AGI releases the new 2012 Critical Needs Document

Alexandria, VA – With less than two months before Election Day, AGI and its federation of 50 professional geoscience societies have come together again to provide a list of critical issues and policy recommendations for the next presidential administration. The document, Critical Needs for the Twenty-first Century: the Role of the Geosciences, is meant to inform policymakers of the unique knowledge, experience, and ingenuity of the geoscience community, and to address some of society's most pressing issues.

More commonly known as the Critical Needs Document, the new report builds on the first set of recommendations handed down in 2008 with the addition of an eighth Critical Need: To sustain ocean, atmosphere, and space resources. The other Critical Needs include ensuring reliable energy, providing sufficient water supplies, managing waste, mitigating natural hazards, improving and building new infrastructure, ensuring supplies of raw materials, and maintaining a robust geoscience workforce.

To view the document in its entirety, please visit the AGI Geoscience Policy webpage http://www.agiweb.org/gap/CriticalNeeds2012.pdf.

Source: American Geological Institute