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

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, as an organization, 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.