AGU is circulating more details on the Administration's fiscal 2010 budget for the USGS which includes an overall $54 million increase (5.2%) to $1.1 billion. That alone is significant. Too often in recent years, the USGS is struggling just to hold on to existing programs and budgets.
Two items are especially noteworthy:
The proposed budget for Geography is nearly doubled - Geographic Research, Investigations, and Remote Sensing: $143.9M or 99% increase.
Global Change would get $58.18M, a 43.5% increase. A "national assessment of the geological storage capacity for carbon sequestration" will be launched.
A few other increases:
- $649M in R&D spending, 6.2% increase
- Geologic Hazards, Resource, and Processes: $247M, 2% increase
- Water Resources Investigations: $227.9M, 2.9% increase
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