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Congress established the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in 1976 with a broad mandate to advise the President and others within the Executive Office of the President on the effects of science and technology on domestic and international affairs. It grew out of the Office of Science and Technology that was formed in 1961 by President Kennedy. The 1976 Act also authorizes OSTP to lead an interagency effort to develop and to implement sound science and technology policies and budgets and to work with the private sector, state and local governments, the science and higher education communities, and other nations toward this end.

Dr. John H. Marburger, Director, confirmed in October 2001, serves as Science Advisor to President Bush. Dr. Marburger also co-chairs the President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) and supports the President’s National Science and Technology Council (NSTC)[1].

Mr. Richard M. Russell, Associate Director, confirmed by the U.S. Senate in August 2002, is charged with the technology portfolio, which includes departments in Technology, Telecommunications and Information Technology, and Space and Aeronautics. Mr. Russell also is senior director for telecommunications and technology at the National Economic Council.

Sharon Hays, the Associate Director for Science, manages the science portfolio, which includes Environment, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Engineering, and Social, Behavioral and Education Sciences.

OSTP’s continuing mission is set out in the National Science and Technology Policy, Organization, and Priorities Act of 1976 (Pub. L. 94-282). It calls for OSTP to:

Serve as a source of scientific and technological analysis and judgment for the President with respect to major policies, plans, and programs of the Federal Government. The Act authorizes OSTP to:

• Advise the President and others within the Executive Office of the President on the impacts of science and technology on domestic and international affairs;
• Lead an interagency effort to develop and implement sound science and technology policies and budgets;
• Work with the private sector to ensure Federal investments in science and technology contribute to economic prosperity, environmental quality, and national security;
• Build strong partnerships among Federal, State, and local governments, other countries, and the scientific community;
• Evaluate the scale, quality, and effectiveness of the Federal effort in science and technology.

OSTP handles a broad range of scientific and technological issues within the Executive Office of the President. It participates in a multitude of White House Policy Coordinating Committees (PCC) that are tasked with developing policies for the Federal Government and are populated by senior officials from cabinet and independent agencies, often at the under or assistant secretary level. An important Homeland and National Security Division functions within OSTP to advise White House officials on a range of topics such as Avian influenza, critical infrastructure protection, and first responder communications interoperability. Because of its location within the EOP, advice coming from OSTP is often given greater weight than advice given by other agencies when White House policy-making is underway. This is because OSTP is perceived to garner little budgetary or "turf" gain when rendering these opinions, unlike most other federal agencies. OSTP has approximately 45 staff members, most of whom are experienced scientists functioning as assistant directors or policy analysts.

Perhaps OSTP's most public notoriety came in the Carl Sagan book and movie by the same name Contact where Tom Skerritt plays the President's Science Advisor and OSTP director.

In an interview with the BBC, President Bush's advisor and director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, John Marburger said that climate change is taking place and there is more than 90 percent certainty that it is due to man-made greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. ^[1]

• Office of Science and Technology Policy. Official website. Retrieved on April 12, 2006.

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