Dr. Mark Z. Jacobson of Stanford University presented a "Review of energy solutions to global warming, air pollution, and energy security." 

The primary conclusion is that a combination of wind, solar (photovoltaic and concentrated solar power), geothermal, wave, tidal, and hydroelectric can supply enough electricity for all world needs for energy, including battery-electric and hydrogen-fuel-cell vehicles.  Furthermore, these alternative sources of energy have a much smaller impact on atmospheric composition (both greenhouse gases and other pollutants) than do coal (even with carbon capture and sequestration), ethanol, or nuclear.

One highlight of the CSSP winter meeting was an address given by Dr. Margaret Hamburg, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. Hamburg was confirmed in May 2009 by unanimous vote of the U.S. Senate as FDA Commissioner, the second woman to serve in this capacity. She is a graduate of Radcliffe College and Harvard Medical School who completed her residency in internal medicine, pursued neurosciences and neuropharmacology research at Rockefeller University and NIMH, and AIDS research as Assistant Director of the NIAID. She served as Commissioner of Health for New York City where she emerged as a leading public health innovator and advocate. She served as Assistant Secretary of Planning and Evaluation at DHHS and is one of the youngest scientists to be elected to the Institute of Medicine. 

Hamburg's remarks to the Council addressed two important challenges facing the agency and the citizens of our nation. The first was the state of science at the agency and regulatory sciences overall, and the second was the more recent concern over conflict of interest of members of FDA committees advising on regulatory decisions. The FDA is a crucial and unique science-based regulatory agency with the mission of protecting public health, ranging to assuring safety of drugs, vaccines, food and food additives, medical and radiation-emmiting products, veterinary products, cosmetics, and the foods people eat every day. More than 25% of all consumer spending in the US is on products regulated by the FDA.  For these great and important historic responsibilities, the agency has under-appreciated and seriously underfunded. Despite attention that is turning now to new challenges like the regulation of tobacco, the approval of novel products from emerging areas of science, and expanded expectations brought on by globalization, there is a growing sense at the agency that it is now beginning to turn a major corner.

The members of CSSP were delighted to hear from Anne Castle, Assistant Secretary for Water and Science in the US Department of the Interior. The DOI consists of eight bureaus, about 67,000 employees, and manages approximately 500 million acres of land - about one-fifth of the total US land area, including many of America's treasured places. Castle spoke about the responsibilities of the two DOI bureaus she oversees - the US Geological Survey (USGS) and the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation). The USGS is the science arm of DOI, and having no regulatory or management mandate, provides independent science for the department. Reclamation provides water supply, water infrastructure, and hydropower to the 17 western states. 
 
Castle spoke about the enhanced role that science now plays in DOI, and in the Obama administration in general. She said that there is no issue more important than water availability, one of our foremost challenges for the 21st century. Water rights and the limited availability of water are problematic, forcing many local and regional governments to mine groundwater - a practice that is not sustainable, particularly in the arid southwest. In addition, climate change is likely to have disproportionate impacts on water, and is a serious security concern globally. The DOI is playing a leadership role in dealing with climate change, and its scientists and water managers are working hard to better understand the potential impacts of climate change on water supplies. In fact, the United Nations is concerned that climate change may be happening more quickly than predicted by the most recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The southwestern part of the United States is likely to be hardest hit by climate change, and also is one of the fastest growing regions in the country.