Date:    Wed, 26 Jan 2000 15:36:53 -0500
From:    Kevin Hutton 
Subject: CNIE Becomes The National Council for Science and the Environment
         (NCSE)

The Committee for the National Institute for the Environment (CNIE)
becomes
The National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE)

[ html version available at: http://www.cnie.org/updates/65.htm ]

January 26, 2000


The Committee for the National Institute for the Environment (CNIE) has
been working since 1990 to improve the scientific basis of environmental
decisionmaking. To accomplish that goal, CNIE initially set out to
establish a federal National Institute for the Environment -- a concept
endorsed by more than 400 academic, scientific, environmental, and
business organizations.

In 1997, CNIE determined that its goal could be accomplished if the NIE
were organized under the National Science Foundation. On July 28, 1999,
the National Science Board approved an interim report recommending that
the National Science Foundation implement most of the activities
initially proposed for a National Institute for the Environment. In
October 1999, CNIE announced its support for the full and effective
implementation of this report and suspended its call for the creation of
a National Institute for the Environment to work in support of the
National Science Foundation initiative.

Because the name "Committee for the National Institute for the
Environment" may lead to confusion, as it implies that we are still
committed to advocating the establishment of a separate entity, CNIE is
changing its name to the National Council for Science and the
Environment. NCSE will:

--- Be guided by the needs of stakeholders.

--- Educate society about the importance of comprehensive scientific
programs that integrate crosscutting research with knowledge
assessments, education, information dissemination, and training.

--- Work towards the full implementation of the National Science Board
report Environmental Science and Engineering for the 21st Century: The
Role of the National Science Foundation.

--- Facilitate stakeholder actions to develop a shared understanding of
science, science needs and priorities, and efforts to link science with
decisionmaking.

--- Develop an online information dissemination system through which
users can find understandable, science-based information about the
environment.

We invite you to join with us in a permanent collaborative effort to
share ideas, disseminate information, build consensus, and help bring
about effective programs to improve the scientific basis for
environmental decisionmaking.

As always, we thank all of those individuals and organizations who have
helped us over the past decade and hope that the new year brings
success.

--
Kevin Hutton, Webmaster
National Council for Science & the Environment
1725 K St. NW Suite 212 Washington, DC 20006
http://www.cnie.org

------------------------------