Act of 1990 to enhance understanding of natural and human-induced changes in the Earth’s global environmental system. The CCRI was launched by President Bush in June 2001 to reduce significant uncertainties in climate science, improve global climate observing systems, and develop resources to support policymaking and resource management. For more information, please visit www.climatescience.gov .